Eugen Richter (30 July 183810 March 1906) was a German

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

Imperial Germany The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

. He was one of the leading Old Liberals in the Prussian Landtag and the German Reichstag.

Career

Son of a combat medic, Richter attended the Gymnasium in his home town of Düsseldorf. In 1856 he began to study Law and Economics, first at the University of

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 ...

, and later at the

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

. He obtained a law degree in 1859. Richter became a strong advocate of free trade, a market economy, and a

Rechtsstaat ''Rechtsstaat'' (; lit. "state of law"; "legal state") is a doctrine in continental European legal thinking, originating in Germany, German jurisprudence. It can be translated into English as "rule of law", alternatively "legal state", state of l ...

; views he held for all his life. In 1859 he became a civil servant in the judiciary. He achieved some renown for his essay ''Über die Freiheit des Schankgewerbes'' (On the liberty of the tavern trade). His liberal views caused some trouble with the

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n bureaucracy. In 1864 he was elected the mayor of Neuwied, but the president of the provincial government refused to confirm his election result. Richter left the civil service, and became the parliamentary correspondent of the ''Elberfelder Zeitung'' in Berlin. In 1867 he entered the Reichstag, and after 1869 also became a member of the Prussian Lower House. He became the leader of the

German Progress Party The German Progress Party (, 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 Bismarck. History Upon the failed R ...

(Deutsche Fortschrittspartei), after 1884 the German Freeminded Party (Deutsche Freisinnige Partei), after 1893 the Free-minded People's Party (''Freisinnige Volkspartei''), and was one of the leading critics of the policies of

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...

. Richter opposed the Anti-Socialist Laws of 1878 that banned the Social Democratic Party. He said: "I fear Social-Democracy more under this law than without it". In response to rumours that Bismarck was planning to introduce a tobacco monopoly, Richter unsuccessfully sought to persuade the Reichstag to pass a resolution that condemned such a monopoly as "economically, financially, and politically unjustifiable". When Bismarck proposed a system of social insurance that was to be paid for by the state, Richter denounced it as "not Socialistic, but Communistic". From 1885 to 1904 he was the chief editor of the liberal newspaper ''Freisinnige Zeitung''.

Political positions

Opposition to socialism

His novel "Pictures of the Socialistic Future" (1891) is a dystopian novel which predicts what would happen to Germany if the socialism espoused by the trade unionists, social democrats, and Marxists was put into practice. He aims to show that government ownership of the

means of production In political philosophy, the means of production refers to the generally necessary assets and resources that enable a society to engage in production. While the exact resources encompassed in the term may vary, it is widely agreed to include the ...

and

central planning A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, ...

of the economy would lead to shortages, not abundance as the

socialists Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the economic, political, and socia ...

claimed. Written in the form of a diary by a Socialist Revolutionary and former

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although ...

who comes to see the horrors his Party unleashes after taking power, the narrator begins by applauding expropriation, the use of lethal force to prevent emigration, and the reassignment of people to new tasks, all the while assuring doubters that an earthly paradise is just around the corner. At one point, however, the narrator asks rhetorically: "What is

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic Media (communication), media, especially publication, published materials, shoul ...

if the government owns all the presses? What is

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

if the government owns all the houses of worship?" highlighting the abuse of power possible when all property is owned by the state. It has been described as prescient of what would actually occur in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

Bryan Caplan Bryan Douglas Caplan (born April 8, 1971) is an American economist and author. He is a professor of economics at George Mason University, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center, an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, and a former c ...

, an economist, who highlights Richter having predicted several policies which he describes that the East German government really used, such as outlawing

emigration Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

and killing those attempting this, as occurred with the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

in reality. He also argues that Richter held, unlike some thinkers critical of socialism, such repression is inherent with its actual practice, rather than a defect. He ascribes this to Richter's personal acquaintance with the original leaders of the German socialist movement, and notes that Richter queried them about the very issues he elucidates in the novel.

Opposition to anti-semitism

Anti-semitism was prevalent in the 1870s in Germany, but when the historian Heinrich von Treitschke and the Court Preacher Adolph Stöcker endorsed it in 1879, what had been a fringe phenomenon gained national attention. Various newspapers (such as the "Berliner Antisemitismusstreit") published articles attacking Jews. A petition to the Reich Chancellor

called for administrative measures banning Jewish immigration, and restricting their access to positions in education and the judiciary ( "Antisemitenpetition", German Wikipedia). Although anti-semitism was opposed by Eugen Richter's Progress Party and some National Liberals led by

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; ; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th ce ...

and Heinrich Rickert (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 a ...

), other National Liberals, and the other parties — Conservatives, Center Party, and Socialists — mostly either stayed aloof or flirted with anti-semitism. In November 1880, a declaration by 75 leading scientists, businessmen, and politicians was published in major newspapers condemning anti-semitism ("Notabeln-Erklärung"). It was signed by among others the Mayor of Berlin Max von Forckenbeck, the anthropologist

Rudolf Virchow Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow ( ; ; 13 October 18215 September 1902) was a German physician, anthropologist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist, writer, editor, and politician. He is known as "the father of modern pathology" and as the founder o ...

, the historian

, and the entrepreneur and inventor Werner Siemens ( founder of Siemens AG). On 20 November 1880 the Progress Party brought the issue before the Prussian Landtag, asking the government to take a stand on whether or not legal restrictions were to be introduced ("Interpellation Hänel"). The government confirmed that the legal status of Jews was not to be altered, but fell short of condemning anti-semitism.

complained in the ensuing debate: Berolina 02 11 1881

While on the first day of the debate a consensus seemed to emerge against the anti-semitic movement, on the second day, November 22, 1880 some politicians began to declare their anti-semitism. In his speech, Eugen Richter predicted the eventual consequences of the anti-semitic movement: He concluded his speech with the words: Responding to an anti-semitic meeting on 17 December 1880, the Progress Party invited all electors for the Prussian Landtag to a meeting in the Reichshallen on 12 January 1881 to demonstrate that the citizens of Berlin did not support anti-semitism. Eugen Richter delivered a speech before an audience of 2.500 electors, attacking anti-semitic university students:''Die Verurtheilung der antisemitischen Bewegung durch die Wahlmänner von Berlin: Bericht über die allgemeine Versammlung d. Wahlmänner aus d. 4. Berliner Landtags-Wahlkreisen am 12. Jan. 1881.'' C. Bartel, Berlin 1881 (in German)
/ref> He turned the anti-semitic accusations around: Already in February 1880, the German Crown Prince and latter Emperor Frederick III had called the anti-semitic movement in a private conversation with the president of the Jewish corporation of Berlin, Meyer Magnus, "a disgrace for Germany" (in some reports also "a disgrace of our time" or "a disgrace for our nation"). Eugen Richter referred to these words, which the Crown Prince confirmed two days later: He rejected the claim that the anti-semitic movement had grown from the ranks of craftsmen, workers, and businessmen: In his concluding words, he called upon his audience: On 27 October 1881 the Progress Party defeated the anti-semitic "Berliner Bewegung" (Berlin Movement), winning all six seats for the capital, with Eugen Richter gaining 66% of the vote in the first round.

Notes

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