MARK, WILHELM. - German politician, b. in Cologne on 15 Jan. 1863, d. in Bonn on 5 Aug. 1946. Member of the Prussian Diet in 1899 and of the Reichstag in 1910, he was one of the most notable representatives of the German Catholic Centre Party during the Weimar Republic.
From Dec. 1923 to Jan. 1925 and from May 1926 to June 1928 he served as Reich Chancellor. A candidate in the 1925 presidential election, he received 13,752,640 votes against Hindenburg’s 14,639,399. President of the Centre Party’s parliamentary group in the Reichstag and party chairman from 1921, he retired from active politics in 1932. He founded the organization of German Catholics for the defence of Christian schools and education.
BIBL.: H. MULERT, s. V. in Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, III, col. 2036; G. SCHELE, The Weimar republic, London 1945, passim.