Philipp Scheidemann

Philipp Scheidemann
Scheidemann c. 1918
Minister President of Germany
In office
13 February 1919 – 20 June 1919
PresidentFriedrich Ebert
DeputyEugen Schiffer
Bernhard Dernburg
Preceded byFriedrich Ebert (de facto)
Succeeded byGustav Bauer
Mayor of Kassel
In office
19 November 1919 – 1 October 1925
Preceded byErich Koch-Weser
Succeeded byHerbert Stadler
Minister for the Colonies
In office
13 December 1918 – 13 February 1919
ChancellorFriedrich Ebert
Preceded byWilhelm Solf
Succeeded byJohannes Bell
Staatssekretär without Portfolio
In office
4 October 1918 – 9 November 1918
ChancellorMax von Baden
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Leader of the Social Democratic Party
In office
20 October 1917 – 15 June 1919
Serving withFriedrich Ebert
Preceded byHugo Haase
Succeeded byHerman Müller
Otto Wels
Member of the Reichstag
for Hesse-Nassau
In office
6 February 1919 – 22 March 1933
1919–1920Weimar National Assembly
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Member of the Reichstag
for Düsseldorf 3
In office
3 December 1903 – 9 November 1918
Preceded byLouis Sabin
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born
Philipp Heinrich Scheidemann

26 July 1865
Kassel, Electorate of Hesse
Died29 November 1939 (aged 74)
Copenhagen, Denmark
Political partySPD (1883–1939)
SpouseJohanna Dibbern
ChildrenLina
Liese
Hedwig

Philipp Heinrich Scheidemann (26 July 1865 – 29 November 1939) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). In the first quarter of the 20th century he played a leading role in both his party and in the young Weimar Republic. During the German Revolution of 1918–1919 that broke out after Germany's defeat in World War I, Scheidemann proclaimed a German Republic from a balcony of the Reichstag building. In 1919 he was elected Reich Minister President by the National Assembly meeting in Weimar to write a constitution for the republic. He resigned the office the same year due to a lack of unanimity in the cabinet on whether or not to accept the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

Scheidemann continued to be a member of the Reichstag until 1933 and served as mayor of his native city of Kassel from 1920 to 1925. After Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power in 1933, he went into exile because he was considered one of the "November criminals" held to be responsible for Germany's defeat in the war and the collapse of the German Empire. While in exile he wrote extensively about German politics. He died in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1939.


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