Franz Marx (politician, 1903)

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Franz Marx (born January 26, 1903 in Mülheim , † December 25, 1985 in Gauting ) was a German SPD politician and resistance fighter against National Socialism .

Life and work

After an apprenticeship as a machine fitter, Marx, whose father was already active in the SPD and the trade union movement, worked as a fitter in Munich from 1923. Before that he had to leave the French-occupied Rhineland for political reasons. In 1917 he had already become a member of the German Metalworkers' Association , where he had been a youth functionary since 1922. From 1925 to 1927 he completed a guest study in Munich and was then unemployed until 1930. In 1933 he was arrested after a few months of illegal political work and imprisoned for some time in the Dachau concentration camp . In the following years he was repeatedly arrested for illegal activities and was subject to permanent police surveillance. In 1934 he found a job as a workshop foreman at BMW , but after a short time he was dismissed for political reasons. From 1937 he was a repair fitter at the Ford factory in Cologne . In December 1944, he was drafted into the Wehrmacht and went into hiding until the end of the war.

Political party

Marx joined the SPD in 1919. In 1927 he left the SPD and joined the International Socialist Combat League , in 1931 the Socialist Workers' Party of Germany , for which he also worked illegally in 1933 until his arrest.

Marx rejoined the SPD in 1945 and was initially district secretary in Cologne, and from 1946 managing director of the party in Munich. In 1949 he became chairman of the Munich Social Democrats and from 1952 to 1976 he headed the SPD district of southern Bavaria.

MP

Marx was a member of the Bavarian State Parliament from 1946 to 1949 and became a member of the German Bundestag in 1949 , of which he was a member until 1972. While he entered parliament in 1953 and 1957 via the state list of the Bavarian SPD, he was able to conquer the Munich-East constituency directly in the other ballots .

In addition, Marx was at times a delegate to the Council of Europe .

Awards

1959 Bavarian Order of Merit

"Order affair"

In 1968, Franz Marx refused to receive the Grand Cross of Merit. His reason for not wanting to accept this honor from Federal President Heinrich Lübke , whom he accused of lack of clarity regarding his involvement in concentration camp buildings and whom he agreed to be a democrat, caused a sensation . SPD chairman Willy Brandt and Bundestag President Eugen Gerstenmaier apologized for these allegations at Lübke. According to press reports, Lübke is said to have threatened to resign if the allegation was not distanced.

Publications

Franz Marx: Notes and Memories. In: Members of the German Bundestag. Records and Recollections , Volume 2, Boppard am Rhein, 1983, pages 81-139.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ So many are rewarded . In: Der Spiegel . No. 28 , 1968, p. 23 ( online ).
  2. ↑ Lübke threatened to resign because of the religious affair. In: Frankfurter Rundschau , July 9, 1968, page 1
personal data
SURNAME Marx, Franz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German politician (SPD), MdL, MdB
DATE OF BIRTH January 26, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Mülheim
DATE OF DEATH December 25, 1985
Place of death Gauting