 Initially a member of the Centre Party, Laufenberg joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in the early 1900s.He became associated with a faction on the left of the party led by Wilhelm Schmitt and Peter Berten and when this group gained the upper hand within the Düsseldorf party in 1904 Laufenberg was appointed editor of the party organ "Volkszeitung".Laufenberg also worked as an educationalist within the party, offering basic courses on socialism to party members of Düsseldorf.