Erich Koch-Weser

Erich Koch-Weser (26 February 1875 – 19 October 1944) was a German lawyer and liberal politician. One of the founders (1918) and later chairman (1924–1930) of the liberal German Democratic Party, he served as Minister of the Interior (1919–1921), Vice Chancellor of Germany (1920) and Minister of Justice (1928–1929).

Erich Koch was born on 26 February 1875 in Bremerhaven as the son of Dr. Anton Koch (1838–76), a Protestant headmaster of a higher girls' school, and his wife Minna (1841-1930, née Lewenstein), the daughter of a Jewish merchant from Burhave.

Erich Koch studied law and economics at Lausanne, Bonn, Berlin and at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich from 1893 to 1897 where he finished with a Dr.jur.

Erich Koch was married twice. In 1903, he married Bertha (1880-1923, née Fortmann). In 1925, he married Irma (1897-1970, née von Blanquet). He had four sons and one daughters from his first marriage and two sons from his second marriage.

In 1901, he became Mayor of Delmenhorst, in 1909 Stadtdirektor in Bremerhaven and from 1913 to 1919 was Mayor of Kassel. He belonged to the left wing of the National Liberal Party, was an admirer of Friedrich Naumann and an advocate of abolishing the Prussian Dreiklassenwahlrecht. He also served as a member of the Upper chamber of the Prussian diet.

In November 1918, Koch was a founder-member of the German Democratic Party (DDP). In January 1919, he was elected to the Weimar National Assembly for the DDP and achieved a powerful position within the party's parliamentary group.

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