Bernhard Becker (writer)

Ernst Heinrich Bernhard Becker (born May 23, 1826 in Aue , Duchy of Saxony-Meiningen ; † January 15, 1882 in Lützen ) was a founder and later chairman of the General German Workers' Association (ADAV) as well as a writer.

Life

youth

Bernhard Becker was born as the fourth child of the farmer J. Jacob Becker († April 7, 1849) and his wife Susanne Christiane, b. Harnisch († April 9, 1868) was born in Aue. Five days later he was baptized in the "Church at Aue". His sisters were Johanne Christiane Wilhelmine (born March 31, 1817), married to Christian August Sachse since 1836 ; Johanne Rosemunde Amalie (* January 30, 1819), married to Johann Ernst Wilhelm Friedrich Grimme († 1871) and Juliane Friederike Bertha (* 1822) since 1843, married to Friedrich Adolph Sack since 1843 . Becker himself remained single.

Becker was of "medium stature", had "reddish hair" and a free "forehead". On October 29, 1846, he enrolled in camera sciences at the University of Leipzig because he could not produce a high school diploma for only one year. The university noted “sine test mat in unum ann.” On September 15, 1847, he had a leaving certificate issued. This shows that he u. a. had taken lectures in “History of Philosophy”, “Logic” and “ Physiology ”.

After that or before, he was an administrative clerk for a short time and then an employee at the Meyerschen Konversationslexikon in Hildburghausen . Because he had taken part in a duel as a second , he was sentenced to 14 days in prison in Hildburghausen.

In 1849 Becker took part in the Baden Revolution and in the imperial constitution campaign under Johann Philipp Becker in the Palatinate in the battles near Durlach and Rastatt . In the spring of 1850 he offered the “Bremer Tageschronik” to write for her. At that time he was already known to the police. In the fall of 1851 he tried again to enroll in chemistry (?) At Leipzig University . It was known to the police that Bernhard Becker was also the author of the following anonymous writings: "The Organization of Democracy", "Revolution or Resignation" and "Does the People Have the Right to Revolution?"

He was expelled from Saxony on August 24, 1851 . In 1852 Becker was employed as an accountant and editor for the “Blätter der Zeit” in Braunschweig . On June 12, 1842, a house search was to be carried out on him for "highly red writings, preparation for high treason and degradation of religion". On June 19, 1852 an arrest warrant was issued against him: “Becker, Ernst Heinr. Bernh. a. Aue is due to the preparation of high treason u. to investigate public degradation of religion and to be delivered here. ”Becker fled to Brussels via the Netherlands . Expelled from there in July 1852, he emigrated to London . Here he worked as a language teacher and journalist. He wrote for the German newspaper "Hermann" (founded by Gottfried Kinkel ), the newspaper "Das Volk" (1860) and for the "Neue Zeit", London. Becker became a member of the workers' education association in London , where he also met Karl Marx .

In May 1862 he returned to Germany. First to Hamburg, where he met Karl von Bruhn . Then, because his profile from 1852 was still valid, he went back to Meiningen , surrendered on July 19, 1862 and was sentenced to one year imprisonment on September 6, 1862 for preparing for “highly treasonous acts”. He served three months, was pardoned and then went to Frankfurt am Main.

