Jakob Kaiser (8 February 1888 – 7 May 1961) was a German politician and resistance leader during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Jakob Kaiser was born in

Hammelburg Hammelburg is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It sits in the district of Bad Kissingen, in Lower Franconia. It lies on the river Franconian Saale, 25 km west of Schweinfurt. Hammelburg is the oldest winegrowing town (''Weinstadt'') in Franco ...

Lower Franconia Lower Franconia (german: Unterfranken) is one of seven districts of Bavaria, Germany. The districts of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia make up the region of Franconia. History After the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria the state was total ...

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...

. Following in his father's footsteps, Kaiser began a career as a bookbinder. It was during this time that he became politically active as a member of a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

, through which he became a leader of the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

labour movement during the

Weimar Republic The German Reich, commonly referred to as the Weimar Republic,, was a historical period of Germany from 9 November 1918 to 23 March 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is also r ...

. Kaiser increased his participation in politics by becoming a member of the Centre Party, where he began serving in the role of representative chairman of

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhineland ...

in 1919. He was elected to the Reichstag in 1933.

Resistance

After the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

came to power in 1933,

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

abolished all unions, replacing them with the Nazi controlled

German Labour Front The German Labour Front (german: Deutsche Arbeitsfront, ; DAF) was the labour organisation under the Nazi Party which replaced the various independent trade unions in Germany during Adolf Hitler's rise to power. History As early as March 1933, ...

. Kaiser opposed

National Socialism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

and he joined the resistance in 1934. He was arrested by the

Gestapo The (), 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 Prussia into one or ...

in 1938 under suspicion of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

, but released shortly thereafter. Through his participation in the

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

-resistance circle, Kaiser became a close associated of the former Mayor of

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

Carl Goerdeler Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (; 31 July 1884 – 2 February 1945) was a monarchist conservative German politician, executive, economist, civil servant and opponent of the Nazi regime. He opposed some anti-Jewish policies while he held office and was ...

. His relationship with Goerdeler allowed him to come into contact with

Claus von Stauffenberg Colonel Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (; 15 November 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German army officer best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair. Despite ...

. Although he was not directly informed of the

20 July Plot On 20 July 1944, Claus von Stauffenberg and other conspirators attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Führer of Nazi Germany, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia, now Kętrzyn, in present-day Poland. Th ...

, his knowledge of Stauffenberg's intention to assassinate

as well as his close ties to the resistance group forced him to go into hiding for the remainder of

Leader of the East German CDU

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-19000-1213, Berlin, CDU- Parteitag, Jakob Kaiser

After the war, Kaiser returned to

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

and worked with

Andreas Hermes Andreas Hermes (16 July 1878 – 4 January 1964) was a German agricultural scientist and politician. In the Weimar Republic, he was a member of several governments, serving as minister of food/nutrition and minister of finance for the Catholic Ze ...

to found the

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin. From 13 August 1961 u ...

division of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He was elected president of the Berlin CDU (both the Western and Eastern sections of the party). Kaiser belonged to a group within the CDU called the

Christian Socialists Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe cap ...

. They called for the nationalisation of some major industries. In 1946 Kaiser helped found the

Free German Trade Union Federation The Free German Trade Union Federation (german: Freier Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund or ''FDGB'') was the sole national trade union centre of the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) which existed from 1946 and 1990. As a mass organisa ...

(FDGB). In the same year he was elected co-chairman of the

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

CDU (together with

Ernst Lemmer Ernst Lemmer (April 28, 1898 – August 16, 1970) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and former member of the German Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the German Federalism, fed ...

). Although his political views were progressive, he was critical of the

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West German ...

and its

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

-supported leaders. His belief that the German Congress was controlled by the Soviets resulted in his refusal to join. In 1947 during the

Ahlen Ahlen (; Westphalian: ''Aulen'') is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 30 km southeast of Münster. Ahlen is part of the District of Warendorf and is economically the most important town in that district. Ahlen is part of the larger ...

conference, a joint conference of

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

and East German CDU leaders, Kaiser's plan of nationalisation of key industries and other moderate leftwing ideas were adopted by the party. In 1947 the Soviets forced him to resign as party chairman. However, he remained a member of the party's Executive Committee. In 1948 Kaiser was forced to leave East Berlin and he went to West Berlin where he joined the West German Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Within the CDU he became a major rival of

Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a Germany, German statesman who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the fir ...

, the party leader. Kaiser disagreed with Adenauer's

social market economy The social market economy (SOME; german: soziale Marktwirtschaft), also called Rhine capitalism, Rhine-Alpine capitalism, the Rhenish model, and social capitalism, is a socioeconomic model combining a free-market capitalist economic system alo ...

and called for the nationalisation of key industries. Kaiser strongly believed in a neutral, united

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, and hoped that Germany would be a bridge between the West and the East. In 1950 Kaiser was elected a vice-chairman of the West German CDU. From 1949 until 1957 he was

Minister of All-German Affairs The Federal Minister of Intra-German Relations (german: Bundesminister für innerdeutsche Beziehungen) was a federal cabinet minister of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). The office was created under the title of Federal Minister of A ...

in Adenauer's cabinet. Ehrengrab Jakob Kaiser

Kaiser died on 7 May 1961 in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

. He is buried in the

Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf (Zehlendorf forest cemetery) is a cemetery located in Berlin's Nikolassee district. The cemetery occupies an area of 376,975 m2. An additional Italian war cemetery was created there in 1953. A number of notable people of Ber ...

, in the

Steglitz-Zehlendorf Steglitz-Zehlendorf () is the sixth borough of Berlin, formed in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform by merging the former boroughs of Steglitz and Zehlendorf. Home to Free University of Berlin, the Berlin Botanical Garden, and a variety of m ...

borough of Berlin.Wernicke, Ingolf (2010). ''Berliner Friedhofsspaziergänge''. Berlin: Jaron Verlag. . p. 127.

Marriages

Kaiser was married twice. In 1953, after the death of his first wife, he married his longtime colleague in trade union activism,

Elfriede Kaiser-Nebgen Elfriede Kaiser-Nebgen (11 April 1890 – 22 October 1983) was a German social scientist and labor activist who was active in the country's Christian trade unions (CTU) and similar organizations. She took part in the German resistance to Nazism be ...

(1890–1983). She was instrumental in helping to save his life after the failure of the 20 July Plot.Schneider, Dieter. '"Elfriede Nebgen: Auf der Suche nach Synthese und Einheit" (Elfriede Nebgen: In Search of Synthesis and Unity). In ''Sie waren die ersten. Frauen in der Arbeiterbewegung'' (They were the first: Women in the labour movement), Dieter Schneider, ed. Frankfurt: Büchergilde Gutenberg, 1988, , pp. 269-284.

Legacy

*Th
''Jakob-Kaiser-Platz''
a transportation hub in

Charlottenburg-Nord Charlottenburg-Nord (, literally "Charlottenburg North") is a locality (''Ortsteil'') in the northern part of the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf borough of Berlin, Germany. It is chiefly composed of after-war housing estates, allotment gardens and comm ...

(

), was named after him on 12 May 1961, five days after his death. *Th
Jakob-Kaiser-Haus
is home to 1,745 offices, 314 of which belong to current

members Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the German

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the German Federalism, federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representat ...

References

External links