Eugen Ernst

Eugen Oswald Gustav Ernst (20 September 1864 – 31 May 1954) was a
German Social Democrat and Socialist politician. His appointment as President
Eugen Ernst
of the Police of Berlin in January 1919 prompted the Spartacist uprising in
Berlin.

Contents
Biography
Publications
See also
References
External links

Biography Eugen Ernst in 1946

Chairman of the SPD commission
Eugen Ernst was born in Murowana-Goslin, Province of Posen, Prussia (now in Prussia
Murowana Goślina, Poland). His father was a carpenter, he attended school in In office
Werder (Havel), was trained as a typesetter and worked for a book printer until 1907–1918
1892.[1]
Prussian Minister of the Interior /
Minister without portfolio
Ernst joined the bookprinters union in 1884 and became a member of the Social
In office
Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in 1884[2] or 1886.[3] He soon held several
14 November 1918 – 25 March
positions as a party official and was the chairman of the intraparty oppositional
1919
"Youth" from 1891 to 1893. He served as the SPD's steward for the constituency
of Berlin 6 from 1897 to 1900 and again from 1902 to 1905. In 1902/1903 he
Member of the Weimar National
Assembly
was the business executive of the socialdemocrat Vorwärts printing house and its
In office
custodian from 1903 to 1918. From 1900 to 1901 and 1917 to 1919 Ernst was a
January 1919 – June 1920
member of the SPDs' party board. Ernst was chairman of the Prussian SPD
commission from 1907 to 1918 and headed the SPD electoral committee for Constituency Berlin 3
Greater Berlin from 1915 to 1917.[3] President of the Police of Berlin
In office
In November 1918 Ernst became a member of the Soldiers and workers' council
4 January 1919 – April 1920
of Greater Berlin. He is either described as Minister of the Interior[2] or Minister
President of the Police of Breslau
without portfolio in the Prussian Council of the People's Deputies under Paul
In office
Hirsch.[4]
May 1920 – September 1920
On 4 January 1919, after the Independent Social Democratic (USPD) members Town councillor of Werder (Havel)
of the Prussian Council of the People's deputies had left the people's council, In office
Ernst was appointed President of the Police of Berlin by the Prussian 1926–1933
government. His predecessor, Emil Eichhorn, was the last member of the USPD Personal details
holding an influential position in Berlin. Eichhorn, who worked for the Russian
Born 20 September 1864
 Telegraph Agency in Berlin,[5] Murowana Goslin,
had supported the Province of Posen,
Volksmarinedivision in the Prussia (Murowana
Skirmish of the Berlin Schloss Goślina, Poland)
in December 1918 and was Died 31 May 1954
dismissed from his post with (aged 89)
the approval of the Central Werder (Havel),
Workers and Soldiers council. East Germany
The "Red Castle", headquarters of
the Berlin Police at Alexanderplatz Eichhorn however refused to
Political Social Democratic
accept his dismissal and kept
party Party of Germany
his office at Berlin's police
(SPD)
headquarters. He was supported by armed groups of revolutionaries when Ernst
Socialist Unity Party
appeared at the Police headquarter at Alexanderplatz. The following day a large
of Germany (SED)
protest demonstration against the dismissal of Eichhorn was organized by several
left-wing groups, which led to the Spartacist uprising.[6][7][8] Occupation typesetter

In the 1919 German federal election Ernst was elected as a member of the Weimar National Assembly representing the Berlin 3
constituency.[2]

Ernst was criticized for his inactivity as the head of Berlin's Police forces during the Kapp Putsch of March 1920 and lost his
position as Berlin's President of the Police in April 1920.[9][10]

In May 1920 Ernst became President of the Police of Breslau, but was dismissed in September 1920 after local protesters had
attacked the French and the Polish consulate in Breslau on 26 August 1920. From 1926 to 1933 he was town councilor in Werder
(Havel).[2]

After World War II Ernst rejoined the Social Democratic Party, which was merged with the Communist Party in 1946. He
participated in the unification conference of April 1946 but did not play any political role at that time. Ernst died in 1954 in
Werder.[2]

Publications
Polizeispitzeleien und Ausnahmegesetze, 1878–1910, Berlin, 1911[11]
Ein Leben für die Arbeiterbewegung, 1946[3]

See also
History of the Social Democratic Party of Germany

References
1. Vierhaus, Rudolf (2006). biography (https://books.google.com/books?id=STszecQjhiYC&pg=PA137) (in German).
Munich: Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie, Bd. 3. p. 137. ISBN 978-3-598-25033-0.
2. Kotowski, Georg. "Biography" (https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/gnd116557052.html) (in German). Neue
Deutsche Biographie.
3. "Personendaten" (http://zhsf.gesis.org/biorabwr_db/biorabwr_db.php?id=3350) (in German). GESIS – Leibniz
Institute for the Social Sciences.
4. "Der Freistaat Preußen - Die Staatsministerien 1918–1933" (https://www.gonschior.de/weimar/Preussen/Ueberbli
ck_Reg.html) (in German). gonschior.de.
 5. Wofgang, Malanowski (2 December 1968). "Kartoffeln – Keine Revolution" (https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d
-45876513.html) (in German). Der Spiegel.
6. Kellerhoff, Sven Felix; Keil, Lars-Broder (6 January 2019). "Der linke Polizeipräsident begann den
Spartakusaufstand" (https://www.welt.de/geschichte/article186564666/Spartakus-Aufstand-Der-linke-Polizeipraes
ident-begann-den-Buergerkrieg.html) (in German). Die Welt.
7. Orlow (1986). Weimar Prussia, 1918 – 1925 The unlikely rock of democracy (https://books.google.com/books?id
=0O6ZaLEn-b0C&pg=PA59). Pittsburg: University of Pittsburg Press. pp. 59 ff. ISBN 0-8229-3519-8.
8. Moore, Barrington jr. (1978). Injustice – the Social Bases of Obedience and Revolt (https://books.google.com/boo
ks?id=p3WTDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT324). p. 306. ISBN 978-08-7332-145-7.
9. Orlow, Dietrich (1978). Preußen und der Kapp-Putsch (https://www.ifz-muenchen.de/heftarchiv/1978_2.pdf) (pdf)
(in German). Munich: Vierteljahreshefte für Zeitgeschichte. pp. 201, 223.
10. Fowkes, Ben (2014). The German Left and the Weimar Republic (https://books.google.com/books?id=qlEMBAAA
QBAJ&pg=PA82). Leiden: Brill. p. 82. ISBN 978-90-04-21029-5.
11. Liang, Hsi-Huey (1977). Die Berliner Polizei in der Weimarer Republik (https://books.google.com/books?id=KaCd
CgAAQBAJ) (in German). Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyther. p. 6. ISBN 3-11-006520-7.

External links
Media related to Eugen Ernst at Wikimedia Commons

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