Thank God Vain

Gottlob Eitle (* 1854 ; † 1881 ) was a German Preceptor administrator, teacher and socialist publicist. He lived and worked in Großbottwar , Nürtingen , Ebingen and Neuenbürg . Eitle fell victim to the Socialist Law passed under Chancellor Otto von Bismarck .

Life

In addition to his full-time work as a prefectural administrator and teacher, Eitle worked undercover for the social democracy . He wrote articles in the workers' papers " Vorwärts ", " Vaterland " and " Sozialdemokrat ". When his superior authority learned of his political views, he was transferred from one provisional teaching position to the next without permanently hiring him. In Neuenbürg, where he took up a provisional position after Nürtingen and Ebingen, he was employed at the end of 1880 a. a. Arrested on charges of disseminating social democratic writings after denouncing a supporter of Johannes Most . The accusation of involvement in the illegal distribution of social democratic publications could not be proven in the police investigation, but it was sufficient to suspend him from civil service, since he was also not prepared to distance himself from the social democrats. Eitle could not be convicted of any illegal acts, but the state imposed a professional ban on him. After his discharge from school service, the seriously ill Eitle, who has meanwhile professed his support for social democracy, ran for the city's high school elections in January 1881 in Cannstatt , but died a few months later at the age of 27, ill, without assets and without employment opportunities because of him the means for a thorough healing were lacking. His illness also made it impossible for him to move to Switzerland, where he had been promised a teaching position. His funeral at the Stuttgart cemetery in Prague turned out to be a large party demonstration in which, to the surprise of the police, over 400 comrades took part, even though it took place on a weekday. The funeral speech was given by the writer , who played a leading role in building up the Social Democratic Party in Württemberg , Dr. Albert Dulk . In his speech, the latter sharply criticized the Socialist Law, invoking human rights.

literature

• Maag, Gerhard, From the Socialist Law to the First World War, in: Working Group History of the Nürtingen Workers' Movement, The Other Nürtingen. A contribution to the local history of the 100th birthday of the Nürtingen SPD, ed. v. SPD local association Nürtingen, Nürtingen 1989, pp. 23–62.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cf. Maag, Gerhard, From the Socialist Law to the First World War, in: Working group history of the Nürtinger workers' movement, The other Nürtingen. A contribution to the local history of the 100th birthday of the Nürtingen SPD, ed. v. SPD local association Nürtingen, Nürtingen 1989, pp. 23–62, pp. 32–33.