Karl Jarres
1874-1951
- Member of the Reichstag
- Vice Chancellor and Minister of the Interior from 1923 to 1924
- Candidate in the 1925 presidential elections
Karl Jarres, a Doctor of Law, was a member of the National Liberal Party during the Kaiserreich. In 1914, he was elected Mayor of Duisburg, an office he was to hold until 1933. When the Kaiserreich collapsed at the end of World War I, he joined the newly founded DVP. During the French and Belgian occupation of the Ruhr Valley, he resisted his forced expulsion, which brought him a two-month prison sentence. His passive resistance against the occupying forces made him very popular with the people. In November 1923, he joined Stresemann’s government as Vice Chancellor and Minister of the Interior. He stayed in these offices in the following cabinets, Marx I and Marx II. In the 1925 presidential elections, he garnered a plurality of the votes during the first round, yet withdrew from the race so as to improve Paul von Hindenburg’s chances of winning. After the Nazis seized power, he withdrew from politics, turning to business activities.