Leo Arons

Martin Leo Arons (* February 15, 1860 in Berlin, † October 10, 1919 ibid ) was a physicist and social democratic politician. According to him, the Lex Arons was named, which ruled out an activity at a Prussian university, while membership in the SPD.

Life and work

Leo Arons was descended from a wealthy Jewish banking family in Berlin. His parents were Albert Aron (1826-1897), a partner in the prestigious private bank Gebrüder Arons, and Clara Goldschmidt ( 1837-1867 ). 1887 married Leo Arons Johanna Bleichröder ( 1861-1938 ), a daughter of the banker Julius Bleichröder ( 1828-1907 ). His brother, the banker Paul Aron (1861-1932), whose sister Gertrud Bleichröder married a few years later ( 1865-1917 ).

After high school studied Leo Arons chemistry and physics. As a scientist he worked on experimental physics. He also developed a mercury vapor lamp (also Aronssche tube called ), the later of the AEG under the name " Dr. Arons mercury vapor lamp " was marketed. In 1890 he was a lecturer at the Berlin Friedrich- Wilhelms-Universität. A year later he became first assistant at the Physics Department, resigned from this position, but in 1893 again. Since then, he was a lecturer again.

About the land reform movement came Arons in contact with the Social Democrats and joined by her inner doubts the early 1890s. As a commoner, he had reservations about the mainly propagated by the party of class struggle. The commitment of the party to enforce its goals through legal way facilitated him entry. As a result, he wrote some articles for the party press. Within the party, he stood on the side of the revisionists. So Aron asked about the involvement of the SPD to the Prussian Landtag elections and became an expert of the three-class suffrage. He also tried since the 1890s, civic social reformers and social democrats in a regular and loose round ( " Schmalzstulle Club" ) to merge. He played a leading role in designing the campaign for the general election of 1903. The press referred to him in some ways as " Chief of Staff of the party for the election campaign ." In the years 1904-1914 Arons was a member of the Berlin City Council. His candidacy for a position on City Council but failed. In addition to the party Arons also supported the free trade unions and the Cooperative "Ideal", founded in 1907.

Arons financed largely from its own assets, the first purpose built union hall in Berlin and together with the ideal apartments for the workers. Since 1908 Arons had to withdraw for health reasons more and more from political life.

He was a deputy in the Berlin district of Neukölln. There the Aronsstraße was established in 1973 named after him ( 1926-1934 Leo Arons Street, 1934-1973 sack leader Damm).

The Lex Arons

The Prussian authorities attempted soon after Aron's party membership to remove the social democrats from his teaching post. The person responsible for the procedure philosophical faculty objected to this request several times. The majority of Conservative members went primarily to defend the autonomy of the university against a state regulation. Their argument was that each university teacher also a lecturer was free and in his political beliefs not bound by instructions official. As Arons 1897 spoke at a Social Democratic Party, expressed Kaiser Wilhelm II "I will not tolerate Socialists (...) the teachers of our youth to the Royal Colleges. "

Not least, this volition forced the Prussian government and the authorities responsible for higher education officials Friedrich Althoff, bring against his reluctance a solution. Since the government had no direct right of intervention on the employment of lecturers, a law was passed in 1898, the assumed now also lecturer of state disciplinary authority. Since this law was mainly tailored to the case Arons, it is called " Lex Arons ". This law is in an inner connection with experiments in the 1890s to prevent the further advance of the Social Democrats with the help of exceptional laws. The Lex Arons was the only exception of this legislation, which passed through the parliamentary hurdle of the Prussian House of Representatives. Overthrow template or penitentiary template, however failed due to the majority in the Reichstag. Aron was suspended on the basis of this law. Due to the feared clashes with the appropriate academic Aron was the only case to which the law was applied.

In public, and especially in the scientific area of the case and finally the law sparked debates about the freedom of science. Immediately after the November revolution Arons was rehabilitated shortly before his death by the new government.