Philipp Scheidemann
(© Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1979-122-29A)
1865-1939
- People’s Representative during the November Revolution
- Reichsministerpräsident (Reichskanzler) in 1919
- Mayor of Kassel
Philipp Scheidemann was one of the Social Democrats’ highest-profile leaders in the early days of the Weimar Republic. In October 1918, he joined the last imperial cabinet. On 9 November, he proclaimed the republic from the balcony of the Berlin City Palace, pre-empting Karl Liebknecht. Initially, he worked within the Council of People’s Representatives. In February 1919, he was elected Reichsministerpräsident of a coalition composed of the SPD, the DDP, and the Center Party. There was a great deal of unrest and strikes during his time in office. In the end, his cabinet collapsed under the pressure of the Allies’ harsh peace conditions; Scheidemann himself also resigned in protest in June 1919. He stayed in politics, serving - for example - as a member of the Reichstag and as Mayor of Kassel. In 1921, he survived a hydrogen cyanide attack. He fled Germany in 1933 and died abroad in 1939.