Walter Arthur Reek (26 January 1878 – 12/19 May 1933), was a

social democrat Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

politician in Germany and the

Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (german: Freie Stadt Danzig; pl, Wolne Miasto Gdańsk; csb, Wòlny Gard Gduńsk) was a city-state under the protection of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gda ...

. He was a member of the

Weimar National Assembly The Weimar National Assembly (German: ), officially the German National Constitutional Assembly (), was the popularly elected constitutional convention and de facto parliament of Germany from 6 February 1919 to 21 May 1920. As part of its ...

, the Danzig

Volkstag The Volkstag (English: ''People's Diet'') was the parliament of the Free City of Danzig between 1919 and 1939. After World War I Danzig (Gdańsk) became a Free City under the protection of the League of Nations. The first elections to a const ...

parliament and mayor of Neuteich (Nowy Staw). Reek was born in Danzig,

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 177 ...

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

(Gdańsk, Poland), and attended the St. Katharinen school in Danzig. He was trained as a carpenter and spent his

journeyman years In a certain tradition, the journeyman years () are a time of travel for several years after completing apprenticeship as a craftsman. The tradition dates back to medieval times and is still alive in France, Scandinavia and the German-speaking c ...

from 1895 to 1900 in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. From 1900 to 1902 he served in the

Prussian Army The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power. The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...

and became the chairman of the Central Federation of carpenters in Danzig in 1902. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Reek initially served in the

German army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

but started to work in several positions in the Kriegsernährungsamt in Danzig in 1916. In 1917 he headed the press commission of the socialdemocratic Volkswacht newspaper in Danzig. In 1918 he was elected to the town council of Danzig and on 19 January 1919 as a member of the

, he lost his seat after Danzig became a Free City according to the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

. Since 1919 Reek worked as Secretary of the

Allgemeiner Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund The General German Trade Union Federation (german: Allgemeiner Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, ADGB) was a confederation of German trade unions in Germany founded during the Weimar Republic. It was founded in 1919 and was initially powerful enough to ...

in Danzig. In 1925 he was elected the mayor of Neuteich and in 1925/1926 he was an honorary Senator in Heinrich Sahm's Danzig Senate. From 1928 on he served as Senator in the Senate of Danzig again. The circumstances of Reek's death are reported in divergent versions. He either died from a stroke or was killed in SA "Schutzhaft" on 12 or 19 May 1933. His name is remembered at the

Memorial to the Murdered Members of the Reichstag The Memorial to the Murdered Members of the Reichstag is a memorial in Berlin, Germany. The memorial is located in front of the Reichstag building and commemorates the 96 members of the parliament who died unnaturally between 1933 and 1945 (1948) ...

in Berlin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reek, Walter 1878 births 1933 deaths Members of the Volkstag of the Free City of Danzig People from West Prussia Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Members of the Weimar National Assembly Free City of Danzig politicians