Erich Koch-Weser was a German lawyer and liberal politician. One of the founders (1918) and later chairman (1924–1930) of the liberal German Democratic Party, he served as Federal Minister of the Interior

Federal Ministry of the Interior (Germany)

The Federal Ministry of the Interior is a ministry of the German federal government. Its main office is in Berlin, with a secondary seat in Bonn. The current minister of the interior is Dr...

 (1919–1921), Vice Chancellor of Germany (1920) and Federal Minister of Justice

Federal Ministry of Justice (Germany)

The Federal Ministry of Justice is a federal ministry in Germany.Under the federal system of Germany, individual states are most responsible for the administration of justice and the application of penalties. The Federal Ministry of Justice devotes itself to creating and changing law in the...

 (1928–1929).

He previously served as Member of the Parliament of Oldenburg

Oldenburg (state)

Oldenburg — named after its capital, the town of Oldenburg — was a state in the north of present-day Germany. Oldenburg survived from 1180 until 1918 as a county, duchy and grand duchy, and from 1918 until 1946 as a free state. It was located near the mouth of the River Weser...

 (1901–1909), Member of the Parliament of Bremen

Bremen

The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...

 (1909–1913) and Member of the Prussian House of Lords

Prussian House of Lords

The Prussian House of Lords was the first chamber of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1850-1918. The second chamber was the Prussian House of Representatives . The House of Lords was created on January 31, 1850 with the adoption of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Prussia...

 (1913–1918), as well as Member of the Weimar National Assembly

Weimar National Assembly

The Weimar National Assembly governed Germany from February 6, 1919 to June 6, 1920 and drew up the new constitution which governed Germany from 1919 to 1933, technically remaining in effect even until the end of Nazi rule in 1945...

 and the Reichstag

Reichstag (Weimar Republic)

The Reichstag was the parliament of Weimar Republic .German constitution commentators consider only the Reichstag and now the Bundestag the German parliament. Another organ deals with legislation too: in 1867-1918 the Bundesrat, in 1919–1933 the Reichsrat and from 1949 on the Bundesrat...

 from 1919 to 1930. He also was Mayor of Delmenhorst

Delmenhorst

Delmenhorst is an urban district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of 74,500 and is located 10 km/6 miles west of downtown Bremen with which it forms a contiguous urban area, whereas the city of Oldenburg is 25 km/15 miles to the northwest. The city has a total area of 62.36 km²...

 (1901–1909) and Lord Mayor of Kassel

Kassel

Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...

 (1913–1919).

He was born as Erich Koch, the son of Protestant headmaster Dr. phil. Anton Koch (1836–1876) of Bremerhaven and Minna Löwenstein (1841–1930), the daughter of a Jewish merchant from Burhave. He studied law and economics at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich from 1893 to 1897. He changed his name to Koch-Weser (after the river Weser) in 1927, to distinguish himself from another member of parliament whose name was also Erich Koch.

After he left politics, he worked as a lawyer in Berlin until the rise of Nazism, when he emigrated to Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 on account of the Jewish background of his mother (he was himself a Protestant Christian) and his background as a leading liberal politician. In Brazil, he bought a large coffee plantation and founded the German Rolândia

Rolândia

Rolândia is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...

 colony.

His grandson Caio Koch-Weser

Caio Koch-Weser

Caio Koch-Weser is a German politician, economist, civil servant and business executive. He was Secretary of State in the Federal Ministry of Finance 1999–2005...

 is a former World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

executive and German politician.

Erich Koch-Weser was made an honorary citizen of Delmenhorst in 1928.