Richard Witting (born: Witkowski; 19 October 1856,

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 ...

– 22 December 1923, Berlin) was a

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, ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

financier An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital the investor usually purchases some species of property. Types of in ...

. Witting studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

, where he became member of

Burschenschaft Hannovera Burschenschaft Hannovera is the oldest Burschenschaft, a traditional liberal German Student fraternity or student corporation (Studentenverbindung), incorporated in Göttingen in the Revolution year 1848 (May) at the Georg August University of G ...

(fraternity), :de:Burschenschaft Hannovera Göttingen and later became mayor of

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

in 1891–1902. From 1902 to 1910 he was director of

Nationalbank für Deutschland Nationalbank may refer to: * Danmarks Nationalbank, the central bank of Denmark * Nationalbank für Deutschland, a bank that merged into Darmstädter und Nationalbank in 1922 * Oesterreichische Nationalbank The (, , abbr. ) is the Nationa ...

. Witting was a brother of

Maximilian Harden __NOTOC__ Maximilian Harden (born Felix Ernst Witkowski, 20 October 1861 – 30 October 1927) was an influential German journalist and editor. Biography Born the son of a Jewish merchant in Berlin, he attended the '' Französisches Gymnasium'' ...

and father-in-law of Hans Paasche. Witting is considered one of the major authors (''fathers'') of the democratic

Weimar Constitution The Constitution of the German Reich (), usually known as the Weimar Constitution (), was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic era. The constitution created a federal semi-presidential republic with a parliament whose ...

, which he and

Hugo Preuß Hugo Preuß (Preuss) (28 October 1860 – 9 October 1925) was a German lawyer and liberal politician. He was the author of the draft version of the constitution that was passed by the Weimar National Assembly and came into force in August 191 ...

worked out in first drafts. He was also a convert to Lutheran Protestantism from Judaism, a common practice of this epoch.

References

Witold Jakóbczyk Witold Jakóbczyk (; 15 January 1909 in Sosnowiec – 3 October 1986 in Poznań) was a Polish historian and professor at Poznań University, specializing in the history of Greater Poland in the 19th century. Publications * * * * Witold Ja ...

, ''Przetrwać na Wartą 1815-1914'', ''Dzieje narodu i państwa polskiego'', vol. III-55, Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza, Warszawa 1989 * Joachim Bergmann: Die Schaubühne – Die Weltbühne 1905–1933, Bibliographie und Register mit Annotationen. Saur, München 1991, p. 261

References

1856 births 1923 deaths Politicians from Berlin 19th-century German Jews Converts to Lutheranism from Judaism National Liberal Party (Germany) politicians Prussian politicians Members of the Prussian House of Lords Mayors of Poznań Businesspeople from Berlin Französisches Gymnasium Berlin alumni {{Poland-mayor-stub