Heinrich Edwin Rickert (27 December 1833 – 3 November 1902) was a German journalist and liberal politician. He was the father of the philosopher

Heinrich Rickert Heinrich John Rickert (; 25 May 1863 – 25 July 1936) was a German philosopher, one of the leading neo-Kantians. Life Rickert was born in Danzig, Prussia (now Gdańsk, Poland) to the journalist and later politician Heinrich Edwin Rickert and ...

Biography

Rickert was born in Putzig,

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a Provinces of Prussia, province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kin ...

(Puck, Poland), his father was the head of the local post office and later a customs officer. Rickert attended school in Danzig (Gdańsk) and

Thorn Thorn(s) or The Thorn(s) may refer to: Botany * Thorns, spines, and prickles, sharp structures on plants * ''Crataegus monogyna'', or common hawthorn, a plant species Comics and literature * Rose and Thorn, the two personalities of two DC Comic ...

(Toruń) and studied economics at the Universities of Breslau (Wrocław) and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

. In 1858, he started to work as a journalist for the newfounded Danziger Zeitung and soon became its editor and owner. In 1863, Rickert became a member of the City council of Danzig, he was a Co-founder of the National Liberal Party in 1866 and, next to

Max von Forckenbeck Maximilian (Max) Franz August von Forckenbeck (23 October 1821 – 26 May 1892) was a German lawyer and liberal politician who served as Mayor of Berlin from 1878 until his death. His is considered one of the most important mayors of the city beca ...

Ludwig Bamberger Ludwig Bamberger (22 July 1823 – 14 March 1899) was a German Jewish economist, politician, revolutionary and writer. Early life Bamberger was born into the wealthy Ashkenazi Jewish Bamberger family in Mainz. After studying at Giessen, Hei ...

and Eduard Lasker, member of the party executive in 1867 and from 1877 to 1880.

Parliamentarian

Rickert was elected a member of the Prussian House of Representatives in 1870 and a member of the

German Parliament The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...

in 1874. From 1875 to 1878 Rickert was also member and president of the diet of the

Province of Prussia The Province of Prussia (; ; pl, Prowincja Prusy; csb, Prowincjô Prësë) was a province of Prussia from 1829 to 1878. Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1829 from the provinces of East Prussia and West Prussia ...

until the separation of the province into

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

and

in 1878. In a political conflict about the defense budget, fiscal bills and the

Kulturkampf (, 'culture struggle') was the conflict that took place from 1872 to 1878 between the Catholic Church in Germany, Catholic Church led by Pope Pius IX and the government of Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia led by Otto von Bismarck. The main issues wer ...

policy Rickert left his party and founded the left-liberal Liberal Union ("Secessionists") in 1880, Rickert led the party and published their "Reichsblatt" since 1882. In March 1884 the Liberal Union merged with the

German Progress Party The German Progress Party (german: Deutsche Fortschrittspartei, DFP) was the first modern political party in Germany, founded by liberal members of the Prussian House of Representatives () in 1861 in opposition to Minister President Otto von Bism ...

and formed the

German Free-minded Party The German Free-minded Party (german: Deutsche Freisinnige Partei, DFP) or German Radical Party was a short-lived liberal party in the German Empire, founded on 5 March 1884 as a result of the merger of the German Progress Party and the Liberal ...

. Rickert became the co-chairman next to

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 ...

(1838–1906), but left the party again in a conflict regarding the defense budget in 1893. He and several other former "Secessionists" now formed the

Free-minded 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 tension ...

, which was led by Rickert until his death in 1902.

Non-parliamentary activities

Rickert followed

Franz Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch Franz Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch, also Hermann Schulze, (29 August 1808 – 29 April 1883) was a German politician and economist. He was responsible for the organizing of the world's first credit unions. He was also co-founder of the German Progre ...

as chairman of the Society for adult education ("Gesellschaft für Verbreitung von Volksbildung") and was a leading figure in the founding of the

Organization for combatting Anti-Semitism An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

("Vereins zur Abwehr des Antisemitismus") in 1890. Following the death of

Rudolf von Gneist Heinrich Rudolf Hermann Friedrich von Gneist (13 August 1816 – 22 July 1895) was a German jurist and politician. Born in Berlin, he was the son of a judge attached to the city's ''Kammergericht'' (Court of Appeal). Gneist made significant infl ...

in 1895 Rickert became its president. In 1892, Rickert was a founding member of the

German Peace Society The German Peace Society (german: Deutsche Friedensgesellschaft (DFG)) was founded in 1892 in Berlin. In 1900 it moved its headquarters to Stuttgart. It still exists and is known as the ''Deutsche Friedensgesellschaft - Vereinigte Kriegsdienstgegne ...

. Rickert strongly supported the foundation of the Technical University of Danzig, which was completed in 1904, and was the chairman of the supervisory board of the Danzig Bank Association (Danziger Bankverein).

Family

Rickert was married to Annette Stoddart (1839–1889), they had two sons, Franz (1872–1939) and the philosopher

. Rickert died on 3 November 1902 in

References

External links