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 (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 ...

. He served in the Reichstag before the war and the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

after. He was also the first Federal Minister of All-German Affairs, serving from 1949 until 1957.

Early life

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 Francon ...

Lower Franconia Lower Franconia (, ) is one of seven districts of Bavaria, Germany. The districts of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia make up the region of Franconia. It consists of nine districts and 308 municipalities (including three cities). History After ...

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...

. 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 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

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 ...

, through which he became a leader of the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

labour movement 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 ...

Weimar Republic

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 ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...

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

Resistance

After the

Nazis 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 ...

came to power in 1933,

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 ...

abolished all unions, replacing them with the Nazi controlled

German Labour Front The German Labour Front (, ; DAF) was the national labour organization of the Nazi Party, which replaced the various independent trade unions in Germany during the process of ''Gleichschaltung'' or Nazification. History As early as March 1933, ...

. Kaiser opposed

National Socialism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequ ...

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

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 ...

in 1938 under suspicion of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

, but released shortly thereafter. Through his participation in the

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

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

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

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

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

. Although he was not directly informed of the

20 July Plot The 20 July plot, sometimes referred to as Operation Valkyrie, was a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the chancellor and leader of Nazi Germany, and overthrow the Nazi regime on 20 July 1944. The plotters were part of the German r ...

, his knowledge of Stauffenberg's intention to assassinate Hitler 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

After the war, Kaiser returned to

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

and worked with Andreas Hermes to found the

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

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. They called for the

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

of some major industries. In 1946, Kaiser helped found the

Free German Trade Union Federation The Free German Trade Union Federation ( or ''FDGB'') was the sole national trade union centre of the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) which existed from 1946 to 1990. As a mass organisation of the GDR, nominally representing al ...

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

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 ...

CDU (together with

Ernst Lemmer Ernst Lemmer (28 April 1898 – 18 August 1970) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and former member of the German Bundestag. Life He became a member of the German Democratic Party in 1918. During World War Tw ...

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

and its

Soviet 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 ...

-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 language, Westphalian: ''Aulen'') is a Town#Germany, town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 30 km southeast of Münster. Ahlen is part of the Warendorf (district), District of Warendorf and is economically the most impo ...

conference, a joint conference of

West West 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 Romance langu ...

and East German CDU leaders, Kaiser's plan of nationalisation of key industries and other moderate left-wing ideas were adopted by the party. That same year, 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 German statesman and politician who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of th ...

, the party leader. Kaiser disagreed with Adenauer's

social market economy The social market economy (SOME; ), also called Rhine capitalism, Rhine-Alpine capitalism, the Rhenish model, and social capitalism, is a socioeconomic model combining a free-market capitalist economic system with social policies and enough re ...

and called for the

of key industries. Kaiser strongly believed in a neutral, united

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, 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 in Adenauer's cabinet. Kaiser died on 7 May 1961 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 ...

. He is buried in the Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf, in the

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

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 (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 (

), 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

Gallery

Jakob_Kaiser_1933.jpg , Kaiser's official Reichstag portrait, 1933 Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-19000-1213,_Berlin,_CDU-_Parteitag,_Jakob_Kaiser.jpg , Kaiser at the East German CDU convention, 1947 Ehrengrab_Jakob_Kaiser.jpg , Kaiser's grave in the Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaiser, Jakob 1888 births 1961 deaths People from Bad Kissingen (district) Politicians from the Kingdom of Bavaria German Roman Catholics Centre Party (Germany) politicians Christian Democratic Union (East Germany) politicians Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany Government ministers of Germany Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic Members of Parlamentarischer Rat Members of the Bundestag 1949–1953 Members of the Bundestag 1953–1957 Members of the Bundestag for Berlin German trade unionists Catholic socialists Roman Catholics in the German Resistance Members of the 20 July plot Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Burials at the Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf