Schapper, Karl (also Carl)

Teacher, labor leader

born: 30.12.1812 in Weinbach

died: 28.04.1870 in London

Schapper studied forestry in Giessen, but was not allowed to take his exams as a member of the local fraternity. He was repeatedly persecuted and arrested by the authorities due to his numerous revolutionary activities (e.g. he was a co-founder of the "League of the Righteous" and the "League of Communists"). He went from Switzerland via Paris to London, where he maintained active contact with Marx and Engels and was one of the co-signatories of the "Communist Manifesto".

Schapper returned in 1848 and played a key role in the founding of the Wiesbaden Workers' Association. He endeavored to network the workers' associations in the region more closely in order to give their interests more political weight, represented the Wiesbaden association at numerous regional conferences and founded a branch of the "League of Communists" in Wiesbaden.

However, his radical demands were repeatedly met with criticism and he was increasingly sidelined from society. In 1850, Schapper once again attempted to reorganize the Wiesbaden Workers' Education Association and held a public festival on the Neroberg on 26 May 1850, which is said to have been attended by several hundred people. After this, the attacks against him increased; on June 18, he was ordered to leave Wiesbaden.

He complied on June 20 and traveled with his family to London via Cologne, where he had previously served as president of the Workers' Association. There he earned his living as a language teacher, among other things, initially continuing his political work but then withdrawing into private life.