Fritz Tarnow (April 13, 1880 in

Bad Oeynhausen Bad Oeynhausen () is a spa town on the southern edge of the Wiehengebirge in the district of Minden-Lübbecke in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe, East-Westphalia-Lippe region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The closest larger towns are Bielefeld (39 ki ...

Province of Westphalia The Province of Westphalia () was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946. In turn, Prussia was the largest component state of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918, of the Weimar ...

– October 23, 1951) was a

Social Democrat Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

trade union 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 ...

ist and Reichstag deputy during the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

. Tarnow was the son of a carpenter and attended elementary school in Hanover, where he also became a carpenter's apprentice. He then became a

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 ...

and traveled throughout Germany. He worked until 1906 as a carpenter, and in the years 1901 to 1906, he was also a board member of the

Rastatt Rastatt () is a town with a Baroque core, District of Rastatt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located in the Upper Rhine Plain on the Murg river, above its junction with the Rhine and has a population of around 51,000 (2022). Rastatt was an ...

, ,

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 Berlin branches of the . Then he worked until 1908 as a literary and statistical assistant in the main office of the Wood Workers Association 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 ...

. In 1909, he graduated from the central school of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SPD) in Berlin. From 1909 to 1919, Tarnow was then head of the Literary Agents (Press Office) in the main office of the German Wood Workers' Union, in Berlin. In addition, from 1909 to 1915, he was a community representative, a member of the district assembly and a board member of the SPD in Berlin-Friedrichshagen. Tarnow fought in the

First World War 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 was severely wounded, causing lasting injury. During the November Revolution of 1918, Tarnow was a member of the Workers and Soldiers Council in

Brandenburg an der Havel Brandenburg an der Havel (; ) is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, which served as the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg until it was replaced by Berlin in 1417. With a population of 72,040 (as of 2020), it is located on the banks of the ...

. He became secretary of the Wood Workers Association, later serving as chairman from 1920 to 1933. He was one of the leading figures in the national executive of the

Allgemeiner Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund The General German Trade Union Federation (, ADGB) was a confederation of German trade unions in Germany founded during the Weimar Republic. It was founded in 1919 and was initially powerful enough to organize a general strike in 1920 against a rig ...

, a German trade union confederation. In the latter half of the 1920s, he was one of the main proponents of Fritz Naphtali's concept of

economic democracy Economic democracy (sometimes called a democratic economy) is a socioeconomic philosophy that proposes to shift ownership and decision-making power from corporate shareholders and corporate managers (such as a board of directors) to a larger ...

. He was briefly secretary of the International Woodworkers Association. In addition, from 1920 to 1933, he was a member of the provisional Reichswirtschaftsrat. He was also the leader of the Society for Social Reform and German Werkbund. In 1928, he joined the Reichstag as a member for the SPD. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

he advocated, alongside Vladimir S. Voitinsky, a proto-Keynesian public works program dubbed the WTB plan. After

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

's rise to power in early 1933 and the dismantling of the trade unions, Tarnow was arrested on 2 May. Hans Staudinger, who had been a State Secretary in the Prussian Ministry of Trade until the '' Preußenschlag'', succeeded in obtaining Tarnow's release from

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

custody. Staudinger impersonated a senior Prussian officer and ordered Tarnow's release.Hans Staudinger: ''Wirtschaftspolitik im Weimarer Staat. Lebenserinnerungen eines politischen Beamten im Reich und in Preußen 1889 bis 1934'', hrsg. und eingeleitet von Hagen Schulze (Archiv für Sozialgeschichte, Beiheft 10), Verlag Neue Gesellschaft, Bonn 1982, S. 87. . (Hans Staudinger:''economic policy in Weimar state. Living memories of a political officials in the Empire and Prussia from 1889 to 1934'', ed. and initiated by Hagen Schulze (Archive of Social History, Supplement 10), published by New Society, Bonn 1982, p. 87.) After his release, he immediately left the country, and fled first to the Netherlands, then Denmark and finally, Sweden. There, he tried to rebuild the trade unions in exile. He returned to

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

in 1946 and was the secretary of the

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

and

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

Trade Union Confederation in 1946 and 1947. From 1947 to 1949, he was secretary of the union council of Bizone and then the

Trizone The Bizone () or Bizonia was the combination of the United States, American and the British occupation zone in Germany, British occupation zones on 1 January 1947 during the Allied-occupied Germany, occupation of Germany after World War II. Wi ...

. He retired in 1949, but continued as a lecturer at the Academy of work in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

References

Bibliography

* William Heinz Schroeder: ''Social Democratic parliamentarians in the German Reich and country days 1867 - 1933. Biographies, Chronicle and electoral documentation. A Manual''. Düsseldorf, 1995. S.764f.

External links

short biography of the Archives of social democracy

short biography of the German Resistance Memorial Center
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarnow, Fritz 1880 births 1951 deaths People from Bad Oeynhausen People from the Province of Westphalia Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic German trade unionists