Friedrich Paeplow (17 May 1860 – 19 January 1934) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

trade unionist and politician. Born in Zirkow, Paeplow completed an apprenticeship as a bricklayer, and moved to

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of former East Germany after (East Be ...

in his

journeyman A journeyman is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that field as a fully qualified employee ...

years. He joined 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 in 1890 was elected as its Chemnitz chair. In 1892, he became the editor of the local SPD newspaper, the ''Chemnitzer Beobachter'', and also became a

shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a trades/labour union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the un ...

for the Central Union of Masons. In 1896, Paeplow moved to

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, where he became the editor of ''Grundstein'', the masons' union's national newspaper. From 1899, he served on the executive of the

General Commission of German Trade Unions The General Commission of German Trade Unions () was an umbrella body for German trade unions during the German Empire, from the end of the Anti-Socialist Laws in 1890 up to 1919. In 1919, a successor organisation was named the Allgemeiner Deutsch ...

, although he stood down in 1902, when the federation's headquarters moved to Berlin. He remained politically active, and in 1904 was elected to Hamburg City Council. Paeplow was a delegate at the 1907 congress of the Second International, held in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. There, he sided with American, Australian, and South African delegates during the discussion on immigration policy. Taking a hard-line nativist stance, Paeplow argued in favor of restricting immigration, especially from Asia, Italy, and the

Slavic Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slav ...

lands. In 1908, Paeplow became the general secretary of the masons' union, and office manager for its president, Theodor Bömelburg. He remained in post when the union became part of the

German Construction Workers' Union The German Construction Workers' Union (, DBV) was a trade union representing building workers in Germany. The union was founded on 1 January 1911, when the Central Union of Masons merged with the Central Union of Construction Workers, the two ...

in 1911, and in 1913 succeeded Bömelburg as president. He also became general secretary of the International Federation of Building Workers (IFBW). Paeplow supported German involvement in

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 ...

, and argued against any

industrial action Industrial action (British English) or job action (American English) is a temporary show of dissatisfaction by employees—especially a strike or slowdown or working to rule—to protest against bad working conditions or low pay and to increas ...

while the conflict was ongoing. After the war, he argued for the socialisation of housing. In 1919, he switched to become president of the IFBW, and he was appointed to the Provisional Reich Economic Council. In 1923, he took the union into a further merger, which produced the German Union of Building Trades, of which he remained president. In 1925, Paeplow was elected as an SPD member of the Reichstag, though he served only until 1926. In 1927, Paeplow retired from his trade union posts. He then wrote a history of the German construction workers, which was published in 1932.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paeplow, Fritz 1860 births 1934 deaths German trade unionists Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic People from Vorpommern-Rügen Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians