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This article aims to give a historical outline of liberalism in Germany. The liberal parties dealt with in the timeline below are, largely, those which received sufficient support at one time or another to have been represented in parliament. Not all parties so included, however, necessarily labeled themselves "liberal". The sign ⇒ denotes another party in that scheme.


Background

The early high points of liberalism in Germany were the Hambacher Fest (1832) and the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states. In the Frankfurt Parliament National Assembly in the Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt Paulskirche (1848/1849), the bourgeois liberal factions
Casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live enterta ...
and Württemberger Hof (the latter led by Heinrich von Gagern) were the majority. They favored a constitutional monarchy,
popular sovereignty Popular sovereignty is the principle that the authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. Popular sovereignty, being a principle, does not imply any ...
, and
parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
ary rule. Organized liberalism developed in the 1860s, combining the previous liberal and democratic currents. Between 1867 and 1933 liberalism was divided into progressive liberal and national liberal factions. Since 1945 only one liberal party has been significant in politics at the national level: The Free Democratic Party (Freie Demokratische Partei, FDP).


History


Pre 1860s


From German Progress Party to German State Party

* 1861: Liberals united in the German Progress Party (''Deutsche Fortschrittspartei'') * 1867: The moderate faction seceded as the ⇒ National Liberal Party * 1868: A radical South German faction seceded as the ⇒ Democratic People's Party * 1884: The party merged with the ⇒ Liberal Union into the German Freeminded Party (''Deutsche Freisinnige Partei'') * 1893: The party split in the Freeminded People's Party (''Freisinnige Volkspartei'') and the ⇒ Freeminded Union (''Freisinnige Vereinigung'') * 1910: The FVP merged with the ⇒ Freeminded Union and the ⇒ German People's Party into the Progressive People's Party (''Fortschrittliche Volkspartei'') * 1918: The party is reorganised into 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 ...
(''Deutsche Demokratische Partei''), incorporating parts of the ⇒ National Liberal Party * 1930: The DDP in an attempt to survive reorganised itself into the
German State Party The German State Party (german: Deutsche Staatspartei or DStP) was a short-lived German political party of the Weimar Republic, formed by the merger of the German Democratic Party (Deutsche Demokratische Partei, DDP) with the People's National Re ...
(''Deutsche Staatspartei'') * 1933: The party is forced to dissolve itself


German People's Party (1868)

* 1868: A radical faction of the ⇒ German Progress Party formed the German People's Party (''Deutsche Volkspartei'') * 1910: The DVP merged into the ⇒ Progressive People's Party


National Liberal Party / German People's Party (1918)

National Liberals * 1867: A right-wing faction of the ⇒ German Progress Party formed the National Liberal Party (''Nationalliberale Partei'') * 1871: A conservative faction of NLP formed the Imperial Liberal Party (''Liberale Reichspartei'') * 1880: A left-wing faction seceded as the ⇒ Liberal Union * 1918: The NLP is reorganised into the German People's Party (''Deutsche Volkspartei''), part of the party joined the German Democratic Party * 1933: The party is dissolved


Liberal Union

* 1880: A left-wing faction of the ⇒ National Liberal Party formed the Liberal Union (''Liberale Vereinigung'') * 1884: The party merged with the ⇒ German Progress Party into the ⇒ German Freeminded Party


Freeminded Union

* 1893: The ⇒ German Freeminded Party split into the
Freeminded Union The Free-minded Union (german: Freisinnige Vereinigung; FVg) or Radical Union was a liberal party in the German Empire that existed from 1893 to 1910. Emergence Inside its predecessor, the German Free-minded Party, there had always been tensions ...
(''Freisinnige Vereinigung'') and the ⇒ Freeminded People's Party * 1903: The ⇒ National Social Union joined the Freeminded Union * 1908: A left-wing faction seceded as the ⇒ Democratic Union * 1910: The party merged into the ⇒ Progressive People's Party


National Social Union

* 1896: The National Social Union (''Nationalsozialer Verein'') is formed * 1903: The party is dissolved and members joined the ⇒ Freeminded Union


Democratic Union

* 1908: A left-wing faction of the ⇒ Freeminded Union formed the Democratic Union (''Demokratische Vereinigung'') * 1918: The remnants of the Union joined the German Democratic Party


From Liberal Democratic Party of Germany to Alliance of Free Democrats (GDR)

