Braun, Karl Joseph Wilhelm

Lawyer, politician, publicist

Born: 04.03.1822 in Hadamar

Died: 14.07.1893 in Freiburg

After studying law and gaining his doctorate, Braun was a trainee lawyer in Dillenburg, Selters and in 1847/48 in Wiesbaden. Before he was transferred to St. Goarshausen in July 1848, Braun was the editor in charge of the "Nassauische Zeitung" and as such an opponent of Wilhelm Heinrich von Riehl.

As a staunch opponent of the republicans, Braun advocated a constitutional form of government in which a council elected by the people would advise the monarch, but which would also have legislative powers and budgetary authority. From 1849-51, as one of the spokesmen of the "Club of the Left", he was a member of the Nassau Assembly of Estates, from 1852-63 and from 1864-66 a member of the Second Chamber, of which he was President from 1859-63. Together with Friedrich Lang, he was the leader of the pro-Prussian liberal deputies who were in opposition to the Nassau government, which was leaning towards Austria.

Braun settled in Wiesbaden as a lawyer in 1855.

He made a name for himself nationally when he was one of the founding members of the "German National Association" in 1859 and chaired the "Congress of German Economists" for two decades. In 1863, Braun was one of the founding and leading members of the Nassau "Progress Party", which split and he joined the Prussian National Liberal Party.

Together with Friedrich Lang and August Emil Schellenberg, Braun founded the "Rhein-Lahn-Zeitung" in 1859, which had its license revoked after only two years.

After the annexation of Nassau by Prussia, Braun was a member of the Reichstag of the North German Confederation from 1867-71 and was a member of the German Reichstag for various constituencies from 1871-87.

His publications include "Bilder aus der deutschen Kleinstaaterei", which appeared in several editions from 1869 onwards, "Aus der Mappe eines deutschen Reichsbürgers" and "Deutsche Landschafts- und Städtebilder".