Ludwig Reimer was born in Mutterstadt on 19 September 1893. A trained bricklayer, he was a committed SPD municipal councillor until the Nazis forced him to give up the office in March 1933. He was also active in the Free Athletes’ Club and was a successful middleweight weightlifter, winning more than 70 contests and placing fourth at the 1925 International Workers’ Olympiad. From 1933 he supported the social democratic resistance group “Sozialistische Aktion”, which distributed illegal writings and held secret meetings. Reimer worked as an SPD courier, distributing Der Kleine Vorwärts. After the group was betrayed, he and 26 other Palatinate SPD members were arrested by the Gestapo on 25 September 1934 and accused of preparing high treason. After more than five months in custody, he was released for lack of evidence. He died in Mutterstadt on 13 October 1974.
