Maria Walter (born Maria Harm: 27 September 1895 - 1 May 1988) was a German politician ( KPD).

Life

Maria Harm was born in Degerloch, by that time a quarter in the city of

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, the capital of the semi-autonomous

Kingdom of Württemberg The Kingdom of Württemberg ( ) was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Electorate of Württemberg, which existed from 1803 to 1806. Geogr ...

. She attended school locally between 1901 and 1909, and then undertook factory and office work. She was employed until 1926 by the shoe manufacturer Schuhfabrik Haueisen & Cie AG at their Degerloch and nearby

Bad Cannstatt Bad Cannstatt (), also called Cannstatt (until July 23, 1933) or Kannstadt (until 1900), is one of the outer Stadtbezirke, or city boroughs, of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Bad Cannstatt is the oldest and most populous of Stuttgart' ...

locations. She married Ludwig Walter in 1916 and joined the newly launched Communist Party (KPD) in 1920. She became a member of the regional leadership of the para-military Red Women's and Girls' League (''"RFMB-Gauleitung"'') and was also, for a time, chair of the RFMB in

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

. Within the mainstream party, between 1928 and 1933 she was head of the women's department of the regional leadership team ( "Bezirksleitung"). Maria Walter was elected a member of the Regional Parliament (''"Landtag von Württemberg"''), representing the Communist Party, in 1932. She had also, by this time, participated in 1930 in a course for

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

officers at the Communist Party's national academy (''"Reichsparteischule"'') in Berlin-Fichtenau. Régime change in January 1933 marked he start of a rapid transition to one-

dictatorship A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, who hold governmental powers with few to no Limited government, limitations. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, ...

. The

Reichstag fire The Reichstag fire (, ) was an arson attack on the Reichstag building, home of the German parliament in Berlin, on Monday, 27 February 1933, precisely four weeks after Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany. Marinus van der Lubbe, ...

in February 1933 was blamed in "communists" with an implausible level of immediacy, and was followed by the arrest of people who had been identified as politically active Communist Party members during the Weimar years. Maria Walter emigrated to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. However, at the beginning of September 1934 she returned to

- according to one source on health grounds. In November 1939 and again in June 1944 she was arrested and detained for a number of weeks. Subsequently, she was no longer politically involved. Maria Walter died on 1 May 1988 in Stuttgart.

Life

References

Further reading