Gustav Trunk (24 July 1871 in Waldprechtsweier - 23 April 1936 in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

) was a three-time President of Baden. He was a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

by occupation and was a member of the

German Centre Party The Centre Party (, Z), officially the German Centre Party (, DZP) and also known in English as the Catholic Centre Party, is a Christian democratic political party in Germany. It was most influential in the German Empire and Weimar Republic. F ...

. In 1897, Gustav Trunk married Emma Eppel in

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

. He studied law in

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 ...

, graduating in 1900. Heavily influenced by his model, Franz Xavier Lenders, Trunk joined the Centre Party.

Early political career and first term (1920-21)

He served on the city council of

from 1911 until 1919. Upon the creation of the

Republic of Baden The Republic of Baden () was a German state during the Weimar Republic. It was formed as the successor to the Grand Duchy of Baden during the German revolution of 1918–1919 and formally dissolved in 1945. Today it is part of the federal state ...

, he was appointed Minister for Food, a position in which he served until 1919, when he became Minister for Justice. On 14 August 1920 the Centre party defeated 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 ...

in the Baden elections and Trunk became State President, succeeding the centre-leftist Anton Geiss. By 1921, however, the left wing regained much of its popularity, and Trunk's party was defeated by the left-wing liberal

German Democratic Party The German Democratic Party (, DDP) was a liberal political party in the Weimar Republic, considered centrist or centre-left. Along with the right-liberal German People's Party (, DVP), it represented political liberalism in Germany between 19 ...

External links

Rulers of Baden
1871 births 1936 deaths {{Germany-Centre-politician-stub