Heinrich Rickert (politician)

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Heinrich Rickert
The leaders of the Secessionists (from: Die Gartenlaube 1880), Heinrich Rickert on the far right

Heinrich Edwin Rickert (born December 27, 1833 in Putzig , † November 3, 1902 in Berlin ) was a German journalist and leading left-liberal politician .

Life

Rickert's father was the postmaster and later the upper border controller in Thorn . He himself married Annette Stoddart, with whom he had two sons, including the philosopher Heinrich Rickert .

After leaving school, Rickert studied economics in Breslau and Berlin . He then became editor of the Danziger Zeitung , where he quickly rose to become editor-in-chief and co-owner of the paper. Later he was also the manor owner .

In addition, Rickert began to get involved politically. From 1863 he was a city councilor in Danzig and in 1866 was one of the founders of the National Liberal Party . Until 1880 he made a significant contribution to the organization of the election campaigns and maintained liaison between the Berlin headquarters and the various regional party branches. He developed a network of personal relationships within the party. He was also characterized by considerable political competence, which secured him a significant position within the party. In this he belonged to the central board in 1867 and between 1877 and 1880. Alongside Max von Forckenbeck , Ludwig Bamberger and Eduard Lasker , he was considered one of the most important representatives of the left wing of the party.

Rickert had been a member of the Prussian House of Representatives since 1870 . He was also a member of the Reichstag from 1874 . He was also a member of the Provincial Parliament of the Province of Prussia between 1876 and 1878 . As a country director he was at the head of the provincial self-government.

In the inner-party conflict of 1879/80 about the future political orientation, he belonged to the minority who rejected any further reference to Otto von Bismarck . Rickert resigned from the parliamentary group. As a group called "secessionists" at the time, he founded the Liberal Association in 1880 with 27 other members of the Reichstag .

Rickert was one of the leading leaders of this party. From 1882 he also published the Reichsblatt for the party. In the following time he relied on the merger with the Progress Party . After the unification to form the German Liberal Party in 1884, Rickert was the leader of the new party together with Eugen Richter . From around 1890 there were disputes over questions of content and over Richter's claim to power. The break came in 1893, among other things, over the issue of the army bill. Rickert founded the Liberal Association with others . He was in charge of this until his death.

Outside of parliamentary work, Rickert succeeded Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch as chairman of the “ Society for the Spread of Popular Education ”.

He also made a significant contribution to the establishment of the Technical University in Gdansk . He was also a co-founder of the Northeast Farmers' Association. In 1892 he was also involved in the preparations for the establishment of the pacifist German Peace Society .

Rickert was made an honorary citizen of Danzig .

Commitment to the women's movement and against anti-Semitism

Heinrich Rickert supported the German women's movement. Together with Minna Cauer , Franziska Tiburtius and Helene Lange, as chairman of the “Wissenschaftlichen Zentralverein”, he pushed for the establishment of real-life courses for women. These were ceremoniously opened in Berlin in 1889 in the presence of Empress Friedrich . With them women should be able to acquire an educational basis for industrial and commercial professions and in the longer term also for the university. In addition, Rickert, like Wilhelm Dilthey and Adolf Harnack, belonged to the association founded by Helene Lange in 1893 for the organization of high school courses for women , which campaigned for the right of women to study at university.

Heinrich Rickert was an opponent of anti-Semitism . As a reaction to the success of the anti-Semites in the Reichstag elections in 1890 , Rickert published an article with which he called for a counterattack against the "anti-constitutional and anti-cultural agitation". He warned against the idea that progress automatically helps to end prejudice and discrimination . The article was followed by an appeal signed by around five hundred public figures, which became an important impetus for the establishment of the Association for the Defense against Anti-Semitism in 1891. In 1895 he became chairman of the organization.

Appreciation

“It was then that anti-Semitism began its triumphant run. The Jewish parliamentarians could have confronted him, the Löwe , Bamberger, Hirsch were not zealous Jews, but men of a strong sense of honor. Richter, however, did not like it at all for his followers to take on the role of defending the Jews, and so they had to be silent. The good-hearted and benevolent Rickert founded the defense association. Richter stayed away from the leadership. He remembered the Jews in the elections, and the party leadership, which was always in need of money, then sparingly not with demands, but with mandates. When the German liberals divorced, things got worse. The free-thinking association hardly had a secure seat to give, but the Richter People's Party was probably able to bring a determined Jew into the Landtag. But Richter didn't want to. Occasionally anti-Semitic remarks were made in his paper, such as in the socialist 'Vorwärts', and the corresponding efforts of the Jewish notables were unsuccessful. "

- quoted from Adolf Friedemann, Eugen Richter. In: The world. Central organ of the Zionist movement. X. Jg, Cologne 1906 No. 11 of March 16, 1906, pp. 11-12.

“Rickert was not an important person, but he was a clever, warm-hearted and parliamentary experienced figure, keenly interested in popular education efforts - in 1902 he died. Naumann was still in a loose relationship with him. "

- quoted from Theodor Heuss : Friedrich Naumann. The man, the work, the time . Stuttgart 1949.

Works

  • The poor relief in Gdansk. A contribution to the question about the effects of the law of December 31, 1842 . AW Kafemann, Danzig 1869.
  • The commercial arbitration tribunal . (= The trade regulation amendment in the Reichstag. 1). AW Kafemann, Danzig 1874. Digitized copy - select title separately
  • as Ed .: On the question about the construction of local (secondary) railways . AW Kafemann, Danzig 1877.
  • The tax debate with the Reich Chancellor. Three speeches by MPs Richter and Rickert and Reich Chancellor Prince Bismarck, given in the Prussian House of Representatives on February 4th and 5th, 1881 . Barthel, Berlin 1881.
  • Speeches by the Reichstag deputies Rickert and Richter when the constitutional law was discussed in the Reichstag session on May 6, 1881 . Berlin 1881.
  • Speech of the delegate Rickert… June 15, 1882 when discussing the tax question . AW Kafemann, Danzig 1882.
  • Speech by MP Rickert at the memorial service for D. Eduard Lasker on Saturday, February 11, 1884 in the Berlin Craftsmen's Association . AW Kafemann, Danzig 1884
  • Anti-Semite mirror . AW Kafemann, Danzig 1890. (digitized version)
  • In: Hermann Bahr : Antisemitism an international interview . S. Fischer, Berlin 1894, pp. 86-91.

literature

Web links

Commons : Heinrich Rickert  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.danzig-online.pl/th/the.html
  2. ^ Hans-Ulrich Wehler: German history of society. Volume 3: From the German double revolution to the beginning of the First World War. 1849-1914. Munich 1995, ISBN 3-406-32490-8 , p. 1105.
  3. ↑ Angelika Schaser: Helene Lange and Gertrud Bäumer. A political community. Cologne: Böhlau, 2010, p. 65.
  4. ↑ Angelika Schaser: Helene Lange and Gertrud Bäumer. A political community. Cologne: Böhlau, 2010, p. 72.
  5. ^ German-Jewish history in modern times. Volume III: Controversial Integration 1871–1918. Munich 1997, p. 250.
personal data
SURNAME Rickert, Heinrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rickert, Heinrich Edwin (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German politicians (NLP, DFP, FVg), MdR
DATE OF BIRTH December 27, 1833
PLACE OF BIRTH Cute
DATE OF DEATH November 3, 1902
Place of death Berlin