Daniel Blumenthal (politician)
Daniel Blumenthal ( born January 25, 1860 in Thann, † March 25, 1930 in Paris) was a lawyer, mayor and member of the German Reichstag.
Life
Daniel Blumenthal was the son of a Jewish rabbi from Teltze (Galicia ). 1858 emigrated to Alsace this one, there converted to the Protestant faith and worked as Bibelkolporteur. Daniel Blumenthal attended high school in Mulhouse until graduation.
From 1 April 1880 he did military service as a one-year volunteer. Here it was noted that the whole family had Russian citizenship and no German. On October 19, 1882 Daniel Blumenthal was naturalized as a German.
After his military service, he studied for two years at the pin to St. Thomas in Strasbourg and then at the University of Strasbourg jurisprudence. From 1886 to 1901 he was a lawyer at the district court in Mulhouse and since 1901 at the Higher Regional Court of Colmar.
In July 1895 he founded the Democratic People's Party of Alsace- Lorraine in Mulhouse and was elected the first chairman. He was co-founder of the eponymous daily newspaper in Colmar. Since 1899 he was a member of the municipal council and Colmar since 1900 represented the canton of Colmar in Upper Alsace county council ( to 1914 ) and member of the National Committee.
From 1903 to 1907 he was a member of the German Reichstag for the electoral district of the Reich country Alsace-Lorraine 9 (Strasbourg - country) and German People's Party. At the general election in 1907, he joined in the constituency of Alsace- Lorraine 9 (Strasbourg - country) and in the constituency of Alsace- Lorraine 3 (Colmar ) on. In the constituency 9 he reached on the first ballot with 7,022 votes to second place after Dionysius Will, who received 8,967 votes and before the Social Democrats Richard Fuchs with 3,993 votes. In the second ballot Dionysius Will was elected with 10,252 votes and Blumenthal, who could unite 9,255 votes, lost his constituency. Also in the constituency of Alsace- Lorraine 3 he reached on the first ballot with 5,692 votes second place in front of mandate holders Jacques Preiss, who received 7,883 votes. The Social Democrat Jacques Peirotes difference in third with 4,515 votes. In the second ballot, Jacques Preiss began with 9,627 compared with 7,951 votes by Blumenthal and was elected.
On 24 June 1905 he was elected with 15 of 29 votes for mayor of Colmar and held this office until 1914.
In the election for 2nd Chamber of the Diet of the Empire State Alsace- Lorraine on October 22, 1911 failed Daniel Blumenthal, but was appointed by the Emperor as a member of the first chamber.
After the beginning of World War II, he moved to Paris and became a member of the Conférence d'Alsace - Lorraine, which prepared the annexation of the country. In 1917 his propaganda book "Alsace - Lorraine", in which he portrayed Alsace-Lorraine as a country whose population induced tendon liberation through France. On behalf of the French government, he was sent to the United States, to campaign for the annexation. Daniel Blumenthal boasted to have Woodrow Wilson convinced to make the demand for a plebiscite in Alsace -Lorraine to fall on the future status.
After the reintegration of Alsace-Lorraine to France, he was appointed in 1919 to the Conseil Supérieur d'Alsace et de Lorraine, where he served until 1920. He advocated a radical assimilation of the country. In particular, in Catholic circles he was hated for his anti-clerical attitude. His efforts for the Radical Party failed to be elected in 1919 and 1924 in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate in 1920. The Radical Party closed it in 1924.
In Colmar a street is named after him.