Kurt Schumacher

Curt Ernst Carl Schumacher, better known as Kurt Schumacher (13 October 1895 – 20 August 1952), was a German politician and resistance fighter against the Nazis. He was chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany from 1946 and the first Leader of the Opposition in the West German Bundestag in 1949; he served in both positions until his death.

This article is about the German politician. For other people with the same name, see Kurt Schumacher (disambiguation).

Kurt Schumacher
Schumacher between 1945 and 1948
Leader of the Social Democratic Party
In office
10 May 1946 – 20 August 1952
DeputyErich Ollenhauer
Wilhelm Knothe
Preceded byHans Vogel
Succeeded byErich Ollenhauer
Leader of the Opposition
In office
7 September 1949 – 20 August 1952
ChancellorKonrad Adenauer
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byErich Ollenhauer
Leader of the Social Democratic Party in the Bundestag
In office
7 September 1949 – 20 August 1952
DeputyErich Ollenhauer
Carlo Schmid
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byErich Ollenhauer
Member of the Bundestag
for Hannover South
In office
7 September 1949 – 20 August 1952
Preceded byConstituency created
Succeeded byErnst Winter
Member of the Reichstag
for Württemberg
In office
14 September 1930 – 22 June 1933
Preceded byMulti-member constituency
Succeeded byMulti-member constituency
Personal details
Born
Curt Ernst Carl Schumacher

(1895-10-13)13 October 1895
Kulm, West Prussia, German Empire (now Chełmno, Poland)
Died20 August 1952(1952-08-20) (aged 56)
Bonn, West Germany
Political partySocial Democratic Party (from 1918)
Alma materUniversity of Halle-Wittenberg
OccupationJurist, politician

Upon Adolf Hitler's seizure of power, he was imprisoned for ten years in various Nazi concentration camps. After World War II, Schumacher was one of the founding fathers of postwar German democracy. Throughout his life, he opposed reactionary and revolutionary forces, including the Nazi Party and the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). He described the KPD as "red-painted Nazis".

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