Theodor Lohmann/Timelines

Timeline of German Social Insurance

This timeline interleaves key developments in German social insurance with key life events of several principals in that development: Otto von Bismarck, Theodor Lohmann, Robert Bosse and Hans Hermann von Berlepsch. Much of that history involves the interplay between concerns for the rights and welfare of workers, the rights of employers, and obligations of workers to the state.

1815

• Congress of Vienna
• Otto von Bismarck born on April 1 in Schönhausen

1831

• Theodor Lohmann born on October 18 (in Celle?)

1832

• Robert Bosse born on July 12 in Quedlinburg

1834

• Poor law reform in Great Britain.

1835

• In May, at the age of 20, Bismarck entered the Prussian civil service.

1838

• Prussian Railway Law laid down the legal principal that railway owners were liable for injury or death of workers unless it could be proved that it was the victim's own fault or due to an act of God.

1842

• Prussian Poor Law adopted.

1843

• Hans Hermann von Berlepsch born on March 30 in Dresden.

1845

• The Prussian Industrial Code (Gewerbeordinung) gave local authorities discretionary authority to reimpose the requirement that all journeymen in a trade be required to belong to the journeyman provident funds (Gesellenladen).

1848

• European Revolutions of 1848

1849

• The Prussian Ministry of Trade published model rules for the guidance of local authorities implementing required participation in journeyman provident funds (Gesellenladen).

1853

• Theodor Lohmann's essay "Communismus, Socialismus, Christenthum" published in, Vierteljahrsschrift für Theologie und Kirche, Series III.

1855

• Theodor Lohmann's Über bürgerliche und kirchliche Armenpflege mit Rücksicht auf hannoversche Verhältnisse, published in Hanover.

1861

• Bosse appointed Chamberlin to the count of Stolberg-Rossla in Rossla, a position he held until 1868.

1868

• Robert Bosse named office manager of the Provinzialverwaltung in Uchte

1871

• Unification of Germany

1872

• Robert Bosse named Upper President of the Provinzialverwaltung in Hannover.

1876

• Robert Bosse appointed to the Prussian ministry for education and cultural affairs
• German Law on Provident Funds enacted.

1878

• Theodor Lohmann's Die Fabrikgesetzgebungen der Staaten des europäischen Kontinents, published in Berlin by Kortkampf.
• Anti-Socialist Law enacted in Germany.

1890

• Anti-Socialist Law lapsed in Germany.

1891

• Robert Bosse appointed Undersecretary of State in the Office for the Law of the Realm.

1892

• From March, 1892 until September, 1899 Bosse was Prussian Secretary of Cultural Affairs, where he had a substantial role in the introduction of wage laws for ministers and public school teachers.
• Theodor Lohmann appointed Undersecretary of Commerce, a position he held until his death in 1905.
• Otto von Bismarck died on July 30.

1900

• Robert Bosse's Eine Reise nach dem Orient, published in Leipzig.

1901

• Bosse died July 31 in Berlin.

1904

• The Hibernia Affair - a struggle between Prussian "state socialism" and the rising industrial Bürgerin over the state effort to nationalize the Hibernia coal company. Industrialists sought to prevent takeover by the Prussian state and re-establish limits to state powers over the private sector. Statists sought to set limits on industrial autonomy and prevent further development along the lines of commercial states like Britain and the U.S.

1905

• Lohmann died on August 31.

1911

• Robert Bosse's Aus der Jugendzeit, published in Berlin.

1914

• World War I began on August 1.

1918

• World War I ended with the Armistice of November 11. This marked the end of the German Empire which was followed by the Weimar Republic.

1926

• Hans Hermann von Berlepsche died on June 2, 1926 in Seebach, Thüringen.

1927

• Hans Rothfels, Theodor Lohmann und die Kampfjahre der staatlichen Sozialpolitik (1871–1905). Nach ungedruckten Quellen bearbeitet, published in Berlin.

1935

• U.S. Social Security Act adopted by Congress.