Wilhelm Loewe (14 November 1814 in Olvenstedt – 2 November 1886 in

Meran Merano (, , ) or Meran () is a city and ''comune'' in South Tyrol, northern Italy. Generally best known for its spa resorts, it is located within a basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to above sea level, at the entrance to the Passeier ...

County of Tyrol The (Princely) County of Tyrol was an estate of the Holy Roman Empire established about 1140. After 1253, it was ruled by the House of Gorizia and from 1363 by the House of Habsburg. In 1804, the County of Tyrol, unified with the secularised pr ...

) was a German physician and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

politician, also called Wilhelm Loewe-Kalbe or Wilhelm Loewe von Kalbe. He was president of the "rump parliament" remnant of the

Frankfurt Parliament The Frankfurt Parliament (german: Frankfurter Nationalversammlung, literally ''Frankfurt National Assembly'') was the first freely elected parliament for all German states, including the German-populated areas of Austria-Hungary, elected on 1 Ma ...

Biography

He was educated at the

University of Halle Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...

and became a practicing physician. In 1848, he was elected to the

, was a prominent member of the extreme Democratic Party, was soon chosen first vice-president of the Parliament. After it moved to

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 ...

, he was made president. At first acquitted on the charge of sedition for his part in this revolutionary movement, he was finally sentenced to life imprisonment for

contumacy Contumacy is a stubborn refusal to obey authority or, particularly in law, the willful contempt of the order or summons of a court (see contempt of court). The term is derived from the Latin word ''contumacia'', meaning firmness or stubbornness. I ...

. He spent several years in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, Paris, and London, and then practiced medicine for eight years in New York City. In 1861, he benefited by the amnesty and returned to Germany. Two years later he was elected to the Prussian House of Deputies, and in 1867 to the

North German Northern Germany (german: link=no, Norddeutschland) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony an ...

Reichstag as a member of the Progressist Party. In 1874, he quarreled with his party on the military law of that year, and tried to form with other independents a Liberal Party which would agree in political matters with the Progressist Party, but would be free on economic questions. In carrying out this policy, he eagerly defended the

protective tariff Protective tariffs are tariffs that are enacted with the aim of protecting a domestic industry. They aim to make imported goods cost more than equivalent goods produced domestically, thereby causing sales of domestically produced goods to rise, ...

of 1879. He was defeated for reelection in 1881.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Loewe, Wilhelm 1814 births 1886 deaths Politicians from Magdeburg German Protestants German Progress Party politicians Members of the Frankfurt Parliament Members of the 1st Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the 2nd Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the 3rd Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the 4th Reichstag of the German Empire German revolutionaries German-American Forty-Eighters German emigrants to the United States Physicians from Magdeburg University of Halle alumni