Georg Gothein Explained

Office:Minister of Treasury
Primeminister:Philipp Scheidemann
Term Start:February 1919
Term End:1920
Birth Name:Otto Fürchtegott Georg Gothein
Birth Date:15 August 1857
Birth Place:Neumarkt in Schlesien, Kingdom of Prussia
Death Place:Berlin
Restingplace:Stahnsdorf South-Western Cemetery

Georg Gothein (15 August 1857 – 22 March 1940) was a left-liberal German politician of Jewish origin. He was a member of the liberal political parties, including Progressive People's Party and German Democratic Party and served as the minister of treasury between February 1919 and 1920.

Early life

Gothein was born in Neumarkt in Schlesien, Silesia, on 15 August 1857.[1] He hailed from a Jewish family.[2] He received a degree in engineering.[3]

Career

Gothein had various waterway related business activities in Silesia.[4] He was a liberal politician and first became a member of the Progressive People's Party. In 1894 he was elected to the Prussian parliament.[1] Between 1901 and 1918 he was a member of the German Reichstag.[3] Gothein was among the founders of the German Committee for the Promotion of Jewish Settlement in Palestine which was established in April 1918.[5] He was also a member of its central board, and the committee was dissolved in 1919.[5]

Gothein was a cofounder of the German Democratic Party, a liberal political party.[3] [6] In February 1919 he was appointed minister of treasury to the cabinet led by Philipp Scheidemann.[7] Gothein served in the post until 1920.[6] He was one of the leaders of the Mitteleuropäischer Wirtschaftstagung (German: Central European Economic Union) which had been established in 1928 to promote the economic development in Central Europe.[4] He was active in the organization until 1931 when Tilo von Wilmowsky replaced him in the post.[4]

Later years, personal life and death

After retiring from politics Gothein worked as a journalist.[8] He was a follower of the Protestant church.[5]

Gothein was married and had four daughters.[1] He died in Berlin on 22 March 1940 and was buried at the Stahnsdorf South-Western Cemetery.[1]

Notes and References

  1. Encyclopedia: Andrea Ditchen. Gothein, Otto Fürchtegott Georg. Deutsche Biographie. 2022. de.
  2. Eric Kurlander. Fall 2002. Nationalism, Ethnic Preoccupation, and the Decline of German Liberalism: A Silesian Case Study, 1898–1933. The Historian. 65. 1. 109. 10.1111/1540-6563.651018. 24450935. 143653617. Eric Kurlander.
  3. Steffen Kailitz. Sebastian Paul. Matthäus Wehowski. The Politics of Diversity in Disputed Border Regions during Times of Uncertainty: Upper Silesia, Teschen Silesia, and Orava (1918-19). Studies on National Movements. 2020. 5. 29. 9.
  4. Book: Jiří Janáč. European Coasts of Bohemia. Negotiating the Danube-Oder-Elbe Canal in a Troubled Twentieth Century. 2012. Amsterdam University Press. Amsterdam . 978-90-4851-813-5. 39,62. j.ctt45kd2k.
  5. Lucia Juliette Linares. German Politics and the 'Jewish Question', 1914-1919. University of Cambridge. 60–61,164. 2020. PhD. 10.17863/CAM.50099.
  6. Book: Andreas Kunz. Civil Servants and the Politics of Inflation in Germany, 1914–1924. 1986. De Gruyter. Berlin; Boston. 978-3-11-085299-8. 170,425. 10.1515/9783110852998.
  7. Web site: The first cabinet meeting of the Scheidemann Cabinet on February 1919. topfoto.co.uk. 17 February 2023.
  8. Web site: Georg Gothein. Aufstieg und Niedergang des deutschen Linksliberalismus. Droste Verlag. 17 February 2023. de.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Georg Gothein".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.