Rudolf Oeser

Rudolf Oeser (13 November 1858 – 3 June 1926) was a German journalist and liberal politician. From 1922 to 1924 he was a member of several governments of the Weimar Republic, serving as Minister of the Interior and Minister of Transport. Early life and career Oeser was born on 13 November 1858 at Coswig, in the Principality of Anhalt-Bernburg as the son of a manufacturer. He worked as a book trader but then studied philosophy and economics and became a journalist. In 1890-92 he was the editor in chief of the Ulmer Zeitung and then joined the business editors of the Frankfurter Zeitung. In 1902, he became the head of the editorial team for Germany. He was a member of the German People's Party (DtVP) and then the FVP. In 1902, Oeser was elected to the Landtag of Prussia for the constituency of Frankfurt am Main. He was also a member of the Reichstag from 1907 to 1911, arguing for tax breaks for retail traders, the public control of corporate cartels and syndicates and for changes to the Prussian election law. During World War I, Oeser joined the and in 1917 became editor of the Ostseezeitung and head of the Stettiner Druckerei (printing business) at Stettin. However, he continued to contribute articles to the Frankfurter Zeitung until the early 1920s. As the war casualties mounted, Oeser urged families to have many children and he also favoured giving women the same political and social status as men. Weimar Republic After the end of the war, Oeser was once again a member of the Prussian diet, first of the Landesversammlung, the constituent assembly of Prussia in 1919-21 and then 1921-24 of the Landtag, this time for the German Democratic Party (DDP). After March 1919, he was also Minister for Public Works in the Prussian government, making him responsible for infrastructure including the railways.