Rudolf Kusel

Rudolf Kusel (born May 9, 1809 in Karlsruhe ; † January 26, 1890 there ) was a lawyer and the first Jew to be elected to the Second Chamber of the Baden estates .

family

Rudolf Kusel was the son of a banker in Karlsruhe. He was married to Karoline nee Trautmann, the daughter of a well-known Jewish family in Mannheim . This marriage resulted in several sons, his son Albert also became a lawyer and took over the father's office.

Life

Rudolf Kusel studied law at the Universities of Heidelberg and Munich and became a legal intern in 1832. During his training he worked in the offices in Durlach and Oberkirch . Since a job in the Baden state service was not possible for a Jew at that time, Kusel became an attorney at the court in Rastatt in 1835 and in 1847 after the court was moved to Bruchsal . In 1859 he was appointed fiscal attorney , his successor was Leopold Regensburger in 1886 . In 1849 he represented the accused revolutionary and chief of the general staff of the rebels Otto von Corvin as a lawyer before the military court in Rastatt and achieved that the death penalty was converted into a prison sentence.

Kusel was involved in various political bodies. From 1865 he was a member of the district assembly and from 1868 to 1871 its chairman. From 1871 to 1875 he was a member of the citizens' committee in Karlsruhe.

Member of Parliament from 1861 to 1871

The Baden constitution of 1818 stipulated in section 37 that members of parliament must belong to one of the three Christian denominations . In 1849 this restriction on the passive right to vote for Jews was lifted, and it took twelve years until Rudolf Kusel, the first Jewish member of parliament, was elected to the Second Chamber of the Baden Estates Assembly.

Kusel was elected in constituency 8, Karlsruhe City I, in 1861 and entered the second chamber as a liberal. According to the regulations at the time, the election was made indirectly by electors . He joined the national liberal party in 1867 and represented Karlsruhe for nine years until 1871. He participated primarily in the consultation of civil and constitutional questions. For the Chamber he was rapporteur for draft amendments to the constitution.

Awards

• 1872 Knight's Cross 1st Class of the Zähringer Lion Order

swell

• General State Archive Karlsruhe: Estate of Dr. Rudolf Kusel (1809–1890), lawyer, fiscal attorney and member of the state parliament (not evaluated)

literature

• Schmitt, Heinz (Ed.): Jews in Karlsruhe. Contributions to their history up to the National Socialist seizure of power , Badenia-Verlag, Karlsruhe 1988 (2nd revised edition 1990), ISBN 978-3-89735-339-8 , pp. 413-416.