Johannes Hoffmann (3 July 1867 – 15 December 1930) was a German politician and member 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 ...

from

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. He served as a Minister in the revolutionary government of the

Bavarian Soviet Republic The Bavarian Soviet Republic (or Bavarian Council Republic), also known as the Munich Soviet Republic (), was a short-lived unrecognised socialist state in Bavaria during the German revolution of 1918–1919. A group of communists and anarchist ...

and subsequently in the

People's State of Bavaria The People's State of Bavaria () was a socialist republic in Bavaria which existed from November 1918 to April 1919. It was established during the German revolution of 1918–1919, German revolution as an attempt at a socialist state to replace ...

administration, 1919–20.

Biography

Born in Ilbesheim, near

Landau Landau (), officially Landau in der Pfalz (, ), is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990), a long ...

, Palatinate, his parents were Peter Hoffmann and Maria Eva, née Keller. He attended the Gymnasium in Landau, and, having completed his studies at the teaching seminary, served as a school teacher in

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; ) is a town in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, 666 kilometers (414 m ...

from 1887. He married Luise Ackermann in 1892. Between 1899 and 1904, Hoffmann was a member of the Kaiserslautern city council, seconded by the liberal

German People's Party The German People's Party (German: , DVP) was a conservative-liberal political party during the Weimar Republic that was the successor to the National Liberal Party of the German Empire. Along with the left-liberal German Democratic Party (DDP), ...

(DVP). In 1907, he joined the Social Democrats and was elected deputy of the Bavarian Landtag the next year; his candidacy earned him disciplinary proceedings and he finally had to quit public service. In 1910 he returned into the Kaiserslautern city council and from 1912 he held the position of second mayor. In the same year, he was elected to the German Reichstag parliament. After the

German Revolution of 1918–19 German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and the establishment of the

, he served as Bavarian Minister of Education under Minister-President

Kurt Eisner Kurt Eisner (; 14 May 1867 21 February 1919)"Kurt Eisner – Encyclopædia Britannica" (biography), ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2006, Britannica.com webpageBritannica-KurtEisner. was a German politician, revolutionary, journalist, and theatre c ...

. During his tenure as Minister of Education, he removed the Bavarian schooling system from the supervision of the

Catholic Church 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 ...

. After Eisner's assassination (21 February 1919) he succeeded him as minister-president of the People's State of Bavaria on 17 March 1919 as the first freely elected Bavarian Minister President. Ousted from Munich by the forces of the

and the local

worker's council A workers' council, also called labour council, is a type of council in a workplace or a locality made up of workers or of temporary and instantly revocable delegates elected by the workers in a locality's workplaces. In such a system of polit ...

led by Hoffmann's former party fellow Ernst Niekisch, the parliament and government fled to

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...

in April 1919, where Hoffmann took part in the working out of the Bavarian Constitution ("Bamberg Constitution"). After his government had Munich occupied by

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' (; ) was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first two years of Nazi Germany. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

troops and paramilitary

Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European paramilitary volunteer units that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenaries or private military companies, rega ...

units, Hoffmann and his cabinet were able to return in May 1919. However, on 14 March 1920, Hoffmann resigned during the

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 ...

and was succeeded by

Gustav von Kahr Gustav Ritter von Kahr (; born Gustav Kahr; 29 November 1862 – 30 June 1934) was a German jurist and right-wing politician. During his career he was district president of Upper Bavaria, Bavarian minister president and, from September 1923 to ...

, after he was forced out of office by the Bavarian Civil Guards and Freikorps forces.Diehl, James M. ''Paramilitary Politics in Weimar Germany''. Indiana University Press, 1977. pp. 72–74. Hoffmann returned to Kaiserslautern. After standing unsuccessfully for Mayor of

Ludwigshafen Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning "Ludwig I of Bavaria, Ludwig's Port upon the Rhine"; Palatine German dialects, Palatine German: ''Ludwichshafe''), is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in the German state of Rh ...

, he again tried to pursue his teaching career. Nevertheless, he was dismissed on charges of collaboration during the

Allied occupation of the Rhineland An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are call ...

. At least, Hoffmann retained his Reichstag mandate until his death in 1930. All pension claims raised by his widow were denied by the Bavarian government.

Literature

Universitätsbibliothek Regensburg - Bosls bayrische Biographie - Johannes Hoffmann
(in German), author: Karl Bosl, publisher: Pustet, page 361

References

External links

Picture of Johannes Hoffmann, taken in 1919
Historisches Lexikon Bayerns {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffmann, Johannes 1867 births 1930 deaths People from Südliche Weinstraße People from the Palatinate (region) German anti-communists German Protestants German People's Party (1868) politicians Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Members of the 13th Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the Weimar National Assembly Members of the Reichstag 1920–1924 Members of the Reichstag 1924 Members of the Reichstag 1924–1928 Members of the Reichstag 1928–1930 Members of the Reichstag 1930–1932 Minister-presidents of Bavaria Members of the Bavarian Chamber of Deputies Bavarian Soviet Republic Counter-revolutionaries