21 Facts About Constantin Fehrenbach

Constantin Fehrenbach served as president of the Reichstag in 1918 and then as president of the Weimar National Assembly from 1919 to 1920.

Constantin Fehrenbach resigned in May 1921 when his cabinet was unable to reach a consensus on war reparations payments to the Allies.

Constantin Fehrenbach was considered part of the Centre Party's left wing, which included noted politicians such as Matthias Erzberger and Joseph Wirth, as well as Catholic workers' associations and Catholic trade unions.

Constantin Fehrenbach was born on 11 January 1852 in Wellendingen near Bonndorf in what was then the Grand Duchy of Baden as the son of Johann Georg Fehrenbach, a teacher, and his wife Rosina, nee Gensecke.

Constantin Fehrenbach began studying Catholic theology at the University of Freiburg before switching to law in 1875.

In 1879, Constantin Fehrenbach married Maria, nee Hossner at Freiburg.

Constantin Fehrenbach started his political career in 1884 when he became a member of the Freiburg city council for the Catholic Centre Party.

Constantin Fehrenbach resigned his seat in 1887 after disagreements with the leader of the party in Baden, Theodor Wacker over the dismantling of Otto von Bismarck's anti-Catholic Kulturkampf laws.

In 1895, Constantin Fehrenbach became in Freiburg and in 1896.

In 1903, Constantin Fehrenbach became a member of the Imperial Reichstag.

Constantin Fehrenbach spoke out against the Army General Staff and delivered a strong plea in favor of a constitutional state and against the military as a state within the state.

In 1917, Constantin Fehrenbach became the chairman of the of the Reichstag, which could meet when the Reichstag was adjourned and have discussions with the government on matters of foreign policy and the conduct of the war.

Constantin Fehrenbach supported the Reichstag Peace Resolution, which called for a negotiated peace without annexations.

In July 1918, Constantin Fehrenbach became the last President of the Imperial Reichstag.

Constantin Fehrenbach was elected to the Weimar National Assembly on 19 January 1919 in Germany's first election that gave women the right to vote.

The Assembly's president then stepped down, and Constantin Fehrenbach was elected in his place.

Constantin Fehrenbach led the German delegation at the Spa conference from 5 to 16 July 1920, where German disarmament and reparations were discussed.

In 1922, Constantin Fehrenbach became a judge on the State Court for the German Reich.

In late 1923, Constantin Fehrenbach was elected head of the Centre Party contingent in the Reichstag, a position in which he remained until his death in 1926.

Constantin Fehrenbach supported the founding in 1924 of the Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold, an unarmed, militarily structured joint organization of the SDP, DDP and Centre Party whose stated purpose was the non-violent protection of the republic from its enemies.

Constantin Fehrenbach died on 26 March 1926 in Freiburg im Breisgau.