German Metal Workers' Union

File:Nürnberg - Metallarbeiterverband.jpg]]

German metalworkers started to organize in labor unions in 1868. In 1891, at a congress in Frankfurt from June 1 to June 6,Scherm 1932, pg. 376 a number of separate unions joined forces to form a single federation with 23,200 members. The DMV was the first industrial union in the country.Doherty/van der Velden 2012, pg. 86. It was headquartered in Stuttgart. It took over publication of the already extant newspaper Deutsche Metall-Arbeiter-Zeitung. At first, it faced opposition from the established craft unions. Its membership reached 50,000 by 1896, 100,000 in 1901, and over 500,000 by 1913. Its growth was slowed by its failure to gain recognition by employers in large plants in heavy industry until World War I.Doherty/van der Velden 2012, pg. 86; Gerstenberg 2013.

During World War I, the DMV, like the rest of the socialist labor movement, did not oppose the country's war efforts and maintained labor peace, a policy known as the Burgfrieden. As the war effort unraveled and revolutionary struggles broke out, metalworkers rebelled as well. They were a major part of the January Strikes, though the union itself helped re-establish order. After government control collapsed in November 1918, most leaders had to leave their posts as a result of having supported the war.Gerstenberg 2013. Once order was restored, the DMV, which was part of the Allgemeiner Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (ADGB), a confederation of socialist unions,Klosek 2013, pg 10. attained recognition from employers and its membership spiked to 1.6 million in 1919, briefly making it the single largest union in the world.Doherty/van der Velden 2012, pg. 86. It was, however, unable to attract younger workers throughout the Weimar years and its membership sank to under a million by 1928.Doherty/van der Velden 2012, pg. 86. During the 1920s, communists from the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) had considerable influence in the DMV.Weitz 1997, pg. 141.

After the Nazis gained power in 1933, the DMV was banned on 2 May. Many of its leaders were imprisoned and taken to concentration camps and the union's assets and property were seized. Some of its organizational structures were integrated into the German Labor Front (DAF), the Nazi Party's labor organization.Gerstenberg 2013. Although the DMV opposed the Nazis, it was unable to put up meaningful resistance against their rule.Klosek 2013, pg. 10

After World War II, in 1949, IG Metall was established as the new German federation for metalworkers. It continued the DMV's tradition, but strove to maintain political neutrality, feeling that political discord in the German labor movement had contributed to the Nazis' victory in 1933.Gerstenberg 2013.

The union absorbed several smaller unions:{{cite web |title=Deutscher Metallarbeiter-Verband |url=http://library.fes.de/prodok/orgind/n380.pdf |website=Friedrich Ebert Stiftung |accessdate=24 June 2020}}

:1892: Union of Locksmiths and Mechanical Engineers

:1897: Berlin Metalworkers' Union

:1900: Union of Gold and Silver Workers

:1901: Central Union of German Formers

:1905: German Shipyard Workers' Union (part)

:1905: Union of Hanau Gold and Silver Workers

:1907: Union of Engravers and Chasers

:1912: Central Union of Smiths

:1921: Association of Railway Craftsmen

:1924: Central Association of Ship Builders of Germany

:1891: August Junge

:1895: Alexander Schlicke

:1919: Alwin Brandes, Robert Dißmann and Georg Reichel

:1921: Alwin Brandes, Willy Eggert and Georg Reichel

:1926: Alwin Brandes and Georg Reichel

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |last1=Doherty |first1=James C. |last2=van der Velden |first2=Sjaak |date=2012 |title=Historical Dictionary of Organized Labor}}
• {{cite web |url=http://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/artikel/artikel_44766 |title=Deutscher Metallarbeiter-Verband (DMV), 1891-1933 |last=Gerstenberg |first=Günther |publisher=Bayerischen Staatsministerium für Bildung und Kultus, Wissenschaft und Kunst |date=25 November 2013 |website=Historisches Lexikon Bayerns |accessdate=29 September 2014}}
• {{cite book |last=Klosek |first=Artur |date=2013|title=Quo vadis, deutsche Gewerkschaften? Herausforderungen im globalisierten 21. Jahrhundert am Beispiel der IG Metall: Aktuelle Entwicklungen und Perspektiven}}
• {{cite book |last=Scherm |first=Johann|editor-last=Heyde|editor-first=Ludwig|title=Internationales Handwörterbuch des Gewerkschaftslebens|date=1932 |pages=375–380|chapter=Deutscher Metallarbeiterverband (DMV)}}
• {{cite book |last=Weitz |first=Eric D. |date=1997 |title=Creating German Communism, 1890-1990: From Popular Protests to Socialist State

}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Deutscher Metallarbeiter-Verband}}
• {{PM20|FID=co/045801|TEXT=Clippings about|NAME=}}

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Category:Syndicalist trade unions

Category:1891 establishments in Germany

Category:1933 disestablishments in Germany

Category:Trade unions established in 1891

Category:Trade unions disestablished in 1933

Category:Defunct trade unions of Germany

Category:Metal trade unions