Max Weber (1897-1974). Official portrait from the Canton of Zurich’s gallery of former members of the cantonal and federal government. Portrait by Jakob Ritzmann (detail).
Max Weber (1897-1974). Official portrait from the Canton of Zurich’s gallery of former members of the cantonal and federal government. Portrait by Jakob Ritzmann (detail). Canton of Zurich

Max Weber: an eventful life in eventful times

Social justice. Max Weber spent his whole life fighting for it ‒ as a trade unionist, politician and economist. In an age of extremes he moved with the times, in his own fashion. Many of the views he expressed are still relevant today.

Kurt Messmer

Kurt Messmer

Kurt Messmer (1946-2025) was a historian with a focus on history in public space.

Sadly, this blog post is Kurt Messmer's last. Our long-standing and esteemed author Kurt Messmer passed away unexpectedly on 7 March 2025. As a historian, he was not only a profound expert on Swiss history, but also a gifted communicator of history. He has published over 50 articles on the Swiss National Museum blog since 2017. Kurt Messmer completed this article on Federal Councillor Max Weber just a few weeks before his death. Fittingly, it is about a personality for whom mediation and education were the key to peaceful coexistence and who believed in ‘man's capacity for education’. We are convinced that Kurt Messmer found himself in these thoughts.

We will remember Kurt Messmer fondly.
The times change, and we change with them. This old adage can be interpreted in a number of ways, can make us think. Is it the times that change us? Or is it not rather that we change the times? Pure doctrine is not to be trusted in answering this question. Few people knew that better than Max Weber. He disapproved of dogmas but thought highly of analyses.

Where a person comes from

Around 1900, the Aussersihl district of Zurich in which Max Weber grew up was a crucible of industrial society. With rapid population growth, speculation, tenement blocks, social problems, industrial buildings and radicalisation, the situation there became particularly fraught following the turn of the century. In March 1912, 800 painters went on strike in Zurich, followed shortly thereafter by 400 metal workers, calling for their working week to be shortened by half-an-hour a day. This prompted the first general strike in the city ‒ a workers’ stronghold. On 12 July 1912, the labour movement rose up and threw down the gauntlet. The response was not long in coming. After consulting the Federal Council, Zurich’s executive authority brought in the armed forces ‒ 3,000 men in total. Troops were called in on 39 occasions to maintain order during strikes and demonstrations in Switzerland before the First World War.
Zurich, 12 July 1912. First general strike in Zurich. The masses rally in front of the Volkshaus.
Zurich, 12 July 1912. First general strike in Zurich. The masses rally in front of the u003cemu003eVolkshausu003c/emu003e. Swiss Social Archives Zurich
Call to action by the Zurich Workers’ Union in 1912.
Call to action by the Zurich Workers’ Union in 1912. Swiss Social Archives Zurich
Max Weber was 15 years old in 1912 when some 20,000 workers, both male and female, came together in a show of solidarity to protest in the very area he lived in. The well-behaved mass gathering doubtless made a lasting impression on the young adult, even though ‒ or precisely because ‒ it failed to achieve its goal of a shorter working week.

A pacifist buys a gun

Seven weeks later. More than 100,000 people turned out to give German Emperor Wilhelm II a rousing welcome to the Toggenburg region. A full military manoeuvre was held on the Kaiserhügel (‘Emperor’s Hill’) near Kirchberg in the canton of St. Gallen. The German visitor was concerned about Switzerland’s ability to withstand an attack on Germany by the French via Swiss territory, hence the imperial inspection.
Two events in 1912, separated by a matter of months: the military manoeuvre in Kirchberg, St. Gallen on 4 September 1912, with German Emperor Wilhelm II in spiked helmet and looking through field glasses alongside Swiss President Forrer, wearing a hat / International Socialist Congress in Basel, 24-26 November 1912, silk ribbon worn by participants.
Two events in 1912, separated by a matter of months: the military manoeuvre in Kirchberg, St. Gallen on 4 September 1912, with German Emperor Wilhelm II (left, slightly turned away, with light-coloured uniform), Chief of the German General Staff von Moltke (in spiked helmet and looking through field glasses) alongside Swiss President Forrer (wearing a hat) / International Socialist Congress in Basel, 24-26 November 1912, silk ribbon worn by participants. Kulturmuseum St. Gallen / Wikimedia / Swiss Social Archives Zurich
“No worker should shoot at other workers!” The appeal made by 500 delegates at the 1912 peace congress in Basel was a last-ditch attempt to stop the madness of war. Ugly nationalism foiled international solidarity, prompting the famous phrase “the lamps are going out all over Europe.”

