Rudolf Wissell

Who was Rudolf Wissell?

Rudolf Wissell was a German politician in the Social Democratic Party of Germany. During the Weimar Republic, he held office as the Minister for Economics and the Minister for Labour.

Wissell was born in Göttingen, Province of Hanover. He was a member of the SPD from 1888, and belonged to the right wing of the party. From 1908, Wissell was a member of the central workers' secretariat of trade unions in Berlin. From 1916 he worked part-time in the SPD newspaper Vorwärts.

In March 1918, Wissel was elected to the Reichstag for the electoral district "Potsdam 6"; he remained a member of the Reichstag until the collapse of the monarchy in November of that year. On 28 December 1918 Wissell was called to join the Council of the People's Deputies, along with Gustav Noske. The appointments came about after the three representatives of the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany had withdrawn from the Council. This opened an opportunity for the SPD to send more delegates to the Council. During the revolution, as Second Chairman of the General Commission of Trade Unions, Wissell also called for an arrangement with employers, and opposed the formation of a Soviet republic. One result of his arguments was the conclusion of the Stinnes-Legien Agreement, which meant that the employer's associations for the first time recognised the trade unions as the representatives of the workers.