General German Trade Union Federation
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The General German Trade Union Federation (german: Allgemeiner Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, ADGB) was a confederation of German trade unions in Germany founded during the
Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...
. It was founded in 1919 and was initially powerful enough to organize a general strike in 1920 against a right-wing coup d'état. After the 1929 Wall Street crash, the ensuing
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caused widespread unemployment. The ADGB suffered a dramatic loss of membership, both from unemployment and political squabbles. By the time the
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
s seized control of the government, the ADGB's leadership had distanced itself from the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and was openly cooperating with Nazis in an attempt to keep the organization alive. Nonetheless, on May 2, 1933, the SA and SS stormed the offices of the ADGB and its member trade unions, seized their assets and arrested their leaders, crushing the organization.


History

The ADGB was founded on July 5, 19191919 Chronology
German Historical Museum. Retrieved August 5, 2011
in
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after the first postwar congress of free trade unions. The ADGB was founded as the new umbrella organization to succeed the General Commission of Germany's Trade Unions (Generalkommission der Gewerkschaften Deutschlands).
Carl Legien Carl Legien (1 December 1861 – 26 December 1920) was a German unionist, moderate Social Democratic politician and first President of the International Federation of Trade Unions. Biography Legien was born in Marienburg, Province ...
was elected as the first chairman. It was an amalgamation of 52 German trade unions and was affiliated with the
General Federation of Free Employees The General Federation of Free Employees (german: Allgemeiner freier Angestelltenbund, AfA-Bund) was an amalgamation of various socialist-oriented trade unions of technical and administrative employees in the Weimar Republic. Member organizations ...
(AfA-Bund) and the
General German Civil Service Federation The General German Civil Service Federation (german: Allgemeiner Deutscher Beamtenbund, ADB) was a trade union representing civil servants in Germany. In 1922, the German Civil Service Federation (DBB) opposed a strike by railway workers. In prote ...
(Allgemeiner Deutscher Beamtenbund)."Allgemeiner Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund"
German Historical Museum. Retrieved August 8, 2011
The adjective "Allgemeiner" ("general")The adjective "allgemeiner" is sometimes awkward to translate. In this case, it has the sense of "across-the-board". was added to the name because in March 1919, the Christian and liberal trade unions had already founded umbrella organizations called the ''Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund''. An influential mass organization under Legien's leadership, it organized a general strike in 1920 to counter the right-wing
Kapp Putsch The Kapp Putsch (), also known as the Kapp–Lüttwitz Putsch (), was an attempted coup against the German national government in Berlin on 13 March 1920. Named after its leaders Wolfgang Kapp and Walther von Lüttwitz, its goal was to undo th ...
. Roughly 12 million workers took part, halting all production, transportation, mining and public services and, as ''
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'' wrote, "giving the Kapp régime its death blow". The free trade unions were not politically neutral; rather, they saw themselves as the economic arm of the socialist labor movement. Next to the free trade unions, were the Christian trade unions and the liberal unions. Neither were ever able to reach the membership numbers of the free trade unions. In 1920, the unions of the ADGB had over 8 million members, but the international financial crisis at the end of the decade caused high unemployment, leading to a substantial drop in the membership of member unions. By the end of 1932, there were an estimated 3.5 million members. Despite the split in the SPD during
World War I 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 ...
, the free trade unions continued to remain close to the SPD, the largest working class political party. Together, the SPD and the ADGB fought for the introduction
unemployment benefits Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a comp ...
and a legally mandated
eight-hour workday The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses. An eight-hour work day has its origins in the 1 ...
, which was gutted by regulations established in 1923. At the end of 1931, they united with the Reichsbanner and workers' sport clubs to form the
Iron Front The Iron Front (german: Eiserne Front) was a German paramilitary organization in the Weimar Republic which consisted of social democrats, trade unionists, and liberals. Its main goal was to defend liberal democracy against totalitarian ide ...
