Adam Stegerwald (14 December 1874, in

Greußenheim Greußenheim is a municipality in the district of Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, an ...

Lower Franconia Lower Franconia (german: Unterfranken) is one of seven districts of Bavaria, Germany. The districts of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia make up the region of Franconia. History After the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria the state was totally ...

– 3 December 1945) was a German

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

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 ...

and a leader of the left wing of the Centre Party.

Under the Empire

Stegerwald was born the son of a farmer. He attended primary school in

between 1881-1888. He then learned the profession of carpenter in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

. In 1893, he entered the Catholic Gesellenverein in Günzburg ( Swabia). From 1900 to 1902, he was a private listener of

Lujo Brentano Lujo Brentano (; ; 18 December 1844 – 9 September 1931) was an eminent German economist and social reformer. Biography Lujo Brentano, born in Aschaffenburg into a distinguished German Catholic intellectual family (originally of Italian desce ...

for two semesters for economics and special economics at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Between 1903-1905, he attended lectures at the Graduate School of

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

. Between 1916-1919, he was a member of the board of the Reichsernähungsamt. He belonged to the

Prussian House of Lords The Prussian House of Lords (german: Preußisches Herrenhaus) in Berlin was the upper house of the Landtag of Prussia (german: Preußischer Landtag), the parliament of Prussia from 1850 to 1918. Together with the lower house, the House of Re ...

between 1917-1918.

During the Weimar Republic

As a representative of the Christian trade unions, he signed on 15 November 1918 the "Arbeitsgemeinschaftsabkommen" between the employer's association and the trade unions. From 1919-29 he became the head of the Christian German Union Federation (DGB). He was from 1919 to 1920 a member of the National Assembly. He belonged to the 'Committee for the preliminary discussion of the draft constitution for the German Empire' of the National Assembly. From March 1919 to November 1921, he was Prussian Minister for People's Welfare. From April to November 1921 he held both the office of the Prussian Minister-president, from April 1929 to March 1930 that of the Minister for Transports, from March 1930 to May 1932, the Minister for employment. As Minister of Labour in the cabinet of his former personal assistant

Heinrich Brüning Heinrich Aloysius Maria Elisabeth Brüning (; 26 November 1885 – 30 March 1970) was a German Centre Party politician and academic, who served as the chancellor of Germany during the Weimar Republic from 1930 to 1932. A political scienti ...

he tried to save at least the basics of the Weimar welfare state under the conditions of the Great Depression. He failed therein because of the resistance of the

Heavy industry Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); o ...

Nazi Regime

Following Hitler's appointment as Chancellor, Stegerwald was attacked by Nazi storm troopers at an election rally in

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; li, Krieëvel ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, i ...

on February 21, 1933, while regular police did not interfere In March 1933, he led together with

Ludwig Kaas Ludwig Kaas (23 May 1881 – 15 April 1952) was a German Roman Catholic priest and politician of the Centre Party during the Weimar Republic. He was instrumental in brokering the Reichskonkordat between the Holy See and the German Reich. E ...

and Albert Hackelsberger negotiations with

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

. Afterwards the Centre party agreed to the Enabling Act. From 1933-34 he was indicted, along with

Wilhelm Marx Wilhelm Marx (15 January 1863 – 5 August 1946) was a German lawyer, Catholic politician and a member of the Centre Party. He was the chancellor of Germany twice, from 1923 to 1925 and again from 1926 to 1928, and he also served briefly as the ...

and Heinrich Brauns, in the trial of the Cologne ''Volksverein Verlag'' in his capacity as board member of the National Association for Catholic Germany. He was on the list of politicians to be purged during the

Night of the Long Knives The Night of the Long Knives (German: ), or the Röhm purge (German: ''Röhm-Putsch''), also called Operation Hummingbird (German: ''Unternehmen Kolibri''), was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from 30 June to 2 July 1934. Chancellor Ad ...

, but was warned about this and disappeared into exile for three months. After the 20 July plot, he was temporarily arrested under the ''

Aktion Gitter Aktion Gitter was a "mass arrest action" by the Gestapo which took place in Germany between 22 and 23 August 1944. It came just over a month after the failed attempt to assassinate the country's leader, Adolf Hitler, on 20 July 1944. The program ...

''. From August 24, October 19, 1944 he was detained by the Gestapo in Würzburg prison.„Dort scheint ihm die Realität des Dritten Reiches aufgegangen zu sein. Nach dem Zeugnis des Würzburger Kunsthistorikers

Kurt Gerstenberg Kurt Gerstenberg (23 July 1886, Chemnitz − 2 November 1968, Würzburg) was a German art historian, a pupil of Heinrich Wölfflin. Gerstenberg's 1913 work ''Deutsche Sondergotik'' (''German Special Gothic'') gave the name to Sondergotik, a style ...

(1886–1968), der zusammen mit Stegerwald eine Gefängniszelle teilte, hat sich der Exminister außerordentlich tapfer gezeigt und die Quälereien und Bitternisse der Haft mit stoischer Ruhe ertragen. Allerdings scheint seine robuste Gesundheit durch die Inhaftierung gelitten zu haben“ (vgl. Rudolf Morsey: ''Zeitgeschichte in Lebensbildern – Aus dem deutschen Katholizismus des 20. Jahrhunderts.'' Band 1, 1973, S. 216.). During the time of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

he had no influence.

After the war

In 1945, he was appointed at the behest of the American occupation forces for District President of the district of

. Stegerwald became the leading head of the ''Würzburg group'' that was instrumental in the founding of the

Christian Social Union in Bavaria The Christian Social Union in Bavaria (German: , CSU) is a Christian-democratic and conservative political party in Germany. Having a regionalist identity, the CSU operates only in Bavaria while its larger counterpart, the Christian Democratic ...

in the summer and autumn of 1945, in addition to the Munich group around Josef Müller. Adam Stegerwald died in December 1945 from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

, eleven days before his 71st birthday.

References

Literature

* Schnorr, Helmut J.: ''Adam Stegerwald, Gewerkschafter, Politiker der ersten deutschen Republik. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der christlich-sozialen Bewegung in Deutschland.'' 1966. * Morsey, Rudolf: ''Zeitgeschichte in Lebensbildern – Aus dem deutschen Katholizismus des 20. Jahrhunderts.'' Band 1. 1973, S. 216. * Rosenberg, Ludwig, Tacke, Bernhard: ''Der Weg zur Einheits-Gewerkschaft.'' Hrsg. DGB-Bundesvorstand. Druck: satz + druck, Düsseldorf 1977. * Forster, Bernhard: ''Adam Stegerwald (1874–1945). Christlich-nationaler Gewerkschafter, Zentrumspolitiker, Mitbegründer der Unionsparteien.'' Droste Verlag, Düsseldorf 2003, . (scientific biography)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stegerwald, Adam 1874 births 1945 deaths People from Würzburg (district) People from the Kingdom of Bavaria German Roman Catholics Centre Party (Germany) politicians Christian Social Union in Bavaria politicians Government ministers of Germany Labor ministers (Germany) Members of the Weimar National Assembly Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic Members of the Prussian House of Lords Prime Ministers of Prussia Articles lacking sources from June 2009 All articles lacking sources