Max Weber was 21 when the First World War came to an end. Ten million soldiers from Europe and overseas, plus seven million civilians, had lost their lives in the conflict. Millions more had been injured, traumatised. Now a student, Weber was already exploring ideas associated with religious socialism and pacifism, while opposing political and military violence. On visiting the former battlegrounds in France and seeing the extent of the death and destruction with his own eyes, his pacifist convictions grew even stronger. In 1930, he refused to do military service. He was thrown out of the armed forces and sentenced to eight days in prison. Max Weber, a traitor to his country.
In 1924, Käthe Kollwitz gave timeless expression to the appeal for an end to all violence.
In 1924, Käthe Kollwitz gave timeless expression to the appeal for an end to all violence. Käthe Kollwitz Museum Köln / Wikimedia
In 1933, three years after Weber’s refusal to serve in the army, the National Socialists seized power in Germany. They wasted no time in hauling labour movement activists off to the torture chambers and starting the systematic persecution of the Jews. Max Weber revised his attitude and successfully persuaded the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SP) to move away from its pacifist, antimilitarist stance and embrace the concept of national defence in 1935.

I was and remain a staunch supporter of pacifism. However, denying that the situation today has fundamentally changed would mean turning a blind eye to reality.

Max Weber, minutes of the 1936 Trade Union Congress
Weber’s reasoning sounds as if it had been written for today’s audience: “Pacifism is justified and has every chance of succeeding provided that it is feasible to establish a pacifist movement in every country, with the freedom to disabuse people of their notions of war. This possibility no longer exists today in important countries that really matter. Therefore, it is impossible to simply hold on to a belief and an ideal that no longer has any foundation in the real world.”

22 June 1940. France has fallen, the German Wehrmacht has marched into Paris. As the Federal Council put it: “Events are moving fast. We must adapt to their rhythm.” Adapt? Two weeks later, the number of troops on active service in Switzerland was reduced from 450,000 to 150,000. A submissive gesture? At this most dangerous of times, Max Weber submitted a request to be readmitted to the army. General Guisan rejected it out of hand. Weber bought himself a rifle and reported to the local home guard, where he served until the end of the war.

What I mean by freedom

In 1926, Max Weber was appointed secretary and economist of the Swiss Trade Union Federation. Not long afterwards, Swiss pro-Hitlerites proclaimed that “Today, we are witnessing the victory of National Socialism. Tomorrow, the National Front will celebrate victory.”
Lucerne, Seebrücke, 1937, National Front march. Rallies and flags were part of the public face of Swiss fascist groups, but not party uniforms, which were banned by the Federal Council in 1933.
Lucerne, Seebrücke, 1937, National Front march. Rallies and flags were part of the public face of Swiss fascist groups, but not party uniforms, which were banned by the Federal Council in 1933. Exhibition catalogue “Switzerland in the 1930s. A decade of contradictions”, Kunsthaus Zurich, 1981
As with national defence, Max Weber helped shape the debate about another basic question: “Let us not forget that democracy also means freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and ‒ of no small importance to us Swiss ‒ freedom to grumble and complain. I believe that we can still make liberal use of the latter here in Switzerland today, even within the labour movement.” The freedom to grumble. A category of Helvetisms in its own right.

