Naumann, Friedrich [key], 1860–1919, German political leader. A Lutheran pastor, he renounced (1894) the ministry to enter politics. He was a leading member of the Progressive party and worked to infuse this middle-class liberal party with social reformism. He was elected to the Reichstag (1907–12, 1913–18) and served as party leader. Naumann founded and edited the political weekly Hilfe. After the overthrow of the monarchy (Nov., 1918) he helped found the German Democratic party, which favored a democratic republic. Naumann was the author of Mittel-Europa (1915; tr. Central Europe, 1916), a significant work in the Pan-German movement.
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