Hans Vogel | |
|---|---|
 Vogel in the 1920s | |
| Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany | |
| In office 1931–1945 | |
| Preceded by | Otto Wels |
| Succeeded by | Kurt Schumacher (British zone) Otto Grotewohl (Soviet zone) |
| Member of theReichstag | |
| In office 1920–1933 | |
| Constituency | Franconia |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 February 1881 |
| Died | 6 October 1945(1945-10-06) (aged 64) London, England, UK |
| Party | Social Democratic Party of Germany |
| Occupation | Politician |
Hans Vogel (16 February 1881 – 6 October 1945) was a German politician and chairman of theSocial Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) along withArthur Crispien andOtto Wels from 1931 to 1933. After theNSDAP came to power in 1933, he became one of the leaders of the social democratic exile organizationSopade.
After attending theVolkshochschule inFürth, Vogel, the son of a merchant and shoemaker, completed an apprenticeship as a wood sculptor assistant in 1897. He joined the trade union for wood sculptors as early as 1897 and worked in various parts of Germany. He was board member of a Social Democratic electoral association inFürth from 1907 to 1911. From 1908, Vogel worked as secretary of the party in the region ofFranconia. From 1912 to 1918 he was a member of theBavarianLandtag. He supported theBurgfrieden politics of his party, i.e. support for the German war effort and giving up the anti-militarist stance at the beginning ofWorld War I, because he viewed this as his patriotic duty. He served inWorld War I as a radio operator in the105th Division.
After the war and theGerman Revolution, Vogel was a member of theGerman National Assembly, which composed theWeimar Constitution. He remained a member of theReichstag until June 1933. After becoming a member of the caucus of the SPD in 1920, he was elected secretary of the party in 1927. In 1931, he became chairman along withArthur Crispien andOtto Wels.
After theMachtergreifung in January 1933, Vogel first went toSaarbrücken, because it was administered by theLeague of Nations at that time, and then on 2 June he moved on toPrague. In 1938 he moved toParis and there he helped build up theSopade, of which he was the sole chairman after Wels's death in 1939. In 1939 he fled to London and became the chairman of theUnion of German Socialist Organisations in Great Britain.
His death in October 1945 meant that he was not able to help with re-building the SPD. Hans-Vogel-Straße, a street inFürth, is named after him.[1]
Chairmen of theSocial Democratic Party of Germany | ||
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| SPD (1890–1933) |
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| SPD-in-exile (1933–1945) |
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| SPD (since 1945) |
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| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
