Raphael Friedeberg (14 March 1863 – 16 August 1940) was a German physician, socialist and

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

Early life

Friedeberg was born in

Tilsit Sovetsk (; ) is a town in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the south bank of the Neman River which forms the border with Lithuania. History Early history Tilsit, which received civic rights from Albert, Duke of Prussia in 1552,''Sło ...

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

, today Sovetsk, Russia, to Salomon (a

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

) and Rebekka Friedeberg (née Levy). He studied medicine and political economy at the

University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg () was the university of Königsberg in Duchy of Prussia, which was a fief of Poland. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant Reformation, Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke A ...

, but was expelled in 1887 for "abetting

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

endeavors". Friedeberg moved to

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 ...

, where he worked as a private teacher and continued his studies at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

after the

sunset Sunset (or sundown) is the disappearance of the Sun at the end of the Sun path, below the horizon of the Earth (or any other astronomical object in the Solar System) due to its Earth's rotation, rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth, it ...

of the

Anti-Socialist Laws The Anti-Socialist Laws or Socialist Laws (; officially , approximately "Law against the public danger of Social Democratic endeavours") were a series of acts of the parliament of the German Empire, the first of which was passed on 19 October 187 ...

in 1890, graduating in 1895.

Social democracy

He worked as a general practitioner and a specialist for pulmonary disease in Berlin from 1895 to 1911. Friedeberg contributed to ''Sozialistischer Akademiker'' from early 1895 to the end of 1896, and from 1897 on, he was a member of the press commission of ''

Sozialistische Monatshefte ''Sozialistische Monatshefte'' (, "Socialist Monthly Bulletins") was a German journal edited by Joseph Bloch (socialist), Joseph Bloch from 1897 to 1933 and published by the ''Verlag der Sozialistischen Monatshefte'' in Berlin. History and conte ...

. B''oth of them were periodicals which attempted to draw intellectuals to socialism and 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). Friedeberg was active in the establishment of

health insurance Health insurance or medical insurance (also known as medical aid in South Africa) is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among ma ...

for the working class in Berlin. The German socialist movement was just discovering the health insurance movement and starting to be active within it, both to win access to medical treatment for the working class and as a means of disseminating socialist ideas. In 1899, Friedeberg helped establish Berlin's Central Commission of Health Insurance Boards, which then organized the first Congress of German Health Insurance Boards. Additionally, he served as a member of the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

of Berlin from 1901 (or 1902 according to some sources) to 1904, making him a top SPD leader in Germany's capital.

Anarcho-socialism

Soon after, however, Friedeberg started becoming increasingly disillusioned with the SPD, and particularly with the Free Trade Unions (the unions allied with that party). He became frustrated with the SPD's focus on parliamentary (rather than revolutionary action) and by the unions' political neutrality. He blamed the socialist movement's inability to gain influence (rather than just votes) after the end of the Anti-Socialist-Laws on these two policies. Friedeberg came into contact with the

Free Association of German Trade Unions Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, the ability to act or change without constraint or restriction * Emancipate, attaining civil and political rights or equality * Free (''gratis''), free of charge * Gratis versus libre, the difference bet ...

(FVdG), a federation, more radical than the Free Trade Unions, founded in 1897. The FVdG criticized the separation of political and labour action and opposed centralist control over the unions. Becoming increasingly influential in the FVdG, Friedeberg gave the central lecture at the federation's 1904 congress in Berlin, intervening in the

mass strike debate Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementary partic ...

, which was taking place in the SPD at the time, and advocating the

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 ...

as a means of

class struggle In political science, the term class conflict, class struggle, or class war refers to the economic antagonism and political tension that exist among social classes because of clashing interests, competition for limited resources, and inequali ...

. In 1907, all members of the FVdG faced the choice of either leaving this federation and joining the centralized unions or losing their SPD membership. Friedeberg opted for the latter. During this period, he conceived what he called "

anarcho-socialism Libertarian socialism is an anti-authoritarian and anti-capitalist political current that emphasises self-governance and workers' self-management. It is contrasted from other forms of socialism by its rejection of state ownership and from other ...

". Despite the socialist movement's growing number of supporters, he claimed little had been done to improve the conditions under which the German working class lived. One problem, said Friedeberg, was to be found in the SPD's political theory. The SPD adhered to a dogmatic interpretation of

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

's writings, particularly the view that the course of history can be deduced from the state of the

relations of production Relations of production () is a concept frequently used by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in their theory of historical materialism and in ''Das Kapital''. It is first explicitly used in Marx's published book '' The Poverty of Philosophy'', al ...

, that "social being determines

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of a state or object, either internal to oneself or in one's external environment. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate among philosophers, scientists, an ...

". Though correct at the time Marx set

historical materialism Historical materialism is Karl Marx's theory of history. Marx located historical change in the rise of Class society, class societies and the way humans labor together to make their livelihoods. Karl Marx stated that Productive forces, techno ...

down, Friedeberg stated, technological development had made this view obsolete. He conceived the term ''historical psychism'', holding that the "spiritual relations ..have the greatest power over the material relations". The socialist movement's theoretical errors had then led to mistakes in its political strategies, according to him. The working-class opposition had become focused on gaining influence in the German parliament, the . This had led to the "flattening out of the revolutionary movement" from a "great, all-encompassing cultural movement" to a "purely economic, even a pure stomach question". From this, he saw the need to replace political methods of class struggle with economic and psychological means. Above all, he advocated for the general strike as a means of revolutionizing society, seeing such a strike as encompassing the proletariat fighting for their own interests rather than having representatives do it for them. However, in order to be capable of doing this, proletarians must first liberate themselves from the constraining ideologies of capitalist society: namely

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

, belief in laws and

the state A state is a political entity that regulates society and the population within a definite territory. Government is considered to form the fundamental apparatus of contemporary states. A country often has a single state, with various administrat ...