Between ADAV and social democracy

Becker was one of the founding members of the General German Workers' Association (ADAV) on May 23, 1863 in Leipzig. Ferdinand Lassalle appointed him and Johann Baptist von Schweitzer on July 27, 1864 as board members of the association. In his will, Lassalle had recommended Becker as his successor as chairman of the association. After Lassalle's death on August 31, 1864, the ADAV communities elected Becker as president of the ADAV on November 1, 1864. Before that, Schweitzer and Becker had unsuccessfully asked Marx to become president of the ADAV. For August Bebel it was incomprehensible: Lassalle had recommended a man in the writer Bernhard Becker as his successor in the presidium of the association who was in no way up to his task . On December 15, 1864, the first issue of the newspaper Der Social-Demokratie appears . In addition to Schweitzer and Becker, Marx, Friedrich Engels , Johann Philipp Becker, Georg Herwegh , Moses Hess and others are also named as employees . At the Düsseldorf General Assembly of the ADAV from December 27 to 30, 1864, Carl Klings from Solingen called for a departure from Lassalle's doctrines, but was rejected by the majority. In July 1865, workers took part in gatherings against the ban on a festival by the Progress Party because it would curtail the right to freedom of assembly. Becker and Schweitzer supported this demand of the workers on July 30, 1865 at a meeting in the "Alhambra" in Berlin. Before the general assembly of the ADAV in Frankfurt am Main (November 30 to December 1, 1865), Bernhard Becker resigns from his office as president of the association and hands over the management of the ADAV to Friedrich Wilhelm Fritzsche . Becker no longer had any influence on the ADAV members, as the brochure by Sophie von Hatzfeldt , which she had published under the name "Carl Schilling", shows.

Bernhard Becker worked as a writer in Vienna and Paris . In 1870 after the outbreak of war he had to leave France and went to Dresden via London . Here he joined the Social Democratic Workers' Party in 1871 and wrote for the 'Chemnitz Free Press' and for the' Braunschweiger Volksfreund 'by Wilhelm Bracke . In September 1872 he took part in the Hague Congress of the International Workers' Association as a delegate from Braunschweig and Chemnitz , was elected to the Audit Commission and voted for the resolutions drawn up by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels . Becker was also a delegate of the Social Democratic Congresses in Mainz in 1872 and in Coburg in 1874 . In 1874 he emigrated to Switzerland .

Marx praised his book: History of the Revolutionary Paris Commune from 1789 to 1794 .

For the book: History and Theory of the Paris Revolutionary Commune in 1871 , Becker had first asked and received an advance of 300 thalers from Wilhelm Bracke. But then he wanted 2500 thalers for his unfinished manuscript. Bracke did not want to and could not print the book under these conditions. He also tried to obtain an indefinite sum from Wilhelm Liebknecht. The book met with rejection after publication by Engels. August Bebel wrote in his review: “a phamplet and a disgrace against the socialists and the commune.” Reinhold Ruegg published another criticism of the book in the Richter “Jahrbuch” published by Karl Höchberg under a pseudonym. Eduard Bernstein called it a "diatribe".

Last years and death

In mid-July 1879, Becker was back in Berlin, where he was watched every step of the way by the police. He owed rent. On April 26, 1880, Becker turned to the Prussian Ministry of the Interior in order to be able to pay off his debts and to receive an advance on printing costs for a paper on the emergence and history of communism. Becker was a correspondent for the newspaper "Deutsches Tageblatt" from 1880–1881. In addition, until December 1881 he wrote an extended new edition of his book Revelations about the tragic end of Ferdinand Lassalle's life . This new arrangement did not appear until 1892.

On January 16, his brother-in-law Friedrich Adolph Sacke reported to the registry office in Lützen that Becker "died in the house of the innkeeper Brand on the morning of January 15". It was not until 18 days later that the newspaper “Lützener Volksbote” reported: “Died: The man of letters EHB Becker from Aue, 55 yrs. 7 m., 22nd d. Old (shot)”. Another nine years later, in October 1891, various newspapers, such as the “Berliner Volkszeitung”, the “ Vorwärts ” and the “Volksblatt”, reported Zeitz its tragic end. The "Volksblatt" writes: "Bernhard Becker has been dead for some time (...) He shot himself near Lützen in mid-January 1882, over nine years".

Quotes

“I recommend that the General German Workers' Association elect Bernhard Becker, the Frankfurt representative, as my successor. He should stick to the organization! It will lead the working class to victory. "

- Ferdinand Lassalle. Testament.

"B. Becker or M. Hess? I know both; both are old members of the movement. Both are honest. None of them are able to direct any significant movement. Becker is actually a weak person, J. Hess a confused head. It is therefore difficult to choose between the two. I also think it doesn't really matter who you choose (...). "

- Karl Marx to Carl Klings October 4, 1864

"Schweitzer, who essentially agrees with me, is showered with accusations by Becker because he put the word social democracy in place of 'Lassalleanism'."

