Johannes Versmann

Johannes Georg Andreas Versmann (7 December 1820 in Sankt Pauli – 28 July 1899 in Hamburg) was a German lawyer and politician.

He studied law at the Georgia Augusta in Göttingen and at the Ruperto Carola in Heidelberg until 1844 and settled as lawyer in Hamburg in the same year.

The lawyer was elected as a liberal member of the Hamburger Konstituante in 1848 but the restoration, supported and enforced by Prussian troops during the First Schleswig War, led to the removal of this body 1850.

It called on the Senate to negotiate with Prussia proposing a smaller free trade district, with facilities for Hamburg's export industry.

With this double-tracked approach – public opposition and private concessions - Versmann and the Chamber of Commerce attempted to strengthen the Hamburg's position.