Friedrich Kapp

Friedrich Kapp (13 April 1824 – 27 October 1884) was a German-American lawyer, writer, and politician. He was an outspoken opponent of Germany's colonization fervor during his time as a National Liberal Reichstag deputy. This was exemplified in his speech to the annual Congress of German Economists. Kapp stressed both the unprofitability of colonies and their negative impact on Anglo-German relations.

Family life

Kapp was born in Hamm, Province of Westphalia, as the son of the Gymnasialdirektor Friedrich Kapp (1792–1866). He was the nephew of educator and philosopher Ernst Kapp (1801–1896). His father, Friedrich Christian Georg Kapp (1798–1874), was a teacher and politician who took an active part in the revolutionary events in Westphalia in 1848.

In New York, he married Luise Engels, the daughter of General Friedrich Ludwig C. Engels (1790–1855), commander of Cologne (1847–1855). His son, Wolfgang Kapp (1858–1922), was the nominal leader of the Kapp Putsch.

Education in Heidelberg

Kapp received his Abitur from Gymnasium “Hammonense”, the same educational institution where his father held the position of principal. Between 1842 and 1844, Kapp studied law and philosophy at the University of Heidelberg. There, at his uncle Christian Kapp's (1798–1874) house, he met the philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach. Not only did they become close friends; Feuerbach's criticism of religion, which also strongly influenced Karl Marx, had a great impact on Kapp's attitude towards life as well. Other acquaintances from his time as a student were Ludwig Bamberger (1823–1899), who would later become a banker, the author Berthold Auerbach (1812–1882) of Heidelberg and the poet Bettina von Arnim (1785–1859) of Berlin. From 1844 on, Kapp studied at the University of Berlin and voluntarily served in the army for one year. In Berlin, he was already working as a journalist for the utopian socialist magazine called "Westfälisches Dampfboot" (Westfalian Steamboat).