Johannes Hoffmann

Johannes Hoffmann (3 July 1867 – 15 December 1930) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party from Bavaria. He served as a Minister in the revolutionary government of the Bavarian Soviet Republic and subsequently in the People's State of Bavaria administration, 1919–20. Biography Born in Ilbesheim, near Landau, Palatinate, his parents were Peter Hoffmann and Maria Eva, née Keller. He attended the Gymnasium in Landau, and, having completed his studies at the teaching seminary, served as a school teacher in Kaiserslautern from 1887. He married Luise Ackermann in 1892. Between 1899 and 1904, Hoffmann was a member of the Kaiserslautern city council, seconded by the liberal German People's Party (DVP). In 1907, he joined the Social Democrats and was elected deputy of the Bavarian Landtag the next year; his candidacy earned him disciplinary proceedings and he finally had to quit public service. In 1910 he returned into the Kaiserslautern city council and from 1912 he held the position of second mayor. In the same year, he was elected to the German Reichstag parliament. After the German Revolution of 1918–19 and the establishment of the People's State of Bavaria, he served as Bavarian Minister of Education under Minister-President Kurt Eisner. During his tenure as Minister of Education, he removed the Bavarian schooling system from the supervision of the Catholic Church. After Eisner's assassination he succeeded him as minister-president of the People's State of Bavaria on 17 March 1919 as the first freely elected Bavarian Minister President.