Reinhold Maier (16 October 1889 – 19 August 1971) was a German politician and the leader of the
FDP from 1957–1960. From 1946 to 1952 he was
Minister President
A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary system, parliamentary or semi-presidential system, semi-presidential system of government where ...
of
Württemberg-Baden
Württemberg-Baden was a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was created in 1945 by the United States occupation forces, after the previous states of Baden and Württemberg had been split up between the US and French occupation zones. I ...
and then the 1st
Minister President
A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary system, parliamentary or semi-presidential system, semi-presidential system of government where ...
of the new state of
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
until 1953.
He served as the 4th President of the
Bundesrat in 1952/53, the only FDP politician in German history to do so to date.
Maier was born in
Schorndorf
Schorndorf is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located approximately 26 km east of Stuttgart. Its train station is the terminus of the S2 line of the Stuttgart S-Bahn.
The town is also sometimes referred to as ' (''The Daimler Town ...
.
Early life
![Reinhold-Maier-Geburtshaus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Reinhold-Maier-Geburtshaus.JPG)
Maier, a Protestant, was born the son of a municipal architect, Gottlieb Maier, in Schorndorf.
After attending grammar school in Schorndorf, Reinhold Maier attended the Dillmann-Gymnasium in Stuttgart and, in 1907, received his Abitur. He then studied law at the
University of Grenoble
The Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA, French: meaning "''Grenoble Alps University''") is a public research university in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 resea ...
and at the
University of Tübingen
The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...
. There he was a member of the South German (and liberally inclined) Tübingen fraternity "Academic Society Stuttgardia Tübingen". Here he met fellow aspiring politicians such as
Eberhard Wildermuth
Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth (23 October 1890 – 9 March 1952) was a German politician and a member of the FDP/DVP. From 1949 until his death he was the Federal Minister for Housing under Konrad Adenauer. During World War II Wildermuth was a h ...
, Karl Georg Pfleiderer, Konrad Wittwer and Wolfgang Haussmann. He received his doctorate in law in Heidelberg. During the First World War he took part as a soldier at the foot artillery regiment 13. In 1920 he settled in Stuttgart and practiced as a lawyer. In 1924 he was inducted into the Masonic Lodge "Zu den 3 cedars" in Stuttgart. During the Nazi era he worked as a lawyer; his wife Gerta Goldschmidt flew to the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
with their two children. Reinhold Maier was forced to divorce her under Nazi pressure but remarried her after the war in 1946.
Career
Already a member of the
Progressive People's Party (Germany)
The Progressive People's Party (german: Fortschrittliche Volkspartei, FVP) was a social liberal party of the late German Empire.
History
It was formed on 6 March 1910 as a merger of Free-minded People's Party, Free-minded Union and German Peop ...
(FVP) since 1912, Maier joined the newly formed left-wing liberal
German Democratic Party
The German Democratic Party (, or DDP) was a center-left liberal party in the Weimar Republic. Along with the German People's Party (, or DVP), it represented political liberalism in Germany between 1918 and 1933. It was formed in 1918 from the ...
(DDP) in 1918. In 1924 he became chairman of the Stuttgart District Association of DDP.
In 1945 Maier participated in the founding of the
Democratic People's Party (Germany)
Democratic People's Party (''Demokratische Volkspartei'', ''DVP'') was the name of two liberal parties in southern Germany. It is not to be confused with the ''Deutsche Volkspartei'' of 1918 which used the same abbreviation DVP.
In 1863–1866 a ...
(DVP), not to be confused with the
German People's Party
The German People's Party (German: , or DVP) was a liberal party during the Weimar Republic that was the successor to the National Liberal Party of the German Empire. A right-liberal, or conservative-liberal political party, it represented politi ...
of the Weimar Republic. The DVP was absorbed by the FDP in 1948.
Maier became Minister President of “Württemberg-Baden”, a constituent state of the subsequent ‘’Land’’ of Baden-Württemberg in 1945, following the collapse of the Nazi regime, which in its twilight had claimed the life of his former boss, the last elected Minister President
Eugen Bolz
Eugen Anton Bolz (15 December 1881 – 23 January 1945) was a German politician and a member of the resistance to the Nazi régime.
