Otto von Bismarck

Bismarck's government established German sickness, accident and old-age insurance during the 1880s, with the pension law following in 1889. These programmes treated specified risks as matters for compulsory insurance rather than private charity alone. Coverage initially centred on defined groups of workers and did not amount to an equal universal welfare system. His role was decisive political sponsorship, alongside officials who designed the laws and institutions that administered them.