Theodor Gottfried Liesching (14 August 1865 – 25 July 1922) was a German

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He was born 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 ...

and died in Böblingen. Liesching served as the final

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 Kingdom of Wüttemberg in 1918.

Life

He was the son of the bookseller Hermann Theodor Liesching (1821–1871) and Caecilie Susanne Luise Regenbrecht (1840–1915), and was a member of the

Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg (german: Evangelische Landeskirche in Württemberg) is a Lutheran member church of the Evangelical Church in Germany in the German former state of Württemberg, now part of the state of Baden-Württem ...

. After attending high school in

, he studied law in

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...

and Breslau. In Tübingen he was a member of the Coburger Convent der akademischen Landsmannschaften und Turnerschaften. Liesching practiced law in Stuttgart in 1890–91 and in Tübingen from 1891 to 1917. From 1917 to 1918 he served as senior executive at the Württemberg Embassy in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Politics

From 1901 to 1918 he held a parliamentary seat in the

Estates of Württemberg The Estates of Württemberg (''Württembergische Landstände'') was the Estates of the Duchy of Württemberg, lasting from 1457 to 1918 except for 1802-15. After the creation of the Kingdom of Württemberg the 1815 reestablished estates became a ...

. From 1912 to 1918, he also belonged to the Reichstag, where he represented Württemberg. Liesching was nominated in 1912 as a joint candidate of the

National Liberal Party (Germany) The National Liberal Party (german: Nationalliberale Partei, NLP) was a liberal party of the North German Confederation and the German Empire which flourished between 1867 and 1918. During the Prussian-led unification of Germany, the National ...

and 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 ...

. In the runoff, he won with the help of the Social Democrats against the

German Conservative Party The German Conservative Party (german: Deutschkonservative Partei, DkP) was a right-wing political party of the German Empire founded in 1876. It largely represented the wealthy landowning elite Prussian Junkers. The party was a response to Ge ...

candidate.Reibel, Carl-Wilhelm: Handbuch der Reichstagswahlen 1890–1918. Bündnisse, Ergebnisse, Kandidaten. Zweiter Halbband. Düsseldorf: Droste Verlag, 2007, S. 1228–1232 From 7 to 9 November 1918, Liesching was the last

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 or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. It ...

of the

Kingdom of Württemberg The Kingdom of Württemberg (german: Königreich Württemberg ) was a German state that existed from 1805 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which exist ...

. As a member of the Progressive People's Party (which had joined 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 ...

), he worked at the end of 1918 on the founding 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 ...

. From 10 November 1918 to 20 February 1922 he served as finance minister in the cabinets of

Wilhelm Blos Wilhelm Josef Blos (5 October 1849 – 6 July 1927) was a German journalist, historian, novelist, dramatist and politician ( SPD). He served as a member of the imperial parliament (''Reichstag'') between 1877 and 1918, albeit with one three year ...

and Johannes von Hieber. From 1919 to 1920 he was a member of the Württemberg Constituent National Assembly, and from 1920 to 1922 the Württemberg Landtag. He died in 1922.

Notes

References

* Frank Raberg. ''Biographisches Handbuch der württembergischen Landtagsabgeordneten 1815–1933''. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2001, , p. 505ff.

External links

Reichstag Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liesching, Theodor Gottfried 1865 births 1922 deaths Politicians from Stuttgart People from the Kingdom of Württemberg German Lutherans Progressive People's Party (Germany) politicians German Democratic Party politicians Members of the 13th Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the Württembergian Chamber of Deputies Jurists from Stuttgart