| German Wood Workers' Union | |
| Native Name: | Deutsche Holzarbeiterverband |
| Native Name Lang: | German |
| Successor: | Industrial Union of Wood (E Germany), Wood and Plastic Union (W Germany) |
| Merged Label: | Banned |
| Members: | 434,843 (1922) |
| Publication: | Holzarbeiter-Zeitung |
| Location Country: | Germany |
| Affiliation: | ADGB, IFWW |
| Headquarters: | 2 Köllnischen Park, Berlin |
The German Wood Workers' Union (German: Deutsche Holzarbeiterverband, DHV) was a trade union representing carpenters, joiners, and related workers, in Germany.
The union was founded in April 1893, at a meeting in Kassel. The meeting merged the German Carpenters' Union, the German Union of Joiners, and the Union of German Wheelwrights, the Union of Woodturners in Germany, and the Central Union of Workers in the Sweep and Brush Industry in Germany. It initially had 23,774 members, but grew rapidly, absorbing the union of basket makers in 1896, the machine and cork workers in 1899, the Union of Gilders in 1906, the German Umbrella Makers' Union in 1910 and the Central Union of Carvers in 1919. That year, it was a founding affiliate of the General German Trade Union Confederation.[1] [2]
In 1922, membership peaked, at 434,843. By this point, the union was divided into 15 districts, each with two full-time leaders. It then fell slightly, but was still 315,155 in 1929. By this time, it represented members in the following trades:
| Trade | Members | |
|---|---|---|
| Carpenters | 156,189 | |
| Machine workers | 28,866 | |
| Musical instrument makers | 15,832 | |
| Furniture workers | 5,157 | |
| Polishers and stainers | 10,552 | |
| Carvers | 2,357 | |
| Wood turners | 4,092 | |
| Model carpenters | 8,949 | |
| Boat builders and ships' carpenters | 2,917 | |
| Cartographers | 9,409 | |
| Box makers | 5,137 | |
| Parquet layers | 1,059 | |
| Brush makers | 6,567 | |
| Stick and umbrella makers | 1,792 | |
| Basket makers | 3,074 | |
| Cork workers | 620 | |
| Gilders | 2,203 | |
| Button makers | 3,371 | |
| Comb makers | 1,407 | |
| Pencil makers | 2,499 | |
| Clog makers | 263 | |
| Shoe last workers | 1,018 | |
| Sawmill workers | 27,953 | |
| Other trades | 13,902 |
In 1933, the union was banned by the Nazis.
1893: Karl Kloß
1908: Theodor Leipart
1919: Adam Neumann
1920: Fritz Tarnow