Ludwig Rosenberg

Ludwig Rosenberg   (trade union leader)
Born	29 June 1903 Charlottenburg
Died	23 October 1977 (Age 74) Düsseldorf, Germany
Nationality	German
Religion	Jewish
Party	Social Democratic Party of Germany
German-Jewish trade unionist. Worked in the International Department of the British Foreign Office during World War 2 during exile. Attended two more Bilderbergs in the 1950s after the first one. Leader of the German Trade Union Confederation 1962-1969.  Chairman In office 1962 - 1969 Employer German Trade Union Confederation Attended Bilderberg/1954, 1956 and 1957 Bilderberg meetings.  Vice President In office 1963 - 1969 Employer International Confederation of Free Trade Unions Boss Lyndon Johnson Attended Bilderberg/1954, 1956 and 1957 Bilderberg meetings.

Ludwig Rosenberg was was a German trade unionist of Jewish heritage. While in exile, he worked in the International Department of the British Foreign Office during World War 2. After the war, he was Chief of Department of Foreign Affairs of the trade unions, before becoming Chairman of the German Trade Union Confederation. He attended the inaugural Bilderberg/1954, and the 1956 and 1957 Bilderberg meetings.

Background

The son of a Jewish family of cloth merchants, he grew up in a middle-class family and had a high school education.

Before World War 2

His path in life was connected early on with the labor movement. At the age of eighteen, Ludwig Rosenberg joined the Republican Youth League. At the age of twenty he became a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany and became active in the paramilitary Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold. In 1925 he also became a member of the Union of Salaried Employees. From 1928 he worked as a full-time official in the trade union federation of employees(GdA). In 1933 Rosenberg fled to London from the National Socialists. There he made contact with prominent trade union representatives in exile, such as the founder of the national group of German trade unionists inGreat Britain, Hans Gottfurcht. From 1941 Rosenberg worked in the International Department of the British Foreign Office.

After World War 2

After his return from emigration, he was immediately available for union reconstruction. In his speeches at the federal congresses of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) in 1956 and 1959, as head of the economics department in the DGB, he set the course for economic policy. He pleaded for the recognition of the market economy and market regulation with the help of an active economic policy. At international level, he contributed his expertise to the Economic and Social Committee of the European Community. He was President of this committee (1960-1962) until his election as DGB chairman in 1962.

Rosenberg had been a member of the national board since the founding of the DGB in 1949. On October 26, 1962, he became the first white collar worker to take over the office of chairman of the German Federation of Trade Unions. On May 21, 1969 he was replaced by Heinz Oskar Vetter. From 1963 until his retirement in 1969 he was also Vice-President of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).

 

Events Participated in

Event	Start	End	Location(s)	Description
Bilderberg/1954	29 May 1954	31 May 1954	Netherlands Hotel Bilderberg Oosterbeek	The first Bilderberg meeting, attended by 68 men from Europe and the US, including 20 businessmen, 25 politicians, 5 financiers & 4 academics.
Bilderberg/1956	11 May 1956	13 May 1956	Denmark Fredensborg	The 4th Bilderberg meeting, with 147 guests, in contrast to the generally smaller meetings of the 1950s. Has two Bilderberg meetings in the years before and after
Bilderberg/1957 October	4 October 1957	6 October 1957	Italy Fiuggi	The 6th Bilderberg meeting, the latest ever in the year and the first one in Italy.

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