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(12.06.1847 - 14.07.1931) place of birth: Tübingen, Württemberg Deutsches Kaiserreich: Vize-Reichskanzler  Political leader in Imperial Germany who served during the Great War as Vice-Chancellor under Count von Hertling and later Prince Max von Baden. Von Payer grew up in Tübingen and studied law at the university there. He practiced law in nearby Stuttgart, was elevated to nobility status in 1908; he was also an original member of the Demokratische Volkspartei. In 1918, he participated in the founding of the Progressive Party - the Deutsche Demokratische Partei (DDP). During the First World War, von Payer was a leader in the Fortschrittliche Volkspartei (Progressive Party) in Berlin where he actively supported Reichs-Chancellor Theo von Bethmann-Hollweg. He sought the democratization of the Reichs Constitution. This brought him into severe conflict with German High Command, namely von Hindenburg and Ludendorff, especially when von Payer succeed Karl Helfferich as Vice-Chancellor. When Count von Hertling stepped down as German Chancellor, Kaiser Wilhelm II wanted to promote von Payer to that office on 1 October 1918, but he turned the offer down in favor of Prince Max von Baden. After the War, he was a member of the Weimar National Assembly, where he headed up the DDP. He broke ranks with fellow party members when on 19 June 1919 he voted to approve the Versailles Treaty. Von Payer died on 14 July 1931 in Stuttgart.
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