Rudolf Schwander (23 December 1868 – 25 December 1950) was a German politician and social reformer. He was, among other things, the

Mayor of Strasbourg Prior to the French Revolution, Strasbourg was led by an Ammestre. List of Mayors of Strasbourg since the French Revolution {, class="wikitable" !# !Name ! colspan="2" , In office !Party !Ref. , - !1 , Baron Philippe-Frédéric de Dietrich ...

Life

Born in Alsace, Rudolf Schwander was the son of Anne Barbe Schwander and, according to widespread rumour, the Mayors of Colmar, Camille Schlumberger. After attending elementary school and special school, Schwander first worked as a clerk and office assistant in his native town of

Colmar Colmar (, ; Alsatian: ' ; German during 1871–1918 and 1940–1945: ') is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), ...

, but graduated from high school at the same time. Between 1897 and 1901 he studied law and political science in Strasbourg and received his doctorate in political science with a thesis on French Poverty. He entered the city service in 1900 and took over the management of the poor and hospital administration, two years later he also became a deputy of Strasbourg. Influenced by Friedrich Naumann, he subsequently carried out groundbreaking social reforms and established the Strasbourg system in 1905. Local authorities – so-called Poor offices – have been given the task of screening residents for their needs and deciding whether they are entitled to public support unlike under the

Elberfeld system The Elberfeld system was a system for aiding poverty, the poor in 19th-century Germany. It was a success when it was inaugurated in Elberfeld in 1853 and was adopted by many other German cities, but by the turn of the century an increasing populati ...

where they would receive support from volunteers alone. While female volunteers were responsible for on-site advice and evaluation, full-time male employees were responsible for the assessments in the administrative offices. By abolishing the Elberfield System, Schwander took the first step towards professional social assistance. A year later, Schwander was appointed mayor of Strasbourg. As such, in April 1908 he oversaw the marriage of Elly Knapp, who was born in Strasbourg and whom he had supported earlier, with Naumann's close associate Theodor Heuss. A brief interlude as acting state secretary in the Reich Economics Office in 1917 was followed in June 1918 by his return to Strasbourg City Hall. From 1911, he was a member of the 1st Chamber of the Landtag of Alsace-Lorraine. In October 1918 he became

Reichsstatthalter The ''Reichsstatthalter'' (, ''Imperial lieutenant'') was a title used in the German Empire and later in Nazi Germany. ''Statthalter des Reiches'' (1879–1918) The office of ''Statthalter des Reiches'' (otherwise known as ''Reichsstatthalt ...

Alsace–Lorraine Alsace–Lorraine, now called Alsace–Moselle, is a historical region located in France. It was created in 1871 by the German Empire after it had seized the region from the Second French Empire in the Franco-Prussian War with the Treaty of Fra ...

, but was unable to prevent its subsequent separation from the Reich after the war.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwander, Rudolf 1950 deaths 1868 births German social reformers Mayors of Strasbourg People from Colmar