Julius Gehl was a German

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

 social democratic

Social democracy

Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...

 politician. Gehl served as the Chairman of the West Prussia

West Prussia

West Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773–1824 and 1878–1919/20 which was created out of the earlier Polish province of Royal Prussia...

n District League of the Social Democratic Party of Germany

Social Democratic Party of Germany

The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...

 (SPD). Gehl was a prominent leader of the Social Democratic Party of the Free City of Danzig

Social Democratic Party of the Free City of Danzig

The Social Democratic Party of the Free City of Danzig was a political party in the Free City of Danzig. After the creation of the Free City of Danzig in 1919, the Danzig branch of the Social Democratic Party of Germany separated itself from the party, and created the Social Democratic Party of...

 during the interbellum years, serving as its chairman and parliamentary faction leader. Gehl also served as Vice President of the Senate of the Free City.

Early life

Gehl was a masonry

Masonry

Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...

 apprentice between 1884 and 1887. In until 1890 he was active in the masons' guild. Between 1900 to 1912 he was an official of the Free Association of German Masons.

Political career in West Prussia

In 1912 he became a member of the District Secretariat of the SPD in West Prussia, and would serve as its chairman between 1912 and 1919. In 1915 he became a member of the Price Verification Agency in Danzig.

Gehl was editor of the newspaper Volkswacht, published from Danzig, between 1917 and 1918.

In 1919 Gehl was elected

German election, 1919

The German elections of January 19, 1919 were the first of the new Weimar Republic following World War I and the Revolution of 1918–19. It was also the first German election according to the system of proportional representation and women's suffrage...

 to the German National Assembly

Weimar National Assembly

The Weimar National Assembly governed Germany from February 6, 1919 to June 6, 1920 and drew up the new constitution which governed Germany from 1919 to 1933, technically remaining in effect even until the end of Nazi rule in 1945...

, having stood as an SPD candidate in the second electoral district (West Prussia).´

Free City of Danzig

When the Free City of Danzig

Free City of Danzig

The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....

 was formed, the Danzig branch of SPD reconstructed themselves as a separate party, the Social Democratic Party of the Free City of Danzig. Gehl was the party chairman 1919-1920. He then became the chairman of the parliamentary faction of the party. Gehl served as Vice President of the Senate of the Free City of Danzig from August 1925 to March 1931 and twice President of the Volkstag

Volkstag

The Volkstag was the parliament of the Free City of Danzig between 1919 and 1939.-History:After World War I Danzig became a Free City under the protection of the League of Nations....

.

Gehl was the editor of the party organ Danziger Volksstimme.