Reich Party of the German Middle Class

The Reich Party of the German Middle Class (German: Reichspartei des deutschen Mittelstandes), known from 1920-25 as the Economic Party of the German Middle Classes (German: Wirtschaftspartei des deutschen Mittelstandes), was a conservativeGerman political party during the Weimar Republic. It was commonly known as the Wirtschaftspartei or WP.

Following the establishment of the Weimar Republic the German National People's Party (DNVP), which emerged as the main conservative party, hoped to include Germany's established bourgeoisie as a natural part of its own support base. This however was not to the case, as the party quickly became associated with general rural interests as well as those of big business and as a result the WP was formed in 1920 to be the party of these Mittelstand views. In order to reflect the views of this group, the WP called for a reduction in government economic involvement, a freer hand for business and lower tax. The WP did not dominate as the middle class vote, as some did go with either the DNVP or one of the two liberal parties, whilst others preferred more radical right alternatives, but generally the WP emerged as the main group to specifically target the middle classes for its support.

Its first representation was in the Landtag of Prussia in 1921 and it appeared in the Reichstag in 1924. Its best performance in a national election came in 1930 when it won 23 seats. This total reduced to two only two years later by which time it had lost most of its support to the Nazi Party.

The party enjoyed its strongest following in Saxony during the 1920s and when it first contested the Landtag of Saxony elections in 1924 it received 7.9% of the vote in Chemnitz-Zwickau, the only district in which it stood.

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