Reinhold Maier (16 October 1889 – 19 August 1971) was a German politician and the leader of the FDP from 1957–1960. From 1946 to 1952 he was Minister President of

Württemberg-Baden Württemberg-Baden was a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was created in 1945 by the United States occupation forces, after the previous states of Baden and Württemberg had been split up between the US and French occupation zones. ...

and then the 1st Minister President of the new state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

until 1953. He served as the 4th President of the Bundesrat in 1952/53, the only FDP politician in German history to do so to date. Maier was born in

Schorndorf Schorndorf () is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located approximately 26 km east of Stuttgart. Its train station is the terminus of the S2 line of the Stuttgart S-Bahn. The town is also sometimes referred to as ' (''The Daimler T ...

Early life

Maier, a Protestant, was born the son of a municipal architect, Gottlieb Maier, in Schorndorf. After attending grammar school in Schorndorf, Reinhold Maier attended the Dillmann-Gymnasium in Stuttgart and, in 1907, received his Abitur. He then studied law at the

University of Grenoble The (, ''Grenoble Alps University'', abbr. UGA) is a Grands établissements, ''grand établissement'' in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 researchers. Es ...

and at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

. There he was a member of the South German (and liberally inclined) Tübingen fraternity "Academic Society Stuttgardia Tübingen". Here he met fellow aspiring politicians such as Eberhard Wildermuth, Karl Georg Pfleiderer, Konrad Wittwer and Wolfgang Haussmann. He received his doctorate in law in Heidelberg. During the First World War he took part as a soldier at the foot artillery regiment 13. In 1920 he settled in Stuttgart and practiced as a lawyer. In 1924 he was inducted into the Masonic Lodge "Zu den 3 cedars" in Stuttgart. During the Nazi era he worked as a lawyer; his wife Gerta Goldschmidt flew to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

with their two children. Reinhold Maier was forced to divorce her under Nazi pressure but remarried her after the war in 1946.

Career

Already a member of the

Progressive People's Party (Germany) The Progressive People's Party (, FVP) was a Social liberalism, social liberal party in the German Empire. It was formed on 6 March 1910 from the merger of the Free-minded People's Party (Germany), Free-minded People's Party, the Free-minded Unio ...

(FVP) since 1912, Maier joined the newly formed 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 ...

(DDP) in 1918. In 1924 he became chairman of the Stuttgart District Association of DDP. In 1945 Maier participated in the founding of the

Democratic People's Party (Germany) The Democratic People's Party (, ''DVP'') was the name of two liberal parties in Germany that were active from 1863 to 1866 and after the Second World War. It is not to be confused with the ''Deutsche Volkspartei'' of 1918–1933, which used the ...

(DVP), not to be confused with the

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), ...

of the Weimar Republic. The DVP was absorbed by the FDP in 1948. Maier became Minister President of "Württemberg-Baden", a constituent state of the subsequent "Land" of Baden-Württemberg in 1945, following the collapse of the Nazi regime, which in its twilight had claimed the life of his former boss, the last elected Minister President

Eugen Bolz Eugen Anton Bolz (15 December 1881 – 23 January 1945) was a German politician and a member of the resistance to the Germany's Nazi regime. Life Born in Rottenburg am Neckar, Bolz was his parents' twelfth child. His father Joseph Bolz was a ...

, one 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 ...

conspirators. As such, he preceded the

West German West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republic after its capital c ...

state by setting up a constitutional democratic system in competition with the burgeoning SPD and communist parties, and the French and American occupation authorities. Despite his DVP party consistently polling fewer votes than Christian Democratic and socialist opponents, Maier steadfastly maintained coalitions with the liberals as the leading party. After the formation of the coalition of FDP / DVP,

SPD 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 wi ...

and

All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights The All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights ( or GB/BHE) was a right-wing political party in West Germany, which acted as an advocacy group for the Germans who had fled and been expelled from Central and Eastern Europe during ...

(BHE) under his leadership, simultaneous to the creation of the new state of Baden-Württemberg in 1952, the Hesse FDP Association requested the expulsion of Maier and the state chairman Wolfgang Haussmann (1903–1989) from the party along with the separation of the DVP from the FDP, but the coup was not successful. From 1957 to 1960 he was Chairman of the FDP, and then until his death honorary chairman.

Deputy

Maier was 1932–1933 a member of parliament for the

German State Party The German State Party ( or DStP) was a short-lived German political party of the Weimar Republic. The party was formed on 28 July 1930 by the merger of the German Democratic Party with the People's National Reich Association (the political wing o ...

. At the same time he was from 1932 to 1933 a member of the . On 23 March 1933, he voted for the

Enabling Act An enabling act is a piece of legislation by which a legislative body grants an entity which depends on it (for authorization or legitimacy) for the delegation of the legislative body's power to take certain actions. For example, enabling act ...

together with the other four liberal Reichstag deputies

Hermann Dietrich Hermann Robert Dietrich (14 December 1879 – 6 March 1954) was a German politician of the liberal German Democratic Party and served as a minister during the Weimar Republic. Finance Minister of Germany In 1930, Dietrich succeeded Paul Molden ...

Theodor Heuss Theodor Heuss (; 31 January 1884 – 12 December 1963) was a German liberal politician who served as the first president of West Germany from 1949 to 1959. His civil demeanour and his cordial nature – something of a contrast to German nati ...

, , and

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 ...

. The final sentence of his speech was: For the sake of people and country and in anticipation of a legitimate development, we will rescind our serious concerns and approve the Enabling Act. According to the informations of Theodor Heuss in his memoirs, the five liberal Reichstag deputies have initially been divided with respect to the Enabling Act. Heuss had formulated two explanations, one for rejection, one for abstention. At his side, however, was only Hermann Dietrich. Heinrich Landahl, Ernst Lemmer and Reinhold Maier voted in the Reichstag group for approval. Heuss and Dietrich were overruled, so then all Liberal MPs voted for the Enabling Act. In 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 ...

Maier was a member of the

(DDP). In 1945 he was a founder of the Democratic People's Party (DVP), which is now the Baden-Württemberg-Organisation of the FDP. He died in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maier, Reinhold 1889 births 1971 deaths People from Schorndorf German Protestants Presidents of the German Bundesrat German Democratic Party politicians Free Democratic Party (Germany) politicians Leaders of political parties in Germany Members of the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg People from the Kingdom of Württemberg Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic Minister-presidents of Baden-Württemberg