* 1945: Liberals in East Germany re-organised themselves into the
Liberal Democratic Party of Germany The Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (german: Liberal-Demokratische Partei Deutschlands, LDPD) was a political party in East Germany. Like the other allied bloc parties of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in the National Front, it ...
(''Liberal-Demokratische Partei Deutschlands''). Since 1949 the party is under control of the communist dictatorship * 1990: The LDPD regained its liberal profile and shortened its name in February into Liberal Democratic Party (''Liberal-Demokratische Partei''). The same month it joined the newly founded Free Democratic Party (GDR) (''Freie Demokratische Partei (DDR)'') and the German Forum Party (''Deutsche Forumpartei'') into Association of Free Democrats (''Bund Freier Demokraten''). In March the Association of Free Democrats absorbed the
National Democratic Party of Germany The National Democratic Party of Germany (german: Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands or NPD) is a far-right Neo-Nazi and ultranationalist political party in Germany. The party was founded in 1964 as successor to the German Reich Part ...
(''Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands''), and finally in August it merged into present-day ⇒ Free Democratic Party


Free Democratic Party

* 1945–1946: Liberals in West Germany re-organised themselves in regional parties * 1948: The regional liberal parties merged into the Free Democratic Party (''Freie Demokratische Partei'') * 1956: A conservative faction seceded and formed the Free People's Party (Germany) (''Freie Volkspartei''). FDP is initially a hardright party well to the right of CDU * 1982: A left-wing faction seceded as the ⇒ Liberal Democrats * 1990: The FDP incorporated the ⇒ Association of Free Democrats


Liberal Democrats

* 1982: A left-wing faction of the ⇒ Free Democratic Party formed the present-day Liberal Democrats (''Liberale Demokraten''), without success


New Liberals

* 2014: A left-wing faction of the ⇒ Free Democratic Party formed the present-day New Liberals (''Neue Liberale''), contested in Hamburg state election 2015 * 2021: The party was dissolved, formed into an association and members were urged to join Volt Deutschland


Liberal leaders

* Liberals before 1918: Eduard Lasker (1829–1884);
Rudolf von Bennigsen Karl Wilhelm Rudolf von Bennigsen (10 July 1824, Lüneburg – 7 August 1902, Bennigsen near Springe) was a German politician descended from an old Hanoverian family. Biography Bennigsen was born at Lüneburg on 10 July 1824. He was desce ...
Hans Victor von Unruh Hans Victor von Unruh (March 28, 1806 – February 4, 1886) was a Prussian civil servant and politician, President of the Prussian National Assembly of 1848 and Member of the ''Reichstag'' of the German Empire. Biography Unruh was born i ...
Eugen Richter Eugen Richter (30 July 183810 March 1906) was a German politician and journalist in Imperial Germany. He was one of the leading advocates of liberalism in the Prussian Landtag and the German Reichstag. Career Son of a combat medic, Richter atten ...
* Freisinn:
Theodor Barth Theodor Barth (16 July 1849, Duderstadt – 3 June 1909, Baden-Baden) was a German liberal politician and publicist. He was a member of the Reichstag between 1881 and 1884, between 1885 and 1898, and between 1901 and 1903. Career Barth star ...
Friedrich Naumann
Max Weber Maximilian Karl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German sociologist, historian, jurist and political economist, who is regarded as among the most important theorists of the development of modern Western society. His ideas p ...
* Deutsche Demokratische Partei: Walther RathenauTheodor Heuss * Deutsche Volkspartei:
Gustav Stresemann Gustav Ernst Stresemann (; 10 May 1878 – 3 October 1929) was a German statesman who served as chancellor in 1923 (for 102 days) and as foreign minister from 1923 to 1929, during the Weimar Republic. His most notable achievement was the reconci ...
* LDPD (East-Germany): Waldemar Koch,
Wilhelm Külz Wilhelm Külz (18 February 1875 – 10 April 1948) was a German liberal politician of the National Liberal Party, the German Democratic Party (DDP) and later the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (LDPD). He held public office both in the Germa ...
,
Manfred Gerlach Manfred Gerlach (8 May 1928 – 17 October 2011) was a German jurist and politician, and the longtime leader of the East German Liberal Democratic Party. He served as ''Chairman of the Council of State'' and was thus head of state of East ...
* Freie Demokratische Partei:
Ralf Dahrendorf Ralf Gustav Dahrendorf, Baron Dahrendorf, (1 May 1929 – 17 June 2009) was a German-British sociologist, philosopher, political scientist and liberal politician. A class conflict theorist, Dahrendorf was a leading expert on explaining and a ...
Karl-Hermann FlachHans-Dietrich GenscherOtto Graf LambsdorffWalter ScheelGuido WesterwelleChristian Lindner


