Reinhold Maier (16 October 1889 – 19 August 1971) was a German politician and the leader of the FDP from 1957–1960. From 1946 to 1952 he was

Minister President A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. I ...

of Württemberg-Baden and then the 1st

of the new state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

until 1953. He served as the 4th President of the Bundesrat in 1952/53, the only FDP politician in German history to do so to date. Maier was born in

Schorndorf Schorndorf is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located approximately 26 km east of Stuttgart. Its train station is the terminus of the S2 line of the Stuttgart S-Bahn. The town is also sometimes referred to as ' (''The Daimler Tow ...

Early life

Maier, a Protestant, was born the son of a municipal architect, Gottlieb Maier, in Schorndorf. After attending grammar school in Schorndorf, Reinhold Maier attended the Dillmann-Gymnasium in Stuttgart and, in 1907, received his Abitur. He then studied law at the University of Grenoble and at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-W� ...

. There he was a member of the South German (and liberally inclined) Tübingen fraternity "Academic Society Stuttgardia Tübingen". Here he met fellow aspiring politicians such as Eberhard Wildermuth, Karl Georg Pfleiderer, Konrad Wittwer and Wolfgang Haussmann. He received his doctorate in law in Heidelberg. During the First World War he took part as a soldier at the foot artillery regiment 13. In 1920 he settled in Stuttgart and practiced as a lawyer. In 1924 he was inducted into the Masonic Lodge "Zu den 3 cedars" in Stuttgart. During the Nazi era he worked as a lawyer; his wife Gerta Goldschmidt flew to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

with their two children. Reinhold Maier was forced to divorce her under Nazi pressure but remarried her after the war in 1946.

Career

Already a member of the

Progressive People's Party (Germany) The Progressive People's Party (german: Fortschrittliche Volkspartei, FVP) was a social liberal party of the late German Empire. History It was formed on 6 March 1910 as a merger of Free-minded People's Party, Free-minded Union and German P ...

(FVP) since 1912, Maier joined the newly formed left-wing liberal

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 ...

(DDP) in 1918. In 1924 he became chairman of the Stuttgart District Association of DDP. In 1945 Maier participated in the founding of the Democratic People's Party (Germany)(DVP), not to be confused with the

German People's Party The German People's Party (German: , or DVP) was a liberal party during the Weimar Republic that was the successor to the National Liberal Party of the German Empire. A right-liberal, or conservative-liberal political party, it represented politi ...

of the Weimar Republic. The DVP was absorbed by the FDP in 1948. Maier became Minister President of “Württemberg-Baden”, a constituent state of the subsequent ‘’Land’’ of Baden-Württemberg in 1945, following the collapse of the Nazi regime, which in its twilight had claimed the life of his former boss, the last elected Minister President Eugen Bolz, one of the 20 July Plot conspirators. As such, he preceded the

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

state by setting up a constitutional democratic system in competition with the burgeoning SPD and communist parties, and the French and American occupation authorities. Despite his DVP party consistently polling less votes than Christian Democratic and socialist opponents, Maier steadfastly maintained coalitions with the liberals as the leading party. After the formation of the coalition of FDP / DVP, SPD and All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights (BHE) under his leadership, simultaneous to the creation of the new state of Baden-Württemberg in 1952, the Hesse FDP Association requested the expulsion of Maier and the state chairman Wolfgang Haussmann (1903-1989) from the party along with the separation of the DVP from the FDP, but the coup was not successful. From 1957 to 1960 he was Chairman of the FDP, and then until his death honorary chairman.

Deputy

Maier was 1932–1933 a member of parliament for the German State Party. At the same time he was from 1932 to 1933 a member of the . On 23 March 1933, he voted for the Enabling Act together with the other four liberal Reichstag deputies

Hermann Dietrich Hermann Robert Dietrich (14 December 1879 – 6 March 1954) was a German politician of the liberal German Democratic Party and served as a minister during the Weimar Republic. Finance Minister of Germany In 1930, Dietrich succeeded Paul Molden ...

Theodor Heuss Theodor Heuss (; 31 January 1884 – 12 December 1963) was a German liberal politician who served as the first president of West Germany from 1949 to 1959. His cordial nature – something of a contrast to the stern character of chancellor K ...

, , and

Ernst Lemmer Ernst Lemmer (April 28, 1898 – August 16, 1970) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and former member of the German Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the ...

. The final sentence of his speech was: For the sake of people and country and in anticipation of a legitimate development, we will rescind our serious concerns and approve the Enabling Act. According to the informations of Theodor Heuss in his memoirs, the five liberal Reichstag deputies have initially been divided with respect to the Enabling Act. Heuss had formulated two explanations, one for rejection, one for abstention. At his side, however, was only Hermann Dietrich. Heinrich Landahl, Ernst Lemmer and Reinhold Maier voted in the Reichstag group for approval. Heuss and Dietrich were overruled, so then all Liberal MPs voted for the Enabling Act. In 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 ...

Maier was a member of the

(DDP). In 1945 he was a founder of the Democratic People's Party (DVP), which is now the Baden-Württemberg-Organisation of the FDP. He died in Stuttgart.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maier, Reinhold 1889 births 1971 deaths People from Schorndorf German Protestants Presidents of the German Bundesrat German Democratic Party politicians Free Democratic Party (Germany) politicians Members of the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg People from the Kingdom of Württemberg Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic Ministers-President of Baden-Württemberg