Life
Born in Rottenburg am Neckar, Bolz was his parents' twelfth child. His father Joseph Bolz was a salesman ...
, one of the
20 July Plot
On 20 July 1944, Claus von Stauffenberg and other conspirators attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Führer of Nazi Germany, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia, now Kętrzyn, in present-day Poland. The ...
conspirators. As such, he preceded the
West German
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
state by setting up a constitutional democratic system in competition with the burgeoning SPD and communist parties, and the French and American occupation authorities. Despite his DVP party consistently polling less votes than Christian Democratic and socialist opponents, Maier steadfastly maintained coalitions with the liberals as the leading party.
After the formation of the coalition of FDP / DVP,
SPD
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been t ...
and
All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights
The All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights (german: Gesamtdeutscher Block/Bund der Heimatvertriebenen und Entrechteten or GB/BHE) was a right-wing political party in West Germany, which acted as an advocacy group of the Germa ...
(BHE) under his leadership, simultaneous to the creation of the new state of Baden-Württemberg in 1952, the Hesse FDP Association requested the expulsion of Maier and the state chairman
Wolfgang Haussmann (1903-1989) from the party along with the separation of the DVP from the FDP, but the coup was not successful.
From 1957 to 1960 he was Chairman of the FDP, and then until his death honorary chairman.
Deputy
![Janssen-Maier](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Janssen-Maier.JPG)
Maier was 1932–1933 a member of parliament for the
German State Party
The German State Party (german: Deutsche Staatspartei or DStP) was a short-lived German political party of the Weimar Republic, formed by the merger of the German Democratic Party (Deutsche Demokratische Partei, DDP) with the People's National Rei ...
. At the same time he was from 1932 to 1933 a member of the . On 23 March 1933, he voted for the
Enabling Act
An enabling act is a piece of legislation by which a legislative body grants an entity which depends on it (for authorization or legitimacy) the power to take certain actions. For example, enabling acts often establish government agencies to car ...
together with the other four liberal Reichstag deputies
Hermann Dietrich
Hermann Robert Dietrich (14 December 1879 – 6 March 1954) was a German politician of the liberal German Democratic Party and served as a minister during the Weimar Republic.
Finance Minister of Germany
In 1930, Dietrich succeeded Paul Molden ...
,
Theodor Heuss
Theodor Heuss (; 31 January 1884 – 12 December 1963) was a German liberal politician who served as the first president of West Germany from 1949 to 1959. His cordial nature – something of a contrast to the stern character of chancellor Ko ...
, , and
Ernst Lemmer
Ernst Lemmer (April 28, 1898 – August 16, 1970) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and former member of the German Bundestag
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the ...
. The final sentence of his speech was: For the sake of people and country and in anticipation of a legitimate development, we will rescind our serious concerns and approve the Enabling Act.
According to the informations of Theodor Heuss in his memoirs, the five liberal Reichstag deputies have initially been divided with respect to the Enabling Act. Heuss had formulated two explanations, one for rejection, one for abstention. At his side, however, was only Hermann Dietrich. Heinrich Landahl, Ernst Lemmer and Reinhold Maier voted in the Reichstag group for approval.
Heuss and Dietrich were overruled, so then all Liberal MPs voted for the Enabling Act.
In the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...
Maier was a member of the
German Democratic Party
The German Democratic Party (, or DDP) was a center-left liberal party in the Weimar Republic. Along with the German People's Party (, or DVP), it represented political liberalism in Germany between 1918 and 1933. It was formed in 1918 from the ...
(DDP). In 1945 he was a founder of the
Democratic People's Party (DVP), which is now the Baden-Württemberg-Organisation of the FDP.
He died in
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maier, Reinhold
1889 births
1971 deaths
People from Schorndorf
German Protestants
Presidents of the German Bundesrat
German Democratic Party politicians
Free Democratic Party (Germany) politicians
Members of the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg
People from the Kingdom of Württemberg
Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic
Ministers-President of Baden-Württemberg