Alsberg, Max

(1877-1933)

   attorney and legal scholar; among Berlin's* prominent trial lawyers. Born in Bonn, he studied law at several universities before taking a doctorate in 1908 with a thesis on the penal system and criminal law. In 1906 he established a legal practice in Berlin, where, with his courtroom skill, he became one of Germany's best criminal lawyers. Via an assortment of libel cases, he defended numerous prominent personalities. Best known was his 1920 defense of Karl Helfferich,* one-time Imperial State Secretary, against whom Matthias Erzberger* had brought libel action. The proceedings compelled Erzberger to resign his office as Finance Minister. Alsberg was also counsel in several cases brought against the journal Die Weltbuhne.*

   Alsberg's success was not limited to the courtroom. His most respected pub-lication, Der Beweisantrag im Strafprozess (The presentation of evidence in criminal proceedings), was a ground-breaking work on criminal law. Out of respect for his scholarship, Berlin made him an honorary professor in 1931. The son of a Jewish merchant, he fled Germany in 1933 and committed suicide in Switzerland.

   REFERENCES:Deak, Weimar Germany's Left-Wing Intellectuals; NDB, vol. 1; John Wil-liamson, Karl Helfferich.