against the growing threat of the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
. At first, ADGB unions were open to members of other working class political parties including the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). This changed in 1929, when the KPD, under pressure from the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, began to run competing candidates at factory
works council A works council is a shop-floor organization representing workers that functions as a local/firm-level complement to trade unions but is independent of these at least in some countries. Works councils exist with different names in a variety of re ...
elections. The
Revolutionäre Gewerkschafts Opposition The Revolutionäre Gewerkschafts Opposition (Revolutionary Union Opposition) was the Communist union in Germany during the Weimar Republic.Larry Dean Peterson''German Communism, Workers' Protest, and Labor Unions: the Politics of the United Front in ...
(RGO), was founded in December 1929 as a communist opposition labor organization, hoping to draw left-wing unionists away from the ADGB., which led to the expulsion of many communists from the ADGB. By March 1932, the RGO had about 200,000 members. The evening of the day Hitler was declared to be the new chancellor by president Hindenburg, January 30,
Walter Ulbricht Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht (; 30 June 18931 August 1973) was a German communist politician. Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later (after spending the years of Nazi rule in ...
of the communist party delivered a renewed proposal for a joint call for a general strike, similar to the successful strike against the
Kapp Putsch The Kapp Putsch (), also known as the Kapp–Lüttwitz Putsch (), was an attempted coup against the German national government in Berlin on 13 March 1920. Named after its leaders Wolfgang Kapp and Walther von Lüttwitz, its goal was to undo th ...
of 1920, to the ADGB general union. The trade unions and SPD declined the offer and issued, opposing it, leavlets, posters and articles calling workers to ignore all calls for a strike issued solely by the communist party during February and March 1933. After the Nazis seized power in the election of March 1933, the trade union leadership tried to save their organizations by pandering to the Nazi Party and in April 1933, offered "to put themselves in service to the new state". At the same time, ADGB chairman
Theodor Leipart Theodor Leipart (17 May 1867 – 23 March 1947) was a leading German trades unionist. Life Provenance and early years Theodor Leipart was born into a Protestant family, the seventh of his parents' twelve recorded children, in Neubrandenburg ...
, began to distance himself from the SPD and declared the ADGB to be politically neutral."Prohibition of Free Trade-Unions: SA Members Seize the Union Office on Engelsufer in Berlin (May 2, 1933)"
German History in Documents and Images. Retrieved August 7, 2011
"Der Verrat der sozialdemokratischen ADGB-Führer"
(PDF) ASK / VAB Hamburg-Altona, pp. 2–3. Retrieved August 7, 2011
This policy resulted in the call by the national board to partake in "National Labor Day", the Nazi version of International Workers' Day, (also called "May Day"), a left-wing celebration of labor, and led to a break with the
International Federation of Trade Unions The International Federation of Trade Unions (also known as the Amsterdam International) was an international organization of trade unions, existing between 1919 and 1945. IFTU had its roots in the pre-war IFTU. IFTU had close links to the Labou ...
. Even as the Nazis were planning to storm union offices,"Circular from Dr. Robert Ley, Staff Chief of NSDAP Political Organizations, on the Action to "Coordinate" [Gleichschaltungaktion] the Free Trade Unions (April 21, 1933)"
German History in Documents and Images. Retrieved August 8, 2011
ADGB leaders met with leaders of the Christian and liberal labor organization for talks about a merger in the hopes of forestalling a prohibition of organized labor. These efforts failed to prevent the free trade unions from a nationwide surprise attack the day after May Day, just two months later. On May 2, 1933, all ADGB member union were stormed, their offices occupied and assets seized by the SA, SS"2. Mai 1933: Zerschlagung der freien Gewerkschaften"
verdi.de (January 28, 2003). Retrieved August 6, 2011
and the
National Socialist Factory Cell Organization The National Socialist Factory Cell Organization (german: Nationalsozialistische Betriebszellenorganisation, NSBO or NSBZO) was a workers organization in Nazi Germany. In 1927, some NSDAP workers in large factories, located mostly in the Berlin ...
. Officials were put in "
protective custody Protective custody (PC) is a type of imprisonment (or care) to protect a person from harm, either from outside sources or other prisoners. Many prison administrators believe the level of violence, or the underlying threat of violence within pris ...
" and many trade unionists were maltreated. In
Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in No ...
, four trade union officials were brutally murdered.


