Joseph Queva

Josef Queva (born July 22, 1849 in Forst , Weinstrasse ; † March 3, 1929 in Ludwigshafen-Friesenheim ), was a Palatinate workers 'leader and co-founder of the General German Workers' Association of the Palatinate . He was one of the leading representatives of the early Palatinate social democracy.

Life

Nothing is known about Josef Queva's youth. He learned the trade of baker, but came to Oggersheim in the 1860s to work as a tailor in the velvet factory founded in 1855 ( mechanical cotton spinning and linen weaving ).

In July 1870 the velvet factory was closed due to the outbreak of the war and all 800 workers were dismissed without notice. In the late year the factory was reopened because of the favorable course of the war for the Germans. With the approval of the royal Bavarian authorities, the workers, among whom were 11 to 12-year-old school leavers, were dictated exploitative working hours of 14 hours a day and additional regular night work.

These conditions led to the union of the exploited workers; At a public meeting in October 1871, Josef Queva's older brother was elected, along with seven others, as speakers to present the workers' demands for shorter working hours and higher wages to the management. Director Marx showed no concession and no willingness to negotiate, but called to the authorities and called on the military. As a result, the entire workforce went on strike, the main organizer of which is Josef Queva, and which eventually led to negotiations and improvements to the workers.

As a result of these events, the first Lassallean workers' association of the Palatinate was founded on November 4, 1871 in Oggersheim under the leadership of Josef Queva. In August 1874 he took part in the general assembly of the General German Workers' Association in Frankfurt, where he got to know the leadership of the party. In October of the same year Queva called a people's assembly in the Wenz'schen Saal in Oggersheim at the instigation of August Dreesbach (1844-1906). The gathering was denounced to the authorities and a trial took place on the basis of Bismarck's socialist laws.

In 1891 Josef Queva, who had been running a bakery in Friesenheim since 1877, founded a free religious community.

In Oggersheim, the small park at the former castle, where the old velvet factory was located, is named after him.

literature

• The Palatinate Social Democracy - Contributions to its history from its beginnings to 1948/49 , edited by Manfred Geis and Gerhard Nestler, Verlag KF Geißler, Edenkoben 1999, ISBN 3-933086-75-2

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Death register StA Ludwigshafen am Rhein II, No. 22/1929