Otto Braun | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister President of Prussia | |
| In office 6 April 1925 – 20 July 1932 | |
| Preceded by | Wilhelm Marx |
| Succeeded by | Franz von Papen |
| In office 5 November 1921 – 18 February 1925 | |
| Preceded by | Adam Stegerwald |
| Succeeded by | Wilhelm Marx |
| In office 27 March 1920 – 21 April 1921 | |
| Preceded by | Paul Hirsch |
| Succeeded by | Adam Stegerwald |
| Member of the Reichstag | |
| In office 24 June 1920 – 21 March 1933 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 January 1872 Königsberg, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia) |
| Died | 15 December 1955 (aged 83) Locarno, Switzerland |
| Political party | SPD |
Otto Braun (28 January 1872 – 15 December 1955) was a politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) during the Weimar Republic. From 1920 to 1932, with only two brief interruptions, Braun was Minister President of the Free State of Prussia. The continuity of personnel in high office resulted in a largely stable government in Prussia, in contrast to the sometimes turbulent politics of the Reich. During his term of office, Prussia's public administration was reorganized along democratic lines. He replaced many monarchist officials with supporters of the Weimar Republic, strengthened and democratized the Prussian police, and made attempts to fight the rise of the Nazi Party.
On 20 July 1932, in the Prussian coup d'état (Preußenschlag), Reich Chancellor Franz von Papen ousted Braun's government from power following its loss of a parliamentary majority to the Nazis and the Communist Party of Germany. After Adolf Hitler seized power at the end of January 1933, Prussia lost its democratic constitution and Braun went into exile. After World War II, he had little or no political influence and was largely forgotten by the time he died in 1955.