Unfailingly matter-of-fact

Not without science. During his time at the Swiss Trade Union Federation, Max Weber was instrumental in ushering in an economic policy based on science. In the 1930s, he also became the man at the head of the “Crisis Initiative” launched by the trade unions. It called for the federal government to take far-reaching measures to alleviate the impact of the worldwide economic depression. Suspecting this to be the first step towards a socialist dictatorship and seeing their property and economic freedom threatened, the centre-right parties mobilised every resource they had. The popular initiative was rejected, although it did manage to pick up 43% ‘yes’ votes.
Peasant shirts and workmen’s clothing, crossbow and shovel, Swiss cross and forbidding stares. A poster by the ‘Nationale Kampfgemeinschaft’ action group equates the trade unions’ 1935 Crisis Initiative calling for measures to address the impact of the global economic downturn with Stalin’s five-year plan.
Peasant shirts and workmen’s clothing, crossbow and shovel, Swiss cross and forbidding stares. A poster by the ‘Nationale Kampfgemeinschaft’ action group equates the trade unions’ 1935 Crisis Initiative calling for measures to address the impact of the global economic downturn with Stalin’s five-year plan. Wikimedia
Max Weber fought resolutely against crises, exploitation and class differences. In doing so, he never lost sight of what was actually achievable. Doctrinaire thinking was alien to his nature. What Weber strove for was to derive as much as possible from a broad spectrum of pertinent theories and practices.

Just as economic liberalism has hardly ever existed in pure form, so the planned economy [Marxism] has very little future as an absolute principle.

Max Weber quoted in the Gewerkschaftliche Rundschau periodical, 1934
According to Weber, it was theoretically possible to plead the case for a completely liberal economy. But the same was true of the Marxist model, an economy which was organised and coordinated down to the smallest detail. He believed that in practice, however, any system would always strike a compromise between these two extremes. A longstanding comrade wittily described Max Weber’s unique, pragmatic attitude as “Maxismus” – a tiny yet crucial difference.

As a result of the global economic depression, Switzerland faced an extremely threatening situation in 1936: unemployment figures peaked, exports came under pressure. As in other countries, consideration was given to devaluing the currency. The Swiss National Bank and the Federal Council initially ruled out taking such a step. The majority of SP members also opposed it. However, Max Weber maintained that devaluing the Swiss franc would have a positive effect on the Swiss economy. “The Swiss people can no longer choose whether or not there should be a collective intervention with the backing of the state. The only choice they have is whether the intervention should be democratic or authoritarian.”
A front cover conveying clear-sightedness and a sense of purpose. In this work published in 1938, Weber commented on the devaluation of the Swiss franc two years before.
A front cover conveying clear-sightedness and a sense of purpose. In this work published in 1938, Weber commented on the devaluation of the Swiss franc two years before. Kurt Messmer
When the government and parliament began using ‘declarations of urgency’ to exclude the possibility of popular referendums on the majority of federal acts and decrees, Weber warned that the country was in danger of sliding into authoritarianism and sought to unite workers and farmers in a movement known as the ‘Richtlinienbewegung’. Its main demands were for a stop to wage cuts and the fall in prices of agricultural products, state-run job creation programmes and promotion of the export industry. It was hoped to create a centre-left alliance that would include the Social Democrats in the political system and form an alternative majority to the centre-right block. This vision was to remain just that ‒ a vision.

For Max Weber, the 1937 industrial peace agreement between employers and labourers, which banned strikes and lockouts, was an unconditional surrender on the part of the trade unions, who could no longer fight back against wage pressure. Weber’s criticism of the industrial peace did not go down well, creating conflict. In 1941, after 16 years as an economist at the Swiss Trade Union Federation, Weber resigned from his position and spent the next four years as general secretary and president of the Union of Construction and Woodworkers. From 1944 to 1951, he served as full-time president of the Federation of Swiss Cooperative Societies.

