Albert Roßhaupter (8 April 1878 – 14 December 1949) was a

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

n politician of the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

(SPD) and editor of several newspapers.

Biography

Roßhaupter was born in Pillnach as son of a small-scale farmer and basket maker. After visiting the elementary school in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, he passed a professional lacquer training. In 1897 he joined the SPD, and worked at the central train garages of Munich from 1899 to 1908. After 1900 he was additional district manager of the free-unionized and social democratic Bavarian train garages and factory workers' association (Bayerischer Eisenbahnwerkstätten und Betriebsarbeiterverband), respectively district manager of the Southern German railway and postal workers' union (Süddeutscher Eisenbahn- und Postpersonalverbund). Thenceforward 1907 until 1933, he was member of the Bavarian parliament. In 1909 he became manager and full-time secretary of the Southern German railway and postal workers' union, and was also editor of the union's organ "Süddeutsche Eisenbahn- und Postpersonal-Zeitung" in

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

until 1912. After 1913 he had several jobs in

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

, where he was member of the SPD executive committee of

until 1914, also community mandatory of the city and editor of the "Schwäbische Volkszeitung" (literally:

Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...

n people's newspaper) until 1920. After his military service during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he was member of the Bavarian SPD commission. As a member of the provisorily parliament he became minister for military affairs (war minister) under

Kurt Eisner Kurt Eisner (; 14 May 1867 21 February 1919)"Kurt Eisner – Encyclopædia Britannica" (biography), ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2006, Britannica.com webpageBritannica-KurtEisner. was a German politician, revolutionary, journalist, and theatre c ...

on 8 November and held the office until 21 February 1919. From 1920 to 1933 he worked as editor of the "Bayerisches Wochenblatt" (literally: Bavarian weekly paper), organ of the agriculture and forestry worker's union in Augsburg and

Olching Olching (; Central Bavarian: ''Oiching'') is a Town#Germany, town in the Fürstenfeldbruck (district), district of Fürstenfeldbruck, and suburb to Munich in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated approximately 20 km (12 mi) northwest of Muni ...

. As the parliamentary leader of the SPD in the Bavarian parliament, he affirmed the disapproval to the

Enabling Act of 1933 The Enabling Act of 1933 ( German: ', officially titled ' ), was a law that gave the German Cabinet—most importantly, the chancellor, Adolf Hitler—the power to make and enforce laws without the involvement of the Reichstag or President Pa ...

of the

Nazi party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

(NSDAP) on 29 April 1933. Due to this he was imprisoned in

Fürstenfeldbruck Fürstenfeldbruck () is a town in Bavaria, Germany, 32 kilometres west of Munich. It is the capital of the district of Fürstenfeldbruck. it had a population of 35,494. Since the 1930s Fürstenfeldbruck has had an air force base. Geography F ...

and in the

Dachau concentration camp Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...

from 1933 to 1934, and a few times afterwards, at last again in Dachau in 1944. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he was a leading member of the SPD- KPD workgroup in Munich, and became the first Bavarian Minister of Labor and Social Care on 28 May 1945. During this period, he was also deputy of Minister-President

Wilhelm Hoegner Wilhelm Johann Harald Hoegner (23 September 1887 – 5 March 1980) was the second Bavarian minister-president after World War II (1945–1946 and 1954–1957), and the father of the Bavarian constitution. He has been the only Social Democrat ...

from 28 September 1945 to 21 December 1946, deputy president of the preparing

constitutional commission A constitutional commission is a body of commissioners appointed by a government for the purpose of making or revising a constitution. The commissioners are typically experts. However, in a country governed by a military regime, the commissioner ...

from 8 March to 24 June 1946 and member of the constitutional convention (Ger: verfassunggebende Landesversammlung) from 30 June to 26 October 1946. On 20 September 1947 Heinrich Krehle followed on the ministry post. From 1948 to 1949 Roßhaupter was member of the

Parlamentarischer Rat The ''Parlamentarischer Rat'' ( German for "Parliamentary Council") was the West German constituent assembly in Bonn that drafted and adopted the constitution of West Germany, the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, promulgated on 23 M ...

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

. He died in Nannhofen.today

Mammendorf Mammendorf () is a municipality in Bavaria, Germany. It is located halfway between Munich and Augsburg. Location Mammendorf is part of the district of Fürstenfeldbruck, Upper Bavaria and lies about 6 kilometres northwest of the city of Fürstenf ...

''Roßhaupter, Albert''
House of the Bavarian history (HdBG). The ''Albert-Rosshaupter-Straße'' in Munich is named in honor of him.

Bibliography

* Klaus Warnecke: ''Albert Rosshaupter: Ein Leben für Freiheit und soziale Gerechtigkeit'', Sendling-West-Verlag, Munich

References and notes

External links

* * Photos
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosshaupter, Albert Ministers of war of Bavaria Politicians from Bavaria Weimar Republic politicians Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Dachau concentration camp survivors 1878 births 1949 deaths Members of the Bavarian Chamber of Deputies People from Straubing-Bogen Ministers of the Bavaria State Government