Fritz Köster (1855–1934) was a German

anarcho-syndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is an anarchist organisational model that centres trade unions as a vehicle for class conflict. Drawing from the theory of libertarian socialism and the practice of syndicalism, anarcho-syndicalism sees trade unions as both ...

and

trade unionist A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

Biography

Born in 1855 in

Rodenberg Rodenberg () is a town in the Landkreis Schaumburg, district of Schaumburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the northwestern edge of the Deister hills, approx. 10 km east of Stadthagen, and 27 km west of Hanover. Rodenberg ...

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

(now in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

), Köster was active in 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) starting in the early 1880s. He participated in the socialist movement in Groß Ottersleben, near

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

, which the

Anti-Socialist Laws The Anti-Socialist Laws or Socialist Laws (; officially , approximately "Law against the public danger of Social Democratic endeavours") were a series of acts of the parliament of the German Empire, the first of which was passed on 19 October 187 ...

made illegal at the time. He was a leader in the town's trade union and was sentenced to prison multiple times, including in 1886 for three months for libel and in 1887 for eighteen months for distributing literature. After the Anti-Socialist Laws ended in 1890, Köster joined the ''Jungen'' opposition in the Magdeburg SPD and served as

Wanzleben Wanzleben is a town and a former municipality in the Börde district, in Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany. Between 2004 and 2010 it was the seat of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Börde Wanzleben. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Wanzleben-Bör ...

delegate at the SPD convention. He became editor of the ''Magdeburger Volkstimme'' and was sentenced to prison again for its articles but fled in 1891 instead of serving. In

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Switzerland, throughout the 1890s, he was active in various unions and the Swiss anarchist movement. Police reports called him the "leader of the Zurich anarchists". When the German statute of limitations expired on his prior charges, Köster returned to Groß Ottersleben in January 1910 and re-joined the SPD and

Gustav Landauer Gustav Landauer (7 April 1870 – 2 May 1919) was a German philosopher, writer, and a leading theorist of anarchism in Germany at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. He was an advocate of social anarchism and an avowed ...

. Köster rallied rural workers to join the anarchist movement and led a farm workers' strike. In June 1910, the SPD moved to expel their anarchists but Köster left the party first. In 1911, he moved to

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 ...

, where he started working for the weekly newspaper '' Die Tribüne'' and founded '' Der Pionier'' for the anarcho-syndicalist

Free Association of German Trade Unions Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, the ability to act or change without constraint or restriction * Emancipate, attaining civil and political rights or equality * Free (''gratis''), free of charge * Gratis versus libre, the difference bet ...

(FVdG). He was repeatedly sentenced and imprisoned for three months before resigning the role in late 1912 and moving to

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

, where he became a leader in the syndicalist construction workers' union and lectured across Germany for FVdG. He also served the FVdG successor organization, the

Free Workers' Union of Germany The Free Workers' Union of Germany (; FAUD) was an anarcho-syndicalist trade union in Germany. It stemmed from the Free Association of German Trade Unions (FDVG) which combined with the Ruhr region's Freie Arbeiter Union on September 15, 1919. ...

(FAUD) and continued to write for syndicalist newspapers in the 1920s, as did his wife, Aimée. He died in 1934.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koster, Fritz 1855 births 1934 deaths 20th-century anarchists Anarcho-syndicalists German anarchists German syndicalists German trade unionists Members of the Free Association of German Trade Unions Members of the Free Workers' Union of Germany People from the Electorate of Hesse People from Schaumburg

Biography

See also

References