Kurt Schumacher

Kurt Schumacher was born on October 13, 1895 in Kulm. From the winter semester of 1915/16 to the winter semester of 1918/19, Kurt Schumacher studied law and political science at the Universities of Halle, Leipzig and Berlin. He joined the SPD in 1918 and was a member of the Workers' and Soldiers' Council of Greater Berlin that same year. At the end of 1920 Schumacher became a professional politician in Stuttgart – as editor of the social democratic party newspaper „Schwäbische Tagwacht“ and local party functionary. From 1924 to 1931 he was a member of the Württemberg state parliament, and in 1930 he was elected to the Reichstag. Schumacher was arrested in Berlin in 1933 and spent the years up to 1943 and August/September 1944 in various concentration camps.

After the SPD local association in Hanover was re-established in April 1945 and shortly thereafter became the unofficial party headquarters, Kurt Schumacher was elected party chairman on June 9, 1946 at the party conference in Hanover. Schumacher had a decisive influence on the reestablishment of the SPD and was a political opponent of Konrad Adenauer in the post-war period. He died on August 20, 1952 and was buried at the Ricklinger Friedhof.