Paul Eltzbacher (18 February 1868 – 25 October 1928) was a Jewish German law professor. Eltzbacher was born in

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 ...

. From 1890 to 1895, he was a junior lawyer for the regional court districts of Cologne and

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

, with a year off in 1891–1892 for military service. By 1899, he had attained his doctorate and set about writing a treatise upon the subject of anarchism, for which he was made a professor in 1906. After this point, he limited his opinions to the area of civil rights with respect to commercial law. However, it is for his earlier writings upon the subject of anarchism that he is known today. After World War I, Eltzbacher was an adherent to

Bolshevism Bolshevism (from Bolshevik) is a revolutionary socialist current of Soviet Marxist–Leninist political thought and political regime associated with the formation of a rigidly centralized, cohesive and disciplined party of social revolution, ...

. He suggested in his work ''Der Bolschewismus und die deutsche Zukunft'' (1919) that Germany's interests would be best served by adopting a Bolshevik regime. As a member of the Reichstag, Eltzbacher argued in April 1919 for complete state ownership without compensation. The ''Deutsche Tageszeitung'' newspaper dubbed Eltzbacher's new theory as "

National Bolshevism National Bolshevism (russian: национал-большевизм, natsional-bol'shevizm, german: Nationalbolschewismus), whose supporters are known as National Bolsheviks (russian: национал-большевики, natsional-bol'sheviki ...

". Eltzbacher was a brother of the author J. Ellis Barker, who emigrated to Britain and gained fame and influence as one of the most active haters of his German homeland. He died in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, aged 60.

Books

* ''The Great Anarchists: Ideas and Teachings of Seven Major Thinkers'', . * '' Anarchism'', . * ''Anarkhizm'', (German) .

External links

* * 1868 births 1928 deaths Jurists from Cologne German fascists 19th-century German Jews German communists Jewish fascists National Bolsheviks {{Germany-law-bio-stub