Ernst Bassermann

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Ernst Bassermann

Ernst Bassermann (born July 26, 1854 in Wolfach , Grand Duchy of Baden , † July 24, 1917 in Baden-Baden ) was a German lawyer and politician . He was chairman of the National Liberal Party and a member of the Reichstag .

Life

Bassermann was the son of the regional court president and member of the Baden state parliament Anton Bassermann (1821-1897).

From 1872 Bassermann studied law at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg , where he was reciprocated in the Corps Suevia Heidelberg in 1873 . In 1874 he moved to the University of Leipzig , where he joined the Corps Lusatia Leipzig . After completing his studies, he served as a one-year volunteer in the Kurmärkisches Dragoon Regiment No. 14 in Colmar . In 1880 he started working as a lawyer in Mannheim . He later practiced it in partnership with the lawyer Anton Lindeck until his death . On July 12, 1881, he married the women's rights activist Julie Ladenburg , who was the wife of long-time chairwoman of the Women's Education Association , the daughter of the Mannheim banker , councilor and honorary citizen Carl Ladenburg (1827-1909), owner of the Ladenburg bank .

Bassermann was politically active in Mannheim and became a city ​​councilor in 1887 . In 1893 he entered the Reichstag for the National Liberal Party . In the same year he was elected to the party executive committee. In 1898 he took over the chairmanship of the faction of his party in the Reichstag . In terms of content, he called for a more liberal social policy and tried to make his party interesting for workers . He brought down the efforts of the Reich Chancellor, Prince Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst to exclude social democratic workers. He also advocated a policy of balancing the interests of economy and agriculture. In 1901 Bassermann was one of the founders of the Society for Social Reform . In 1905 Bassermann was finally elected chairman of the NLP. He campaigned for the formation of a liberal-conservative coalition , including several liberal parties, under Reich Chancellor Bernhard Fürst von Bülow . In the Daily Telegraph affair , Bassermann spoke out against constitutional reforms. With the fall of Bülow in 1909, Bassermann came into opposition to the new Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg . However, he supported its arms policy ambitions.

In 1914 Bassermann was deployed first as a captain , then as a major on the Western Front (First World War) . In February 1915 he took over the post of chief war judge in the Guard Corps in Berlin . In November of the same year, together with the philosopher and publicist Ludwig Stein, he founded the Wednesday Society (not to be confused with the Berlin Wednesday Society, which had existed since 1863 ) as a political discussion forum for national and military circles. Ernst Bassermann, along with Gustav Stresemann, was one of the annexionist spokesmen for the National Liberals .

In 1917 he was one of the supporters of the so-called unrestricted submarine war . At the same time, he demanded domestic reforms from the government. In February 1917 Bassermann resigned from all political offices and resigned from the Reichstag. Shortly before his 63rd birthday, he died in Baden-Baden.

“Colleagues in the Reichstag once asked me what was going on, since Bassermann spent hours at his desk busy writing down notes that condensed into ever stronger little volumes. They believed in some kind of political memorandum that arose there in the midst of the debates of the Reichstag. What emerged, however, was nothing more than a contribution to the history of the Corps Lusatia Leipzig, which Bassermann wrote down there. If the members of the corps got together somewhere, his corps celebrated a foundation party, then he rushed over to them, then he was young with the boys. "

- Gustav Stresemann

monument

Bassermann's grave in Mannheim

A memorial for him was erected in 1930 at the Oberer Luisenpark in Mannheim, but the statue created by Hugo Lederer was destroyed.

The tomb made of yellow sandstone on the main cemetery in Mannheim shows a rich ornamentation of urns, plants and Hermes heads on the corner pillars. A marble slab with name and portrait medallion is embedded in the center. Above the entablature you can see the family coat of arms with a water man in a cartouche with fruit garlands.

Honors

See also

Works

  • Wilhelm Bassermann, 1744–1811, a businessman in Heidelberg, and his descendants. Haas, Mannheim 1905. Digitized
  • News about the Frohn family along with messages about the Kussell and von Heiligenstein families. Haas, Mannheim 1906. Digitized

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Kösener Corpslisten 1930, 72/651, 93/545.
  2. ↑ Eberhard von Vietsch: Bethmann Hollweg. Statesman between power and ethos . Boldt-Verlag, Boppard 1969, p. 221.
  3. ^ Wolfgang Münkel: The cemeteries in Mannheim . SVA, Mannheim 1992, p. 145.
personal data
SURNAME Bassermann, Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German politician, MdR, chairman of the National Liberal Party
DATE OF BIRTH July 26, 1854
PLACE OF BIRTH Wolfach , Baden
DATE OF DEATH July 24, 1917
Place of death Baden-Baden