Jakob Weber was born in Ludwigshafen on 11 October 1873 and trained as a bricklayer. In 1896 he married Anna Frosch in Mutterstadt; they had six children, three of whom died in infancy. Active in the SPD and trade unions, Weber became a municipal councillor in 1910 and was elected Mutterstadt’s first full-time mayor in 1920. He worked to improve housing, roads, sewage, schools, public buildings and water supply, including the construction of the water tower in 1932. After the Nazi takeover, local Nazis accused him of misconduct, removed him from office and banned him from Mutterstadt. He was imprisoned in Neustadt, Frankenthal and Ludwigshafen in 1933. Seriously ill after brutal treatment and poor prison conditions, he died in Ludwigshafen on 28 November 1933.
