The General German Trade Union Federation (, ADGB) was a confederation of German trade unions in Germany founded 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 ...

. It was founded in 1919 and was initially powerful enough to organize a

general strike A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coalitions ...

in 1920 against a right-wing coup d'état. After the 1929 Wall Street crash, the ensuing

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 ...

caused widespread unemployment. The ADGB suffered a dramatic loss of membership, both from unemployment and political squabbles. By the time the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

s seized control of the government, the ADGB's leadership had distanced itself from 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 was openly cooperating with Nazis in an attempt to keep the organization alive. Nonetheless, on 2 May 1933 the SA and SS stormed the offices of the ADGB and its member trade unions, seized their assets and arrested their leaders, crushing the organization.

History

The ADGB was founded on 5 July 19191919 Chronology
German Historical Museum. Retrieved August 5, 2011 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 ...

after the first postwar congress of free trade unions. The ADGB was founded as the new umbrella organization to succeed the General Commission of Germany's Trade Unions (Generalkommission der Gewerkschaften Deutschlands).

Carl Legien Carl Rudolf Legien (1 December 1861 – 26 December 1920) was a German unionist, moderate Social Democratic politician and first President of the International Federation of Trade Unions. Biography Legien was born in Marienburg, K ...

was elected as the first chairman. It was an amalgamation of 52 German trade unions and was affiliated with the General Federation of Free Employees (AfA-Bund) and the General German Civil Service Federation (Allgemeiner Deutscher Beamtenbund)."Allgemeiner Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund"
German Historical Museum. Retrieved August 8, 2011 The adjective "Allgemeiner" ("general")The adjective "allgemeiner" is sometimes awkward to translate. In this case, it has the sense of "across-the-board". was added to the name because in March 1919, the Christian and liberal trade unions had already founded umbrella organizations called the ''Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund''. An influential mass organization under Legien's leadership, it organized a

in 1920 to counter the right-wing

Kapp Putsch The Kapp Putsch (), also known as the Kapp–Lüttwitz Putsch (), was an abortive coup d'état against the German national government in Berlin on 13 March 1920. Named after its leaders Wolfgang Kapp and Walther von Lüttwitz, its goal was to ...

. Roughly 12 million workers took part, halting all production, transportation, mining and public services and, as ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote, "giving the Kapp régime its death blow". The free trade unions were not politically neutral; rather, they saw themselves as the economic arm of the socialist

labor movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

. Next to the free trade unions, were the Christian trade unions and the liberal unions. Neither were ever able to reach the membership numbers of the free trade unions. In 1920, the unions of the ADGB had over 8 million members, but the

at the end of the decade caused high unemployment, leading to a substantial drop in the membership of member unions. By the end of 1932, there were an estimated 3.5 million members. Despite the split in the SPD 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 ...

, the free trade unions continued to remain close to the SPD, the largest working class political party. Together, the SPD and the ADGB fought for the introduction

unemployment benefits Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work d ...

and a legally mandated eight-hour workday, which was gutted by regulations established in 1923. At the end of 1931, they united with the Reichsbanner and workers' sport clubs to form the

Iron Front The Iron Front () was a German "extraparliamentary" and paramilitary organization in the Weimar Republic which consisted of social democrats, trade unionists, and democratic socialists. Its main goal was to defend democracy against totalita ...

against the growing threat 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 ...

. At first, ADGB unions were open to members of other working class political parties including the

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (, ; KPD ) was a major Far-left politics, far-left political party in the Weimar Republic during the interwar period, German resistance to Nazism, underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and minor party ...

(KPD). This changed in 1929, when the KPD, under pressure from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, began to run competing candidates at factory

works council A works council is a shop-floor organization representing workers that functions as a local/firm-level complement to trade unions but is independent of these at least in some countries. Works councils exist with different names in a variety of re ...

elections. The

Revolutionäre Gewerkschafts Opposition The Revolutionäre Gewerkschafts Opposition (Revolutionary Union Opposition) was the communist trade union in Germany during the Weimar Republic.Larry Dean Peterson''German Communism, Workers' Protest, and Labor Unions: the Politics of the United F ...

(RGO), was founded in December 1929 as a communist opposition labor organization, hoping to draw left-wing unionists away from the ADGB., which led to the expulsion of many communists from the ADGB. By March 1932, the RGO had about 200,000 members. The evening of the day Hitler was declared to be the new chancellor by president Hindenburg, January 30,

Walter Ulbricht Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht (; ; 30 June 18931 August 1973) was a German communist politician. Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar republic, Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later in the early development ...

of the communist party delivered a renewed proposal for a joint call for a general strike, similar to the successful strike against the

of 1920, to the ADGB general union. The trade unions and SPD declined the offer and issued, opposing it, leaflets, posters and articles calling workers to ignore all calls for a strike issued solely by the communist party during February and March 1933. After the Nazis seized power in the election of March 1933, the trade union leadership tried to save their organizations by pandering to the Nazi Party and in April 1933, offered "to put themselves in service to the new state". At the same time, ADGB chairman

Theodor Leipart Theodor Leipart (17 May 1867 – 23 March 1947) was a leading German trades unionist. Life Provenance and early years Theodor Leipart was born into a Protestant family, the seventh of his parents' twelve recorded children, in Neubrandenburg, ...

, began to distance himself from the SPD and declared the ADGB to be politically neutral."Prohibition of Free Trade-Unions: SA Members Seize the Union Office on Engelsufer in Berlin (2 May 1933)"
German History in Documents and Images. Retrieved August 7, 2011"Der Verrat der sozialdemokratischen ADGB-Führer"
(PDF) ASK / VAB Hamburg-Altona, pp. 2–3. Retrieved August 7, 2011 This policy resulted in the call by the national board to partake in "National Labor Day", the Nazi version of

International Workers' Day International Workers' Day, also called Labour Day in some countries and often referred to as May Day, is a celebration of Wage labour, labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement and occurs every yea ...

