Marie Kreft

Marie Kreft (; 4 November 1876 – 4 September 1963) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party. She was the only woman ever elected to the , serving from 1919 until 1933.

Biography Marie Kreft was born on 4 November 1876 in Stadthagen, then part of the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe in the German Empire. Her father was a bricklayer. In 1899, she married carpenter Wilhelm Kreft, who later became a prominent member of the local Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the director of a consumer cooperative in Stadthagen. Her husband and one of their sons were killed in action during World War I. She was Protestant. She was a member of the Landtag until 1933, when women were barred from holding political office by the Nazi Party following their seizure of power.

Kreft was arrested twice during the Nazi era. In 1933, she was imprisoned for two weeks at the city prison in Stadthagen. In 1944, she was imprisoned for two months as part of Aktion Gitter, during which the Gestapo arrested and killed several Weimar era politicians in the aftermath of the 20 July plot. Despite this, Kreft still met with , a prominent local opponent of the Nazi Party. In 1945after the end of World War II – Kreft was involved in the rebuilding of the , becoming the director of the organization's local branch.

Kreft died in Stadthagen on 4 September 1963. Her house on the Echternstraße was the headquarters of the local SPD from 1930 to 1933. Numerous documents and artifacts were hidden in her house during the Nazi era, including a party flag which was rediscovered in 2011.