Josef Friedrich Matthes

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Josef Friedrich Matthes in front of the Electoral Palace in Koblenz in 1923

Josef Friedrich Matthes (born February 10, 1886 in Würzburg ; † October 9, 1943 in Dachau concentration camp ) was a political editor and Rhenish separatist. In 1923 he was "Prime Minister" of the Rhenish Republic .

Matthes lived in Switzerland from 1909 and then worked as an editor in Baden. In 1915, Matthes moved from Aschaffenburg to Passau . There he became chief editor of the liberal Passauer Zeitung, in which he criticized Mayor Joseph Muggenthaler so severely that he did not return to office in 1917. Since mid-November 1918, chief editor Matthes ensured that the Passau Liberals joined the left-liberal German Democratic Party (DDP) in 1919 . However, in January 1919 there was already a violent internal party dispute, after which Matthes became a persona non grata. He then left Passau on September 15, 1919 for Aschaffenburg . There he was editor of the SPD party newspaper. In 1920, he was from the SPD ruled out . In 1921 he was sentenced to 6 months' imprisonment for defamation and insult because he had accused the Aschaffenburg mayor Matt of food pushing. He then fled to Wiesbaden , which was then occupied by the French , where he worked as editor of the magazine “Die Fackel”. At the beginning of 1923 he co-founded the "Rhenish Independence League" in Düsseldorf .

In Koblenz , the capital of the then Prussian Rhine Province, Matthes founded the “United Rhenish Movement” on August 15, 1923 with Josef Smeets , Hans Adam Dorten and Leo Deckers . In Aachen , the town hall was opened on October 21, 1923 under the leadership of Leo Deckers and Dr. Guthardt occupied and proclaimed the "Free and Independent Republic of Rhineland" in the Kaisersaal there . The French High Commissioner and President of the Rhineland Commission , Paul Tirard , recognized the rule of the separatists on October 26 as a legitimate government. Hans Adam Dorten and Matthes formed a "government cabinet". Matthes, as its designated chairman, became the "Prime Minister" of the Rhenish Republic.

The power of the new government was based mainly on the French occupiers and the "Rhineland Protection Troops". A massive wave of looting by the protection forces led to popular resistance. In Aegidienberg came on 15./16. November 2 residents and 14 separatists died in clashes between the Schutztruppe and resistance members. The events divided the Koblenz leadership.

Josef Friedrich Matthes resigned from his “offices” on November 27th and went to France. Matthes and his wife was in spite of the granted in the London Agreement of August 31, 1924 amnesty under bending the law denied entry to Germany what Kurt Tucholsky in 1929 prompting, the essay "For Josef Matthes" to publish. From 1930 Matthes worked as a journalist in Paris . He was extradited to Germany after the capitulation of France in 1941 and died in Dachau concentration camp in 1943.

literature

  • Gerhard Gräber and Matthias Spindler : Revolver Republic on the Rhine. The Palatinate and its separatists. Volume 1, November 1918 to November 1923. 855 S. Landau / Pfalz 1992.
  • Morsey, Rudolf: Rhenish People's Association, 1920–1923 / 24. In: Historical Lexicon of Bavaria. (On-line)
  • Schweikl, Michael: The city of Passau in the Weimar Republic (1919-1933). Urban structural policy, participation of citizens and urban institutions in the time of the first German democracy (dissertation), Passau 2016.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Schweikl: The City of Passau in the Weimar Republic (1919-1933). Urban structural policy, participation of citizens and urban institutions in the time of the first German democracy . In: Publications of the Institute for Cultural Area Research in Eastern Bavaria and the neighboring regions of the University of Passau . tape 71 . Klinger, Passau 2016, ISBN 978-3-86328-144-1 , p. 52 f .
  2. ^ "At that time", in: Passauer Neue Presse, A-Ausgabe (Passau-Stadt), No. 233 of Tuesday, October 9, 2018, p. 20.
  3. ^ The Pittsburgh Press, October 27, 1923: RHINE SEPARATION MOVE "HOPELESSLY SPLIT" CLAIM - Google News Archive Search
personal data
SURNAME Matthes, Josef Friedrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Matthes, Joseph Friedrich; Matthes, Pepi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German politician (SPD), Rhenish separatist leader and Prime Minister of the Rhenish Republic (1923)
DATE OF BIRTH February 10, 1886
PLACE OF BIRTH Wurzburg
DATE OF DEATH October 9, 1943
Place of death Dachau concentration camp