Erich Schmidt (publisher)
Erich Schmidt (born May 12, 1897 in St. Gallen , † May 22, 1952 in Munich ) was a German publicist, politician (DNVP) and publisher.
Live and act
In his youth, Schmidt attended the Kaiser-Friedrich-Gymnasium in Frankfurt am Main. After graduating from high school, he joined the foot artillery regiment No. 4 in Magdeburg, with which he took part in the First World War until he was seriously wounded in May 1918 (loss of the right forearm) : during the war he was deployed on the western and eastern fronts and awarded the Iron Cross of both classes.
After returning home, Schmidt studied political science at the University of Frankfurt am Main. He graduated in February 1921, the Promotion Dr. rer. pole. from. He then worked as a journalist for media of the political right, in particular for the Telegraphen-Union belonging to the Hugenberg group . As editor, Schmidt was in charge of the social policy news service . In 1925 he also took over the chairmanship of the national Reich Federation of German Employees' Professional Associations.
Schmidt found a political forum in the German National People's Party (DNVP) in the 1920s . For this he sat from July 1932 to November 1933 as a member of the Reichstag : from July 1932 to March 1933 on the Reich election proposal of his party, then as a representative of constituency 11 (Merseburg). One of the important parliamentary events that occurred during Schmidt's time as a member of parliament was the vote on the Enabling Act of March 1933 introduced by the Hitler government , which was finally passed with Schmidt's vote.
In the German Democratic Republic , Schmidt's writing became Klassekampf or Volksgemeinschaft ! (E. Letsch, Hannover 1922) placed on the list of literature to be discarded.
Founder of the publishing house and functionary
Erich Schmidt founded a publishing house in Berlin in 1924, initially called "Der Wirtschaftsfrieden". At first he saw his commitment in the publishing field only as part of his extensive activities in the social-political area. The publisher's name clearly indicates its intention to balance things out in times of economic and socio-political tension. By founding the publishing house, Erich Schmidt followed in the footsteps of his grandfather Christian Ulrich Altwegg, who ran his own publishing house in St. Gallen / Switzerland from 1859 until the mid-1980s. The founding of the publishing house thus corresponded to a family tradition whose origins go back 140 years.
The publisher, which was founded purely as a correspondence publisher, published a socio-political news service. This press service, which appeared twice a week, was soon renamed the "Social Policy News Service". From then until the 1930s, the publisher also bore this name. In addition, in November 1933, the publishing house was expanded to include the "Berliner Briefe". In them, daily events are openly or indirectly compared with historical events. But the time-critical organ is only of short duration under the current circumstances: the ban imposed by the Reich Press Chamber in 1938 for political reasons ends its publication.
Since the continuation of the political correspondence services was forbidden, the book publishing house was expanded from 1939 - now under the name Erich Schmidt Verlag . This publishing house developed into one of the leading scientific publishers in Germany, today with a focus on law, economics, the environment and philology.
During the war, the fiction series "The New Reading" contributed to maintaining publishing activities. After the war, Erich Schmidt, in addition to setting up his own publishing house, was particularly committed to restoring the structures of booksellers' associations. The city's four-power status posed a particular problem. On his initiative, the "German Publishers and Booksellers Association for the British Sector of Berlin" was founded in May 1946. With great commitment he pushed the idea of founding a "Greater Berlin" association, which after overcoming various difficulties led to the founding of the " Berlin Publishers and Booksellers Association " on November 21, 1946 . Erich Schmidt became the first 1st chairman of this association and was able to achieve a lot for the German book trade in this position and in functions of the later re-established stock exchange association . In July 1947 he succeeded in having the first exhibition of German books in the four zones of occupation after the war in Berlin. The event is now considered to be the forerunner of the Frankfurt Book Fair, which was established two years later . Erich Schmidt died on May 22, 1952 in the middle of this post-war development work.
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He is buried in the Evangelical Churchyard Nikolassee .
Fonts
- Class struggle or national community! Hanover 1922.
- Suicide of the German people? Hanover 1923.
- The German trade union movement. Berlin 1925.
- That is the German national social conception. Berlin 1932.
- German national struggle for social advancement. Berlin 1933.
literature
- Martin Schumacher (Hrsg.): MdR The Reichstag members of the Weimar Republic in the time of National Socialism. Political persecution, emigration and expatriation, 1933–1945. A biographical documentation . 3rd, considerably expanded and revised edition. Droste, Düsseldorf 1994, ISBN 3-7700-5183-1 .
Web links
- Literature by and about Erich Schmidt in the catalog of the German National Library
- Erich Schmidt in the database of members of the Reichstag
- http://www.ESV.info
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Schmidt, Erich |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German politician (DNVP), MdR |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 12, 1897 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | St. Gallen |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 22, 1952 |
| Place of death | Munich |