Gustav Kessler (1832-1904) was a German trade unionist.

He joined the Progress Party

German Progress Party

The German Progress Party was the first modern political party with a program in Germany, founded by the liberal members of the Prussian Lower House in 6 June, 1861....

 in 1883 and was the editor of Bauhandwerker, a construction workers' unionist magazine from 1884 to 1886. As a result of the Anti-Socialist Laws

Anti-Socialist Laws

The Anti-Socialist Laws or Socialist Laws were a series of acts, the first of which was passed on October 19, 1878 by the German Reichstag lasting till March 31, 1881, and extended 4 times...

, he was expelled from Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 in 1886 and eventually from other towns as well. In 1899, he was a delegate at the Second International

Second International

The Second International , the original Socialist International, was an organization of socialist and labour parties formed in Paris on July 14, 1889. At the Paris meeting delegations from 20 countries participated...

's founding congress in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. He was editor of the socialist newspaper Volksblatt für Teltow-Beeskow-Storkow-Charlottenburg from 1890. In 1890 and 1891, he was the SPD

Social Democratic Party of Germany

The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...

 party delegate from Calbe

Calbe

Calbe is a town in the district of Salzlandkreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.It is situated on the Saale River, approx. north of Bernburg, and southeast of Magdeburg. It is known as Calbe an der Saale, to distinguish it from the smaller town of Kalbe on the Milde in the same state. Pop...

-Aschersleben

Aschersleben

Aschersleben is a town in the Salzlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated approx. 22 km east of Quedlinburg, and 45 km northwest of Halle .-Pre-20th century:...

. He ran for the Reichstag

Reichstag (German Empire)

The Reichstag was the parliament of the North German Confederation , and of the German Reich ....

repeatedly. An important figure in the localist current of the German labor movement, he was one of the leading founders of the Free Association of German Trade Unions

Free Association of German Trade Unions

The Free Association of German Trade Unions was a trade union federation in Imperial and early Weimar Germany. It was founded in 1897 in Halle under the name Representatives' Centralization of Germany as the national umbrella organization of the localist current of the German labor movement...

 in 1897 and the editor of its organ Einigkeit until his death in 1904.