Walter Freitag (14 August 1889 – 7 June 1958) was aGerman trade union leader and politician of theSocial Democratic Party (SPD). He served in theLandtag of Prussia from 1932 to 1933 until ousted after theNazi seizure of power. Imprisoned until 1935, he was kept under police surveillance and remained largely unemployed throughout the Nazi period. After the end of theSecond World War, he resumed a political career and served in theLandtag of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1947 to 1950 and in the GermanBundestag from 1949 to 1953. He also resumed his leadership in the German labor movement, serving as the chairman of theGerman Trade Union Confederation between 1952 and 1956.

Walter Freitag was born inRemscheid, the son of a locksmith, and trained as atoolmaker. In 1907, he became a union member and in 1908, a member of theSocial Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). He fought with theGerman Imperial Army in theFirst World War from 1914 to 1918. Influenced by his front-line experiences, Freitag joined the more radicalIndependent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) in 1917 and was a member of the RemscheidWorkers' and Soldiers' Council in 1918.^[1]

After theNovember Revolution, he became a trade union secretary in Remscheid and, from 1920, district leader of the German Metalworkers' Association inHagen. He belonged to the faction of the USPD that rejected a merger with theCommunist Party of Germany (KPD) and he rejoined the SPD in 1922. In 1931, he was elected SPD chairman of the Hagen-Schwelm district. At the1932 Prussian state election, he was elected as an SPD deputy to theLandtag of Prussia, serving until that body was dissolved by the Nazis in October 1933.^[1]

At the beginning of the Nazi dictatorship, Freitag organized a meeting of SPD officials in April 1933, which was violently broken up by theSturmabteilung, the Naziparamilitary stormtroopers. After the dissolution of the trade unions in May, he was forced to continue working for theGerman Labor Front. In August 1933, Freitag insisted on being released and was subsequently incarcerated at the Neusustrumconcentration camp nearPapenburg, later being transferred to theLichtenburg concentration camp. In 1935, Freitag was released but remained under police surveillance. Apart from a few odd jobs, Freitag remained unemployed until 1942. He then found employment as a doorman, a security guard and a fireman at theHörde plant of theHörder Bergwerks- und Hütten-Verein [de] (Hörde Mining and Metallurgy Association).^[1]

After the end of the war, Freitag returned to politics, playing a key role in rebuilding the Social Democratic Party organization in theRuhr region, especially inHerdecke. Freitag was theLandrat (district administrator) of theEnnepe-Ruhr district from 1946 to 1949 and a member of theLandtag of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1946 to 1950. From 1949 to 1953 he was a member of the first GermanBundestag.^[1] He was directly elected in the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis II Bundestag election district.^[2]

Freitag also returned to the trade union movement, becoming one of the co-founders of the metalworkers' union (IG Metall), and serving as union chairman of theSiegerland region in 1946. From 1949, he was national co-chairman of IG Metall in theGerman Trade Union Confederation (DGB) and was re-elected to this position in 1952. In October 1952, Freitag became the chairman of the DGB, serving until his resignation in June 1956. From November 1955 to June 1958, he was a member of the administrative board of the German Federal Railway.^[1] He died on 7 June 1958, from the effects of a stroke.ChancellorKonrad Adenauer attended his funeral.

• Herbst, Ludolf; Jahn, Bruno (2002). Vierhaus, Rudolf (ed.).Biographisches Handbuch der Mitglieder des Deutschen Bundestages. 1949–2002 [Biographical Handbook of the Members of the German Bundestag. 1949–2002] (in German). München: De Gruyter - De Gruyter Saur. p. 1715.ISBN 978-3-11-184511-1.
• Walter Freitag biography in theLandtag of North Rhine-Westphalia website

• 1889 births
• 1958 deaths
• German Army personnel of World War I
• German trade union leaders
• Independent Social Democratic Party politicians
• Lichtenburg concentration camp survivors
• Members of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia
• Members of the Landtag of Prussia
• Members of the Bundestag 1949–1953
• Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia
• Members of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany
• People from Remscheid
• Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians

• CS1 German-language sources (de)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from October 2025