, (also called "May Day"), a left-wing celebration of labor, and led to a break with the

International Federation of Trade Unions The International Federation of Trade Unions (also known as the Amsterdam International) was an international organization of trade unions, existing between 1919 and 1945. IFTU had its roots in the pre-war International Secretariat of National Tr ...

. Even as the Nazis were planning to storm union offices,"Circular from Dr. Robert Ley, Staff Chief of NSDAP Political Organizations, on the Action to "Coordinate" [Gleichschaltungaktion] the Free Trade Unions (21 April 1933)"
German History in Documents and Images. Retrieved August 8, 2011 ADGB leaders met with leaders of the Christian and liberal labor organization for talks about a merger in the hopes of forestalling a prohibition of organized labor. These efforts failed to prevent the free trade unions from a nationwide surprise attack the day after May Day, just two months later. On 2 May 1933 all ADGB member union were stormed, their offices occupied and assets seized by the SA, SS"2. Mai 1933: Zerschlagung der freien Gewerkschaften"
verdi.de (January 28, 2003). Retrieved August 6, 2011 and the

National Socialist Factory Cell Organization The National Socialist Factory Cell Organization (, NSBO or NSBZO) was a Labor union, workers organization in Nazi Germany. In 1927, some NSDAP workers in large factories, located mostly in the Berlin area, joined as an alternative to Social dem ...

. Officials were put in "

protective custody Protective custody (PC) is a type of imprisonment (or care) to protect a person from harm, either from outside sources or other prisoners. Many prison administrators believe the level of violence, or the underlying threat of violence within pris ...

" and many trade unionists were maltreated. In

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

, four trade union officials were brutally murdered.

Non-profit entities

The ADGB operated several non-profit companies. In 1924, a workers' bank was founded, the Bank der Deutschen Arbeit. On 29 July 1928 the

cornerstone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

was laid for the Bundesschule des Allgemeinen Deutschen Gewerkschaftsbundes (ADGB Trade Union School) in

Bernau bei Berlin Bernau bei Berlin (English ''Bernau by Berlin'', commonly named Bernau) is a town in the Barnim district in Brandenburg in eastern Germany, located about northeast of Berlin. History Archaeological excavations of Mesolithic-era sites indicate th ...

, Brandenburg. The school operated for only three years, until the Nazis gained power, after which the Nazis used part of the school to train the SS.David Sokol
"An Architectural Gem in Germany is Reborn"
''

Architectural Record ''Architectural Record'' is a US-based monthly magazine dedicated to architecture and interior design. Its editor in chief is Josephine Minutillo. ''The Record'', as it is sometimes colloquially referred to, is widely-recognized as an important ...

'' (August 13, 2008). Retrieved August 6, 2011

ADGB school after the war

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 ...

, the school was used by occupying Russian military forces and from 1946 by the Free German Trade Union Federation (FDGB), an

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

organisation. Its existence was forgotten and the 12-acre site was not open to the public. Only after the

fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (, ) on 9 November in German history, 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, marked the beginning of the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain, as East Berlin transit restrictions we ...

, was it rediscovered. The East Germans had made significant renovations to the building to the extent that it was not recognized by architects looking for it after 1989. The original complex was designed by the newly appointed director of the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...

School,

Hannes Meyer Hans Emil "Hannes" Meyer (18 November 1889 – 19 July 1954) was a Swiss architect and second director of the Bauhaus Dessau from 1928 to 1930. Early life Meyer was born in Basel, Switzerland, trained as a mason, and practiced as an architect ...

and his colleague Hans Wittwer. The design followed its architects' . The complex needed to house facilities to train and educate 120 people. The result was a Z-Shaped series of buildings that housed class-rooms, library, gymnasium and dining hall along with the insertion of a glass-blocked ceiling. Despite the extremely functional approach, materials were used in an expressive way including concrete, glass blocks and steel encasement windows. The complex was restored to its former glory following a Europe-wide competition for the contract. The Berlin Chamber of Crafts paid a portion of the costs and has used it as a training school since 2007.''Märkische Oderzeitung. Brandenburger Blätter'', (April 25, 2008), p. 3 In 2008 the restoration project won the architects, Brenne Gesellschaft von Architekten, the

World Monuments Fund World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and training ...

/ Knoll Modernism Prize. In July 2017 the former ADGB Trade Union School was added to the UNESCO

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

the

Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar, Dessau and Bernau Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar, Dessau and Bernau are World Heritage Site, World Heritage Sites in Germany, comprising six separate sites which are associated with the Bauhaus art school. It was designated in 1996 with four initial sites, and i ...

Affiliates

The following unions held membership of the federation:

Footnotes

References

External links

''Die Arbeit'' (1924–1933)

Friedrich Ebert Stiftung The Friedrich Ebert Foundation (''German: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.; Abbreviation: FES'') is a German political party foundation associated with, but independent from, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Established in 1925 as t ...

Retrieved August 6, 2011
Prohibition of Free Trade-Unions: SA Members Seize the Union Office on Engelsufer in Berlin (2 May 1933)
Retrieved 30 October 2016

German Historical Museum. Retrieved August 8, 2011
ADGB Trade Union School
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Architectuul
{{Authority control Organizations based in the Weimar Republic Labor history of Germany Defunct trade unions of Germany 1919 establishments in Germany 1933 disestablishments in Germany Trade unions established in 1919 Trade unions disestablished in 1933