- Wilhelm Liebknecht to Karl Marx December 20, 1864

“Becker is right for the time being. He's a splayed dude, imagining he was 'party leader', but at least he took the right revolutionary stance on the government. He needs us, we don't need him. "

- Wilhelm Liebknecht to Karl Marx February 12, 1865

“There are actions to which the de mortuis nil nisi bene does not apply. Wherever the name Bernhard Becker appears, it must also be remembered how shamefully the bearer of this name behaved towards the social democratic party, when it, to which he himself belonged, suffered the hardest from the blows of the Socialist Law. "

- Eduard Bernstein (1892), p. 230

“Lassalle's personal dictatorship had degenerated into a caricature in Bernhard Becker's hands. (...) His only service to the association was the agitation trip that he undertook in January 1865 in the Silesian weaving districts. "

- Franz Mehring : History of the German Social Democracy

“But Bernhard Becker did not justify even these modest expectations of Lassalle; he lacked devotion and seriousness no less than talent. The responsible mission, which he had unexpectedly received, only produced an absurd megalomania in him, and in the now rising struggle of the diadochi for the rule of the still imaginary world empire, the petty intrigue was probably not an end in itself for anyone like him. "

- Gustav Mayer (1909).

Works

• anonymous: Do the people have the right to revolution? Edited for the people by a friend of the law . Printed and published by Verlag des Intellektiven-Comptoirs, New York 1851 Online
• Lassalle and his reducers . Self-published, Frankfurt am Main 1863 Online
• The German movement of 1848 and the present one worked out in four parts . Schlingmann, Berlin 1864 Online
• The great workers agitator Ferdinand Lassalle. Memorandum for the death celebration in 1865 . Self-published, 1865
• Identification of the parties that emerged in the parliamentary elections and represented in parliament . Priber, Leipzig 1867
• The abuse of the doctrine of nationalities . Vienna 1867 (3rd edition Wilhelm Bracke jun., Braunschweig 1873) Online
• Revelations about the tragic end of Ferdinand Lassalle's life presented on the basis of authentic evidence . Hübscher, Schleiz 1868 (2nd edition 1868) online
• The reaction in Germany against the revolution of 1848, illuminated in social, national and state relations . Pilcher, Vienna 1869 Online
• National economic missiles . Hübscher, Schleiz 1871 Online
• Letters from German begging patriots to Louis Bonaparte . A thorough review of all the documents published in the book 'L'Allemagne aux Tuileries' by the French . Wilhelm Bracke jr., Braunschweig 1873
• History of Ferdinand Lasalle's workers agitation. According to authentic documents . Wilhelm Bracke jr., Braunschweig 1874 (reprint with an introduction to the reprint by Toni Offermann , Berlin / Bonn 1978)
• Karl Fourier . In addition to an appendix: 'The Social Palace or the Familistere in Guise'. With the portrait of Fourier and a picture of his phalanstere . Wilhelm Bracke jr., Braunschweig 1874
• Bruno Emil König: Black Cabinets . With plants. History of the Thurn und Taxis postal service and the Austrian postal system, and about the judicial confiscation of mail in Prussia-Germany. In addition to an afterword with a historical review by Bernhard Becker . Wilhelm Bracke Jr., Braunschweig 1875
• The old and the new Jesuitism or the Jesuits and the Freemasons . A monastery prison work . 4th, verb. Edition Wilhelm Bracke jr., Braunschweig 1875
• History of the revolutionary Paris Commune from 1789 to 1794 . Bracke jr., Braunschweig 1875
• History and theory of the Paris Revolutionary Commune of 1871 . Otto Wigand, Leipzig 1879 (Reprint: Auvermann, Glashütten im Taunus 1972)
• Revelations about the tragic end of Ferdinand Lassalle's life and his relationship with Helene von Dönniges . New processing . Wörlein & Comp., Nuremberg 1892

Newspaper articles (selection)

