# German Free-minded Party > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/German_Free-minded_Party > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/German_Free-minded_Party.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Free-minded_Party > Source revision: 1337403246 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Political party in the German Empire German Free-minded Party Deutsche Freisinnige Partei Chairman of the Central Committee Franz von Stauffenberg (1884–1893) Chairman of the Executive Committee Rudolf Virchow (1884–1893) Chairman of the Select Committee Eugen Richter (1884–1890) Karl Schrader (1890) Eugen Richter (1890–1893) Founded 5 March 1884; 142 years ago (1884-03-05) Dissolved 7 May 1893; 133 years ago (1893-05-07) Merger of German Progress Party Liberal Union Succeeded by Free-minded People's Party Free-minded Union Newspaper Parlamentarische Korrespondenz Ideology Liberalism (German) Radicalism Political position Left-wing[1] Colours Yellow Politics of Germany Political parties Elections The **German Free-minded Party** ([German](/source/German_language): *Deutsche Freisinnige Partei*, **DFP**) or **German Radical Party**[2][3][4] was a short-lived [liberal](/source/Liberalism_in_Germany) [party](/source/Political_party) in the [German Empire](/source/German_Empire), founded on 5 March 1884 as a result of the merger of the [German Progress Party](/source/German_Progress_Party) and the [Liberal Union](/source/Liberal_Union_(Germany)), an 1880 split-off of the [National Liberal Party](/source/National_Liberal_Party_(Germany)). ## Policies The economists [Ludwig Bamberger](/source/Ludwig_Bamberger) and [Georg von Siemens](/source/Georg_von_Siemens) as well as the [liberal](/source/Liberalism) politician [Eugen Richter](/source/Eugen_Richter) were among the prime movers of the merger in the view of the forthcoming accession of the considered liberal Crown Prince [Frederick William](/source/Frederick_III%2C_German_Emperor) to the throne (which took place only in 1888). Richter aspired to build up a strong united liberal force in the [Reichstag](/source/Reichstag_(German_Empire)) parliament, similar to the British [Liberal Party](/source/Liberal_Party_(UK)) under [William Ewart Gladstone](/source/William_Ewart_Gladstone). The Free-minded Party supported the expansion of [parliamentarism](/source/Parliamentary_system) in the German [constitutional monarchy](/source/Constitutional_monarchy), [separation of church and state](/source/Separation_of_church_and_state) and [Jewish emancipation](/source/History_of_the_Jews_in_Germany). Under party chairman Franz August Schenk von Stauffenberg along with his deputies [Albert Hänel](/source/Albert_H%C3%A4nel) and [Rudolf Virchow](/source/Rudolf_Virchow), the Free-minded Party received disappointing 17.6% of the votes in the [1884 federal election](/source/1884_German_federal_election), representing a drop of 3.6% from the combined parties' results in the previous [1881 federal election](/source/1881_German_federal_election). The main beneficiaries of this defection were the [Conservative](/source/German_Conservative_Party) forces, supporting the [protectionist](/source/Protectionism), [colonialist](/source/German_colonial_empire) and [anti-socialist](/source/Anti-Socialist_Laws) policies of [Chancellor](/source/Chancellor_of_Germany) [Otto von Bismarck](/source/Otto_von_Bismarck). In the [1887 federal election](/source/1887_German_federal_election), the party again lost half of their seats, falling to 32 Reichstag mandates. Though urged by his wife [Princess Royal Victoria](/source/Victoria%2C_Princess_Royal), Crown Prince Frederick William did not dare court trouble with Bismarck by openly taking the party's side. His early death in 1888 and the accession of his son [William II](/source/Wilhelm_II%2C_German_Emperor) terminated all liberal hopes. During the decline in support, the differences between [progressives](/source/Progressivism) and [centre-right liberals](/source/Conservative_liberalism) became irreconcilable. Upon Bismarck's death in 1890, the parties lost their common adversary. In 1893, the Free-minded Party split in conflict over Chancellor [Leo von Caprivi](/source/Leo_von_Caprivi)'s policies into the [Free-minded People's Party](/source/Free-minded_People's_Party_(Germany)) and the [Free-minded Union](/source/Free-minded_Union). A re-union took place in 1910, when both further weakened liberal parties merged with the [German People's Party](/source/German_People's_Party_(1868)) to form the [Progressive People's Party](/source/Progressive_People's_Party_(Germany)). ## Notable members Members of the Free-minded Party at the Reichstag foyer, 1889, [Heinrich Berling](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Heinrich_Berling&action=edit&redlink=1), [Erwin Lüders](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Erwin_L%C3%BCders&action=edit&redlink=1), [Philipp Schmieder](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Philipp_Schmieder&action=edit&redlink=1), [Moritz Klotz](/source/Moritz_Klotz), [Adolph Hoffmann](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Adolph_Hoffmann_(judge)&action=edit&redlink=1), [Max