Liberal thinkers

In the
Contributions to liberal theory Contribution or Contribute may refer to: * ''Contribution'' (album), by Mica Paris (1990) ** "Contribution" (song), title song from the album *Contribution (law), an agreement between defendants in a suit to apportion liability *Contributions, a ...
the following German thinkers are included: *
Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and ...
(1724–1804) * August Ludwig von Schlözer (1735–1809) *
Wilhelm von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand von Humboldt (, also , ; ; 22 June 1767 – 8 April 1835) was a Prussian philosopher, linguist, government functionary, diplomat, and founder of the Humboldt University of Berlin, which was named afte ...
(1767–1835) * Ludwig Joseph Brentano (1844–1931) * Friedrich Naumann (1860–1919) *
Max Weber Maximilian Karl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German sociologist, historian, jurist and political economist, who is regarded as among the most important theorists of the development of modern Western society. His ideas p ...
(1864–1920) * Walther Rathenau (1867–1922) *
Adolf von Harnack Carl Gustav Adolf von Harnack (born Harnack; 7 May 1851 – 10 June 1930) was a Baltic German Lutheran theologian and prominent Church historian. He produced many religious publications from 1873 to 1912 (in which he is sometimes credite ...
(1851–1930) *
Wilhelm Röpke Wilhelm Röpke (October 10, 1899 – February 12, 1966) was a German economist and social critic, best known as one of the spiritual fathers of the social market economy. A Professor of Economics, first in Jena, then in Graz, Marburg, Is ...
(1899–1966) *
Ralf Dahrendorf Ralf Gustav Dahrendorf, Baron Dahrendorf, (1 May 1929 – 17 June 2009) was a German-British sociologist, philosopher, political scientist and liberal politician. A class conflict theorist, Dahrendorf was a leading expert on explaining and a ...
(1929–2009)


See also

*
History of Germany The Germani tribes i.e. Germanic tribes are now considered to be related to the Jastorf culture before expanding and interacting with the other peoples. The concept of a region for Germanic peoples, Germanic tribes is traced to time of Julius Ca ...
*
Politics of Germany Germany is a democratic and federal parliamentary republic, where federal legislative power is vested in the (the parliament of Germany) and the (the representative body of the , Germany's regional states). The federal system has, since ...
*
List of political parties in Germany This article lists political parties in Germany. The Federal Republic of Germany has a plural multi party system. The largest by members and parliament seats are the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), with its sister party, the Christian Social U ...
* Weber and German politics


Further reading

* Åberg, Martin. ''Swedish and German Liberalism: From Factions to Parties 1860–1920'' (2011) * Anderson, Margaret Lavinia. ''Practicing democracy: Elections and political culture in Imperial Germany'' (2000) * * Eyck, F. Gunther. "English and French Influences on German Liberalism before 1848." ''Journal of the History of Ideas'' (1957): 313–341
in JSTOR
* Gross, Michael B. ''The war against Catholicism: Liberalism and the anti-Catholic imagination in nineteenth-century Germany'' (University of Michigan Press, 2004) * Harris, James F. ''A study in the theory and practice of German liberalism: Eduard Lasker, 1829–1884'' (University Press of America, 1984) * Jarausch, Konrad, et al. eds. ''In search of a liberal Germany: studies in the history of German liberalism from 1789 to the present'' (1990), essays by scholars * Jones, Larry Eugene. ''German liberalism and the dissolution of the Weimar party system, 1918–1933'' (University of North Carolina Press, 1988) * Krieger, Leonard. ''The German idea of freedom: History of a political tradition'' (University of Chicago Press, 1957) * Kurlander, Eric. ''The price of exclusion: ethnicity, national identity, and the decline of German liberalism, 1898–1933'' (Berghahn Books, 2006) * Langewiesche, Dieter. ''Liberalism in Germany'' (Macmillan Press, 2000) * Kwan, Jonathan. ''Liberalism and the Habsburg Monarchy, 1861–1895'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), Concerns the Austro-Hungarian Empire * Langewiesche, Dieter. ''Liberalism in Germany'' (2000) * Mork, Gordon R. "Bismarck and the 'Capitulation' of German Liberalism," ''Journal of Modern History'' (1971) 43#1 pp. 59–7
in JSTOR
* Palmowski, Jan. "Mediating the nation: liberalism and the polity in nineteenth-century Germany." ''German History'' (2001) 19#4 pp. 573–598. * Palmowski, Jan. ''Urban liberalism in imperial Germany: Frankfurt am Main, 1866–1914'' (Oxford University Press, 1999) * Sheehan, James J. "Liberalism and society in Germany, 1815–48." ''Journal of Modern History'' (1973): 583–604
in JSTOR
* Sheehan, James J. ''German liberalism in the nineteenth century'' (1995) * Sheehan, James J. "Liberalism and the city in nineteenth-century Germany." ''Past and Present'' (1971): 116–137
in JSTOR
* Sheehan, James J. ''The career of Lujo Brentano: a study of liberalism and social reform in imperial Germany'' (University of Chicago Press, 1966) {{DEFAULTSORT:Liberalism In Germany
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, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...