German Freethinkers League

The German Freethinkers League ('Deutscher Freidenkerbund') was an organisation founded in 1881 by the materialist philosopher, and physician Ludwig Büchner, to oppose the power of the state churches in Germany. Its aim was to provide a public meeting-ground and forum for materialist and atheist thinkers in Germany.
By 1885, the group had 5,000 members. The first of such organisations to be founded in that country, the German Freethinkers League had by 1930 a membership numbering around 500,000. The League was closed down, however, in the Spring of 1933 when Hitler outlawed all atheistic and freethinking groups in Germany. 'Freethinkers Hall', the national headquarters of the League, was then converted to a bureau advising the public on church matters. 
Among its Chairmen was Max Sievers, who was beheaded at the guillotine by the Nazis in 1944.
==References==
Category:Freethought organizations
Category:Organizations established in 1881
Category:Non-profit organisations based in Germany
de:Deutscher Freidenker-Verband
ro:Liga Liber-Cugetătorilor Germani