• (Bernhard Becker): Message from the President . In: The Social Democrat . Berlin No. 3. Sample number dated December 30, 1864
• The presidium of the General German Workers' Association (...). In: The Social Democrat . Berlin No. 16 of February 1, 1865
• Speech by the association's president (...), given at the meeting of the Hamburg members of the General German Workers' Association on March 22, 1865 . In: The Social Democrat . Berlin No. 39 of March 26, 1865, supplement

Archival material

• Acta Becker. Acta concerns the writer Ernst Heinrich Bernhard Becker from Aue in Saxony 1851 / 1852-1891. (Brandenburgisches Landeshauptarchiv Potsdam, Former State Archives, Pr. Br. Rep. 30, Berlin C, Tit. 94, Lit. B. No. 8884)
• IISG Amsterdam: General German Workers' Association / Hatzfeldt Archives, Collection ID ARCH00193
• IISG Amsterdam: General German Workers' Association / Lassalle Archives, Collection ID ARCH00194
• IISG Amsterdam: Wilhelm Wolff estate, Collection ID ARCH01654
• IISG Amsterdam: Marx-Engels estate, Collection ID ARCH00860

literature

• Carl von Bruhn: Becker in Hamburg . In: The North Star . Hamburg No. 303 of April 1, 1865
• Carl Schilling: The expulsion of President Bernhard Becker from the General German Workers' Association and the 'Social Democrat'. Report on the meetings held on March 27th and 30th, 1865 in the Berlin community . Self-published, Leipzig 1865
• The breach of the statutes of the general German workers' association founded by Ferdinand Lassalle under the leadership of Mr. Bernhard Becker in Frankfurt a. M. Leipzig 1865 Online
• Karl Marx: The 'President of Humanity' . In: 'Berliner Reform' No. 88 of April 13, 1865 Online
• Friedrich Wilhelm Lange: Opposition to the reprehensible efforts of Mr. Bernhard Becker (and his representative Fritzsche), who was president of the General German Workers' Association in Leipzig. Written and published by the worker . In Commission of the Seyffart'schen Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1965
• Eduard Bernstein: B. Becker's book about Lassalle's end. In: The new time . Review of intellectual and public life . 10.1891-92, Volume 2 (1892), Issue 34, pp. 230-234 Online
• Paul Mayer: The successor of Lassalle's Bernhard Becker. 90 years of social democracy . In: Neuer Vorwärts No. 17/18, May 1, 1953 supplement
• Bernhard Becker . In: Franz Osterroth : Biographical Lexicon of Socialism . Volume I: Deceased Personalities . JHW Dietz Nachf., Hanover 1960, pp. 18-19.
• Heinz Hümmler: Becker, Bernhard . History of the German labor movement. Biographical Lexicon . Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1970, pp. 33-34
• Wilhelm Liebknecht. Correspondence with German Social Democrats. 1862-1878 . Vol. 1. Ed. And edit by Georg Eckert . Van Gorcum & Comp., Assen 1973, ISBN 90-232-0858-7
• The Hague Congress of the first International. September 2-7, 1872. Minutes and Documents . Progress Publishers, Moscow 1976
• P. Pohlenz: ... and that the seeds will not perish before the harvest festival . In: New Germany . 23/24 December 1989, p. 13
• Ingo Bach: Bernhard Becker (1826–1882). From Aue to Lützen. On the vita of Ferdinand Lassalle's successor . In: Saale-Unstrut yearbook 2010. Yearbook for cultural history and natural history of the Saale-Unstrut region . Edited by the Saale-Unstrut-Association for Cultural History and Natural History e. V. 15th year 2010 ISBN 978-3-89812-729-5 , pp. 56-64

prose

• JF Wartenberg: White slaves, or victims of the church. Social-political novel from the present . 3 vols., Friday, Berlin 1869