von Forckenbeck](/source/Max_von_Forckenbeck), [Paul Kohli](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_Kohli&action=edit&redlink=1), [Alexander Meyer](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alexander_Meyer_(politician)&action=edit&redlink=1), [Paul Langerhans](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_Langerhans_(politician)&action=edit&redlink=1), [Albert Traeger](/source/Albert_Traeger), [Julius Lerche](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Julius_Lerche&action=edit&redlink=1), [Friedrich Witte](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Friedrich_Witte&action=edit&redlink=1), [Georg von Siemens](/source/Georg_von_Siemens), [August Munckel](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=August_Munckel&action=edit&redlink=1), [Eugen Richter](/source/Eugen_Richter), [August Maager](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=August_Maager&action=edit&redlink=1), [Asmus Lorenzen](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Asmus_Lorenzen&action=edit&redlink=1), [Friedrich Schenck](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Friedrich_Schenck&action=edit&redlink=1), [Johann Heinrich Nickel](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Johann_Heinrich_Nickel&action=edit&redlink=1), [Reinhart Schmidt](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reinhart_Schmidt&action=edit&redlink=1), [Max Broemel](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Max_Broemel&action=edit&redlink=1). - [Ludwig Bamberger](/source/Ludwig_Bamberger) - [Theodor Barth](/source/Theodor_Barth) - [Max von Forckenbeck](/source/Max_von_Forckenbeck) - [Albert Hänel](/source/Albert_H%C3%A4nel) - [Max Hirsch](/source/Max_Hirsch_(labor_economist)) - [Albert Kalthoff](/source/Albert_Kalthoff) - [Ludwig Loewe](/source/Ludwig_Loewe) - [Theodor Mommsen](/source/Theodor_Mommsen) - [Eugen Richter](/source/Eugen_Richter) - [Heinrich Edwin Rickert](/source/Heinrich_Edwin_Rickert) - [Georg von Siemens](/source/Georg_von_Siemens) - [Rudolf Virchow](/source/Rudolf_Virchow) - [Ludwig Büchner](/source/Ludwig_B%C3%BCchner) ## See also - [Contributions to liberal theory](/source/Contributions_to_liberal_theory) - [Liberal democracy](/source/Liberal_democracy) - [Liberalism](/source/Liberalism) - [Liberalism in Germany](/source/Liberalism_in_Germany) - [Liberalism worldwide](/source/Liberalism_worldwide) - [List of liberal parties](/source/List_of_liberal_parties) ## References [Tillich, Paul](/source/Paul_Tillich); Translated by Franklin Sherman (1957). *The Socialist Decision*. Harper & Row. p. 57. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Sheehan, James J. (1995). *German Liberalism in the Nineteenth Century*. Humanities Press. pp. 219, 248. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Bonham, Gary (1991). *Ideology and Interests in the German State*. Routledge. p. 72. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Retallack, James (1992). *Antisocialism and Electoral Politics in Regional Perspective: The Kingdom of Saxony*. Cambridge University Press. p. 62. {{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: |work= ignored ([help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#periodical_ignored)) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Lerman, Katharine Anne (2004). *Bismarck*. Pearson. p. 199. Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Deutsche Freisinnige Partei](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Deutsche_Freisinnige_Partei). Preceded by German Progress Party liberal German parties 1884–1893 Succeeded by Free-minded People's Party Preceded by Liberal Union Succeeded by Free-minded Union v t e Political parties in Germany until the end of World War I Socialist General German Workers' Association (ADAV) Lassallean General German Workers' Association (LADAV) Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany (SDAP) Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) Majority Social Democratic Party of Germany (MSPD) Catholic Centre Party (Zentrum) Liberal Social liberal German Progress Party (DFP) Democratic People's Party (DVP) German People's Party (DtVP) Liberal Union (LV) German Free-minded Party (DFsP) Free-minded People's Party (FVP) Free-minded Union (FV) National-Social Association (NSV) Democratic Union (DV) Progressive People's Party (FVP) National liberal National Liberal Party (NLP) Imperial Liberal Party (LRP) Conservative Free Conservative Party (FKP) German Conservative Party (DkP) Christian Social Party (CSP) German Fatherland Party Conservative Party (Prussia) Antisemitic German Reform Party (DRP) German Social Party (DSP) German Social Reform Party (DSRP) Regionalist Saxon People's Party German-Hanoverian Party (DHP) Bavarian Peasants' League (BB) Polish Party Danish Party Authority control databases VIAF GND --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [German Free-minded Party](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Free-minded_Party) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Free-minded_Party?action=history)). 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