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

and

militarism Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...

. Friedeberg's synthesis of

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

and socialism was criticized by anarchists and socialists alike.

Erich Mühsam Erich Mühsam (6 April 1878 – 10 July 1934) was a German Antimilitarism, antimilitarist anarchism, anarchist essayist, poet and playwright. He emerged at the end of World War I as one of the leading agitators for a Federalism, federated Bavari ...

(1878-1934), a prominent German anarchist, dismissed ''historical psychism'' as no more than a new version of historical materialism, the "replacement of one fabricated regularity by a very similar one".

Karl Kautsky Karl Johann Kautsky (; ; 16 October 1854 – 17 October 1938) was a Czech-Austrian Marxism, Marxist theorist. A leading theorist of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Second International, Kautsky advocated orthodox Marxism, a ...

(1854-1938), a leader in the SPD, on the other hand, accused Friedeberg of "theoretical confusion, which does not comprehend the necessity of the connection between politics and economy".

Anarchism

He first set foot in

Ascona 300px, Ascona Ascona ( ) is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. It is located on the shore of Lake Maggiore. The town is a popular tourist destination and holds the yearly Ascona Jazz Festival. ...

, Switzerland in 1904 to recover from a blood infection, which led to a heart dilatation, following a

carbuncle A carbuncle is a cluster of boils caused by bacterial infection, most commonly with ''Staphylococcus aureus'' or ''Streptococcus pyogenes''. The presence of a carbuncle is a sign that the immune system is active and fighting the infection. The ...

operation. Ascona had probably been recommended to him by Erich Mühsam. Not long after leaving the SPD, Friedeberg started to become disillusioned even with the FVdG. He told

Fritz Kater Fritz Kater (1861–1945) was a German trade unionist, publisher, and anarcho-syndicalist. He was active in the Free Association of German Trade Unions (FVdG) and its successor organization, the Free Workers' Union of Germany. He edited the FVdG's ...

, a leader in the FVdG, that he had drifted "further to the left". He no longer believed that radical views and tactics could be introduced to the labor movement. He started collaborating with the non-syndicalist anarchist movement, especially with the Anarchist Federation of Germany, which had been founded in 1903. He also came into contact with Swiss radicals, lecturing about the

First Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

in 1906. He started visiting Ascona frequently and also moved out of Berlin to the suburb of

Friedrichshagen Friedrichshagen () is a German boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality (''Ortsteil'') within the Berlin borough (''Bezirk'') of Treptow-Köpenick. Until 2001 it was part of the former borough of Köpenick. History The colony of ''Friedrichsg ...

. In August 1907, he attended the

International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam The International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam took place from 24 August to 31 August 1907. It gathered delegates from 14 countries, among which important figures of the anarchist movement, including Errico Malatesta, Luigi Fabbri, Benoît ...

. In 1908, he visited

Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist and geographer known as a proponent of anarchist communism. Born into an aristocratic land-owning family, Kropotkin attended the Page Corps and later s ...

in London. In 1909, he held his last large public lecture, titled "Anarchism, its Ideas and Tactics", at the Anarchist Federation of Germany's conference in

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 ...

. He started turning his back on organized anarchism, moving to a more individualist understanding of anarchism. Moreover, he was by now both in poor health and deeply resigned as to the possibility of a socialist revolution. He still followed German and European politics, but felt no need to participate. He remained the attending physician of

August Bebel Ferdinand August Bebel (; 22 February 1840 – 13 August 1913) was a German socialist activist and politician. He was one of the principal founders of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Bebel, a woodworker by trade, co-founded the Sa ...

and

From 1911 to 1931, Friedeberg worked as a physician in the spa town of Bad Kudowa (

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

) throughout the summer and at the natural healing Sanatorium

Monte Verità Monte Verità (Italian; German 'Berg Wahrheit', meaning "Mount Truth" or "Mountain of Truth") is a hill standing 321 Metres above the Sea (Switzerland), metres above sea level and a cultural-historical ensemble in the Swiss canton of Ticino. The ...

, Switzerland, in the winter. Friedeberg turned Ascona into "a center for itinerant anarchists" like

(who called Monte Verità a "Saladorium") and

Johannes Nohl Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, '' Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Ye ...

. He introduced a "fresh air and nature therapy" and built "air huts" for his patients' recreation. The mixture of

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

and anarchism attracted such visitors as

Mikhail Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin. Sometimes anglicized to Michael Bakunin. ( ; – 1 July 1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist. He is among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major figure in the revolutionary socialist, s ...

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

and

Leo Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

. In 1931, he permanently settled in Ascona.

Otto Braun Otto Braun (28 January 1872 – 15 December 1955) was a politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) during the Weimar Republic. From 1920 to 1932, with only two brief interruptions, Braun was Minister President of Prussia, Ministe ...

, former Prime Minister of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

, lived in his house after he escaped from

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. Friedeberg died in Ascona in 1940.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* Archive o
Raphael Friedeberg Papers
at the

International Institute of Social History International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Friedeberg, Raphael 1863 births 1940 deaths 19th-century German Jews 20th-century anarchists 20th-century German Jews Anarcho-syndicalists Emigrants from the German Empire German anarchists German anti-capitalists German general practitioners German pulmonologists German socialists German syndicalists Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Immigrants to Switzerland Jewish anarchists Jewish socialists Members of the Free Association of German Trade Unions People from the Province of Prussia People from Tilsit Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians University of Königsberg alumni