BRAUN, ADOLF

BRAUN, ADOLF (1862–1929), Austrian-born socialist leader in Germany who was active in the Social Democratic Party for more than 40 years. He was the brother-in-law of Victor *Adler. Adolf Braun, son of a wealthy Jewish entrepreneur, joined the socialist movement in Austria as a student. In 1889 he went to Germany and became editor of several socialist newspapers. On his expulsion from Prussia under the anti-socialist laws, he edited the Nuremberg socialist daily, Fraenkische Tagespost. Although he belonged to the left wing of the Social Democrats, Braun did not vote against war credits during World War i. He was, however, among the first to demand the abdication of the Kaiser in 1918. His articles of that period were reprinted in the book Sturmvoegel der Revolution (1919). After his naturalization, Braun was elected to the National Assembly in Weimar in 1919 and then to the Reichstag. From 1920 to 1927 he was a member of the Social Democratic Party executive. He wrote on economic, social, and trade union questions. Many socialist journalists received their training in newspaper work under his guidance.

His brother heinrich braun (1854–1927) founded, together with Karl Kautsky and Wilhelm Lichtknecht, the periodical of the German Social Democrats, Neue Zeit, in 1883. Periodicals devoted to the study of social policy and founded by him included the Archiv fuer soziale Gesetzgebung und Statistik of which he was editor until 1903; his successors were Werner Sombart and Max Weber. Braun also edited socialist publications including the Neue Gesellschaft. In 1903–04 Braun sat in the Reichstag but his election was declared invalid and his opponent defeated him in the following by-election. His wife and co-worker was the author Lily Braun, daughter of General von Kretschman.

add. bibliography:

ndb, 2 (1955), 539–41; U. Lischke, Lily Braun (2000); I. Voss, in: M. Grunewald and H.M. Bock (eds.), Le milieu intellectuel de gauche en Allemagne (2002), 55–74 (Ger.).