Willy Hellpach by Elli Lisser, 1931 (crop)

Willy Hugo Hellpach (26 February 1877 in Oels,

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

– 6 July 1955 in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

) was the sixth State President of

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...

. He was a member 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 ...

(DDP). He was also a physician and psychologist.

Early life and education

Hellpach went to school in

Greifswald Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (german: Universitäts- und Hansestadt Greifswald, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rosto ...

to study

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

. Following his graduation in 1897, he went to

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

to study

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

. He received his doctorate and opened a practice in 1904. He served as a doctor in the

First World War 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 ...

Career

In 1918, he joined the DDP in Baden. In 1922, he became Minister for Teaching, and in 1924, with the surge of support to the DDP, became State President of Baden. In elections the following year, the Centre Party under

Gustav Trunk Gustav Trunk (24 July 1871 in Waldprechtsweier - 23 April 1936 in Karlsruhe) was a three-time President of Baden. He was a lawyer by occupation and was a member of the German Centre Party. In 1897, Gustav Trunk married Emma Eppel in Baden-Ba ...

regained their majority. Hellpach then ran for

Reich President ''Reich'' (; ) is a German noun whose meaning is analogous to the meaning of the English word " realm"; this is not to be confused with the German adjective "reich" which means "rich". The terms ' (literally the "realm of an emperor") and ' (li ...

following the death of

Friedrich Ebert Friedrich Ebert (; 4 February 187128 February 1925) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the first president of Germany from 1919 until his death in office in 1925. Ebert was elected leader of the SPD on t ...

, but only received 5.8% of the vote. Following a brief (1928–1930) seat in the Reichstag, Hellpach withdrew from politics. He wrote a book Geopsyche in 1935 that is credited with being the first mention of the field of

environmental psychology Environmental psychology is a branch of psychology that explores the relationship between humans and the external world. It examines the way in which the natural environment and our built environments shape us as individuals. Environmental Psychol ...

External links

BiographyRulers of BadenGuide to the Hellpach-Kubatzki Correspondence Collection
at the Leo Baeck Institute, New York, NY. * 1877 births 1955 deaths People from Oleśnica People from the Province of Silesia German Protestants German Democratic Party politicians Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic Candidates for President of Germany Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany {{Germany-politician-stub