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ingo Bach, p. 56.
2. ↑ Ingo Bach, p. 56 f.
3. ↑ Ingo Bach, p. 57.
4. ↑ Without a secondary school leaving certificate and only for one year.
5. ^ Information from the Leipzig University Archives, February 28, 2012.
6. ↑ Ingo Bach, p. 57.
7. ↑ Ingo Bach, p. 57.
8. ^ Acta Becker .
9. ↑ These two writings could not be identified with the Karlsruhe Virtual Catalog .
10. ↑ Allgemeine Polizei-Anzeiger by Friedrich Eberhardt, Vol. 35, Dresden August 3, 1852, No. 10, p. 53.
11. ↑ All information in this paragraph based on Leo Bach, p. 58, which is based on Acta Becker .
12. ↑ History of the German labor movement. Timeline. Part 1 . Berlin 1965, p. 61.
13. ↑ Karl Marx to Friedrich Engels November 4, 1864. In: Marx-Engels-Werke (MEW) Vol. 31, p. 10.
14. ↑ History of the German labor movement. Timeline. Part 1 . Berlin 1965, p. 63. Fanz Osterroth, on the other hand, names November 3, 1864 as the day of the election, cf. Franz Osterroth: Bernhard Becker, in: Biographisches Lexikon des Sozialismus, Vol. 1: Deceased Personalities, page 25f, Verlag JHW Dietz Nachf. GmbH , Hanover 1960
15. ^ Karl Marx to Carl Klings October 4, 1865 (MEW vol. 31, pp. 417-418).
16. ↑ August Bebel: From my life. First part. , Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1946, p. 88.
17. ^ Eduard Bernstein: History of the Berlin workers' movement. Vol. 1, Berlin 1907, p. 139.
18. ↑ “The brochure recently published under the name of Karl Schilling is entitled: 'The expulsion of President Bernh. Beckers etc. '". (Wilhelm Liebknecht to Karl Marx, quoted from Christiane Kling-Manthey after June 22, 1865: Grafin Hatzfeldt. 1805 to 1881. JHW Dietz Nachf., Bonn 1989, p. 167).
19. ^ The Hague Congress of the first International , p. 113.
20. ↑ ibid, p. 93.
21. ↑ ibid. Pp. 185,187,197,282,284,286-290.
22. ^ Karl Marx to Friedrich Engels May 25, 1876 (MEW vol. 34, p. 15).
23. ↑ Wilhelm Bracke to Marx May 30 and November 11, 1876.
24. ^ Bernhard Becker to Wilhelm Liebknecht June 23, 1876.
25. ^ Friedrich Engels to August Bebel November 24, 1879 (MEW 34, p. 425).
26. ↑ The Social Democrat No. 8, November 23, 1879.
27. ^ R.-g .: Bernhard Becker History and Theory of the Paris Revolutionary Commune of 1871 . In: Yearbook for Social Science. Yearbook for social science and social politics . First year second half of Dr. Ludwig Richter. Zurich 1880, pp. 225-231.
28. ^ Eduard Bernstein (1892), p. 230.
29. ↑ Eduard Bernstein to Friedrich Engels November 23, 1883 and Friedrich Engels to Eduard Bernstein April 11, 1884. (In: Eduard Bernstein. Correspondence with Friedrich Engels . Ed. By Helmut Hirsch. Assen 1970, pp. 234 f. And 253).
30. ^ Edition of February 3, 1883.
31. ↑ Ingo Bach, pp. 56 and 63.
32. ↑ Adolph Kohut : Ferdinand Lassalle's Testament and Heirs. With unprinted letters from Countess Sophie Hatzfeld, Wilhelm Rüstow, Aurel Hoffmann a. a. A memorial sheet for the 25th anniversary of Lassalle's death on August 31, 1889 . Großenhain 1889, p. 160 ff.
33. ↑ One should only talk well about the dead.
34. ^ Franz Mehring : History of the German Social Democracy . Second part. Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1960, p. 213. (Collected writings vol. 2)
35. ^ Johann Baptist von Schweitzer and the Social Democracy. A contribution to the history of the German labor movement . Gustav Fischer, Jena 1909, p. 105.
36. ^ Fictitious publisher and place of printing. Otherwise no evidence of “Verlag des Intellektiven-Comptoirs, New York”.
37. ^ Foreword by Bernhard Becker December 1881!
38. ^ Prohibited on December 17, 1878 on the basis of the Socialist Law, Section 28.

Web links

• August Bebel: From my life, Vol. 1, Stuttgart, 1911. P. 88. Online