Beholden to the task, not the office

In his younger years, Weber represented the Social Democrats as a member of St. Gallen’s Cantonal Parliament. He then served 12 years in Bern as a member of the National Council from 1939. At the end of 1951, the party put him forward for election to the Federal Council. Not everyone endorsed his candidature: many still saw him as someone who had betrayed his country. Nevertheless, Max Weber was elected with an absolute majority during the first round of voting.
Federal Councillor Max Weber in his private library, 1953.
Federal Councillor Max Weber in his private library, 1953. Keystone
Weber took over the Department of Finance and Customs and put forward plans for a fundamental reform of government finances. The aim was to find a socially acceptable balance between direct taxes graded by income and indirect taxes where everyone pays the same, when purchasing goods, for example. The centre-right parties vehemently opposed his proposals, ultimately winning the day in the popular vote of 6 December 1953. Seeing his efforts to consolidate the federal budget thwarted, Weber took consequential action – two days later, he surprised everyone by resigning from the Federal Council after just two years in office.
The photo shows (from r. to l.) Max Weber in discussion with the two Social Democrats who succeeded him as members of the Federal Council: Willy Spühler from Zurich and Hans-Peter Tschudi from Basel.
Following Weber’s resignation, the u003cemu003eSPu003c/emu003e failed to put up another candidate and were left without a seat in the federal government for the next five years. This hiatus came to an end in 1959 with the introduction of the ‘magic formula’. The photo shows (from r. to l.) Max Weber in discussion with the two Social Democrats who succeeded him as members of the Federal Council: Willy Spühler from Zurich and Hans-Peter Tschudi from Basel. Swiss Social Archives Zurich
He left this highest of offices in the same manner as he had taken it up: without any fuss. Former Federal Councillor Weber would go on to represent his party on the National Council for another 12 years, from 1959 to 1971. He advocated for Switzerland’s accession to the Council of Europe and was a member of its Consultative Assembly in the 1960s. When the booming economy led to more and more foreign labourers being brought to Switzerland, he warned about the pressure this would put on wages, just as he had done at the time of the industrial peace agreement. He showed little understanding of the youth protests in and around 1968. Weber followed his own brand of politics.

Education. The common theme

His grandfather was a teacher, his father a teacher, his mother a teacher of home economics. After finishing his secondary education, Max Weber also qualified as a primary school teacher. While he would not take up teaching until around 30 years later, he was an educator his whole life long, giving numerous lectures and publishing many works. In 1946, he founded the Schweizer Arbeiterschule, a workers’ academy at which a seven-week study programme was created for trade unionists. Max Weber helped get things up and running by donating CHF 40,000 from his own pocket.

The common theme running through his life is the belief in the necessity of social improvement and in people’s ability to learn.

Swiss Trade Union Federation statement in a volume produced in honour of Max Weber’s 70th birthday in 1967
Weber was an economist of some distinction. Some of his critical interventions, commentaries, proposals on the federal government’s economic policy made him a voice to be reckoned with throughout the country. He was elected to the National Bank’s Bank Council in 1943. In 1948, he was appointed to teach at the University of Bern as an associate professor. The wheel had turned full circle as he finally entered his parents’ profession.
“We want the economy to serve people and not people to serve the economy. Economic revenue should be distributed fairly.” Max Weber with students at his workers’ academy in 1957.
“We want the economy to serve people and not people to serve the economy. Economic revenue should be distributed fairly.” Max Weber with students at his workers’ academy in 1957. Swiss Social Archives Zurich
After serving in the federal government, Weber continued to teach in Bern while also lecturing in social politics, trade union studies, financial politics and economics at the University of Basel. And he spent almost 20 years as economic editor of the Berner Tagwacht, contributing articles to the social-democratic newspaper as a sideline. He would continue working right up to the end of his life.

What changes. What stays the same

The distinction between whether the times change us or we change them blurs somewhat the longer we reflect on Max Weber and the age he lived in. Weber was shaped by the events taking place around him, while at the same time playing a role in shaping those events. The most significant change for which he successfully advocated was the shift from the dogmatic socialism of the interwar period, with its focus on the class struggle, to the pragmatic social partnership of the postwar period, based on cooperation. Regardless of his stepping down early as Federal Councillor, Max Weber made an important contribution to integrating social democracy into the system of proportional representation in the federal government. The Swiss concordance model was extended in 1959, proportional representation on the Federal Council became an unwritten law.

Social justice, education and culture, non-violence and peace. Max Weber was willing to pay a high price for standing by what he believed in: he went to prison, resigned as the country’s top trade unionist, stepped down as Federal Councillor. Although a staunch pacifist, when confronted with the military force wielded by an unjust regime and unable to see any other course of action, he was even willing to bow to the inevitable and take up arms to defend himself and others, to set aside his ideals – but only until circumstances allowed those ideals to be restored to the position they deserved.

Max Weber’s life story confronts us as individuals with fundamental questions about life. Highlighting the historical developments he lived through from 1897 to 1974 gives us some idea of where we come from as a society.

Published on: 21.03.2025

Modified on: 07.10.2025

URL: https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/en/2025/03/max-weber-an-eventful-life-in-eventful-times/

More of: 20th / 21st centuryPoliticsSociety

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