Non-profit entities

The ADGB operated several non-profit companies. In 1924, a workers' bank was founded, the ''Bank der Deutschen Arbeit''. On July 29, 1928, the
cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over tim ...
was laid for the Bundesschule des Allgemeinen Deutschen Gewerkschaftsbundes (ADGB Trade Union School) in
Bernau bei Berlin Bernau bei Berlin (English ''Bernau by Berlin'', commonly named Bernau) is a German town in the Barnim district. The town is located about northeast of Berlin. History Archaeological excavations of Mesolithic-era sites indicate that this area ha ...
, Brandenburg. The school operated for only three years, until the Nazis gained power, after which the Nazis used part of the school to train the SS.David Sokol
"An Architectural Gem in Germany is Reborn"
''
Architectural Record ''Architectural Record'' is a US-based monthly magazine dedicated to architecture and interior design. "The Record," as it is sometimes colloquially referred to, is widely-recognized as an important historical record of the unfolding debates in a ...
'' (August 13, 2008). Retrieved August 6, 2011


ADGB school after the war

After
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, the school was used by occupying Russian military forces and from 1946 by the Free German Trade Union Federation (FDGB), an
East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
organisation. Its existence was forgotten and the 12-acre site was not open to the public. Only after the
fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (german: Mauerfall) on 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, was a pivotal event in world history which marked the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain and one of the series of eve ...
, was it rediscovered. The East Germans had made significant renovations to the building to the extent that it was not recognized by architects looking for it after 1989. The original complex was designed by the newly appointed director of the
Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...
School,
Hannes Meyer Hans Emil "Hannes" Meyer (18 November 1889 – 19 July 1954) was a Swiss architect and second director of the Bauhaus Dessau from 1928 to 1930. Early life Meyer was born in Basel, Switzerland, trained as a mason, and practiced as an architect ...
and his colleague
Hans Wittwer Hans Wittwer (4 February 1894 – 19 March 1952) was a Swiss architect who worked in Germany and who taught architecture at the Bauhaus art school in Dessau. He was a proponent of functionalist architecture; the idea that form follows function ...
. The design followed its architects' . The complex needed to house facilities to train and educate 120 people. The result was a Z-Shaped series of buildings that housed class-rooms, library, gymnasium and dining hall along with the insertion of a glass-blocked ceiling. Despite the extremely functional approach, materials were used in an expressive way including concrete, glass blocks and steel encasement windows. The complex was restored to its former glory following a Europe-wide competition for the contract. The Berlin Chamber of Crafts paid a portion of the costs and has used it as a training school since 2007.''Märkische Oderzeitung. Brandenburger Blätter'', (April 25, 2008), p. 3 In 2008 the restoration project won the architects, Brenne Gesellschaft von Architekten, the
World Monuments Fund World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and trainin ...
/ Knoll Modernism Prize. In July 2017 the former ADGB Trade Union School was added to the UNESCO
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
the
Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar, Dessau and Bernau Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar, Dessau and Bernau is a World Heritage Site in Germany, comprising six separate sites which are associated with the Bauhaus art school. It was designated in 1996 with four initial sites, and in 2017 two further si ...
.


Affiliates

The following unions held membership of the federation:


See also

*
Cuno strikes The Cuno strikes were nationwide strikes in Germany against the government of Chancellor Wilhelm Cuno in August 1923. The wave of strikes demanded, eventually with success, the resignation of the Cuno government, which occurred on 12 August 1923, ...
*
Gewerkschaftsbund des Memelgebietes ''Gewerkschaftsbund des Memelgebiets'' ('Trade Union of the Memel Territory') was a trade union centre in the Memel Territory. It was an affiliate of the International Federation of Trade Unions The International Federation of Trade Unions (also k ...
*
Verband der Fabrikarbeiter Deutschlands The Factory Workers' Union of Germany (, VFD, commonly known as , FAV) was a trade union in Germany. History The union was founded in early July 1890, as a general union affiliated to the General Commission of German Trade Unions, gathering uns ...
*
ADGB Trade Union School The ADGB Trade Union School (''Bundesschule des Allgemeinen Deutschen Gewerkschaftsbundes'' (ADGB)), is a training centre complex in Bernau bei Berlin, Germany. It was built for the former General German Trade Union Federation, from 1928 to 1930 ...


Footnotes


References


External links


''Die Arbeit'' (1924–1933)
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung The Friedrich Ebert Foundation (''German: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.; Abbreviation: FES'') is a German political party foundation associated with, but independent from, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Established in 1925 as th ...
Retrieved August 6, 2011
Prohibition of Free Trade-Unions: SA Members Seize the Union Office on Engelsufer in Berlin (May 2, 1933)
Retrieved 30 October, 2016

German Historical Museum. Retrieved August 8, 2011
ADGB Trade Union School
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Architectuul
{{Authority control Organizations based in the Weimar Republic Labor history Defunct trade unions of Germany 1919 establishments in Germany 1933 disestablishments in Germany Trade unions established in 1919 Trade unions disestablished in 1933