ritz Schalk lived with his family at Ruchheimer Straße 18, then number 14, in Mutterstadt. A locksmith by trade, he and his wife Anna Stieber were active in the SPD from a young age. After World War I he worked for the Reichsbahn and supported the struggle against the French occupation, acting as a money courier for striking railway workers. He later worked for free trade unions, maintained contacts with exiled SPD leaders and led the Reichsbanner in Mutterstadt until 1933. After the Nazi takeover he was arrested with mayor Jakob Weber and other SPD, KPD and Reichsbanner members, imprisoned in Neustadt and Frankenthal, and later continued underground leaflet resistance. He lost his job after refusing to attend a broadcast of a Hitler speech. In November 1937 he died in a motorcycle accident; around 1,000 people attended his Gestapo-monitored funeral.
