author
Paul Göhre
1864–1928
A pastor turned social reformer, he wrote vivid firsthand accounts of working-class life that helped middle-class readers see industrial Germany more clearly. His career moved from the Protestant church into politics, where he pushed social questions into public debate.
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About the author
Born in Wurzen in 1864, Paul Göhre was a German Protestant theologian, writer, and politician. He is best remembered for crossing social boundaries in an unusual way: as a young pastor, he spent time living and working among factory laborers, then wrote about what he saw with close attention and sympathy.
That experience shaped his best-known work, Drei Monate Fabrikarbeiter und Handwerksbursche (Three Months as a Factory Worker and Journeyman), which brought the everyday conditions of workers to a wider audience in the 1890s. Contemporary reference works also describe him as one of the early Protestant voices calling on the church to take social responsibility more seriously.
Later, his path led away from church service and into political life. He became associated with Social Democracy and remained active as a public figure as well as an editor of workers' life stories. He died in 1928, leaving behind a body of writing that still matters for readers interested in religion, reform, and the lived reality of industrial society.