Rudolf Wissell

Rudolf Wissell (8 March 1869 – 13 December 1962) was a German politician in the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). During the Weimar Republic, he held office as the Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister for Labour.

Early life Rudolf Wissell was born on 8 March 1869 in Göttingen, in the Prussian Province of Hanover. His father was Ludwig Wissel, a helmsman, his mother was Ulrike, née Klimmet. He went to school in Bremen from 1876-83. In 1883, he started an apprenticeship as a mechanical engineer. Finishing in 1887, Wissell started to work at a machine builder in Bremen.

In 1888, Wissel became a member of the (still illegal) SPD and chairman of the Fachverein der Schlosser und Maschinenbauer (a union). In 1890, he brought the Fachverein into the newly founded Deutscher Metallarbeiter-Verband. From 1891-3, he served in a Prussian Grenadier regiment stationed in Posen. Following military service, Wissell worked as a lathe operator at Kiel and for the Metallarbeiter-Verband from 1893-1901. He also attended courses in law. In 1901, Wissell became a full-time union functionary as Arbeitersekretär of the unions at Lübeck.

Today, his name is carried by the between Charlottenburg und Charlottenburg-Nord, at 960 meters the longest road bridge of Berlin, as well as the Rudolf-Wissell-Siedlung (Rudolf Wissell Settlement) in Staaken, built in the 1970s, and the Rudolf-Wissell-Grundschule (Rudolf Wissell Primary School) in Gesundbrunnen.