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===Conservative movements===
===Conservative movements===


In a Bundestag speech of 1951, von Merkatz avowed himself as a [[monarchy|monarchist]].<ref name=Conze98/><ref>Schildt (1999), p.53</ref> He also upheld his contacts to [[Francisco Franco|Franco]]'s Spain and joined the [[European Documentation and Information Centre]] (CEDI).<ref name=Conze98/> President of its German faction, von Merkatz was in close personal contact with [[Otto von Habsburg]], president of the CEDI.<ref name=Conze99>Conze (2005), p.99</ref> In 1956, he joined the Central Council of von Habsburg's [[International Paneuropean Union]],<ref name=Conze198>Conze (2005), p.198</ref>, and in was president of its German faction<ref name=Conze99/> from 1967 to 1979.<ref name=Kabinettsprotokolle443/> In his own words, von Merkatz's political aim was the "conservative rebirth of the Christian occident",<ref group=nb name=christlichesabendland>"...die konservative Wiedergeburt des christlichen Abendlandes." Hans-Joachim von Merkatz as cited in Conze (2005), p.157</ref> whereby [[conservativism]] was understood by him not as an eligible political concept, but as an integral feature of personality.<ref>Conze (2005), p.157</ref> Von Merkatz was a founding member of the ''Abendländische Akademie'' ("Occidental Academy"), a Christian-conservative circle operating since 1952.<ref>Schildt (1999), pp.56ff, esp.p.57</ref>
In a Bundestag speech of 1951, von Merkatz avowed himself as a [[monarchy|monarchist]].<ref name=Conze98/><ref>Schildt (1999), p.53</ref> He also upheld his contacts to [[Francisco Franco|Franco]]'s Spain and joined the [[European Documentation and Information Centre]] (CEDI).<ref name=Conze98/> President of its German faction, von Merkatz was in close personal contact with [[Otto von Habsburg]], president of the CEDI.<ref name=Conze99>Conze (2005), p.99</ref> In 1956, he joined the Central Council of von Habsburg's [[International Paneuropean Union]],<ref name=Conze198>Conze (2005), p.198</ref>, and in was president of its German faction<ref name=Conze99/> from 1967 to 1979.<ref name=Kabinettsprotokolle443/> In his own words, von Merkatz's political aim was the "conservative rebirth of the Christian occident",<ref group=nb name=christlichesabendland>"...die konservative Wiedergeburt des christlichen Abendlandes." Hans-Joachim von Merkatz as cited in Conze (2005), p.157</ref> whereby [[conservativism]] was understood by him not as an eligible political concept, but as an integral feature of personality.<ref>Conze (2005), p.157</ref> Von Merkatz was a founding member of the ''Abendländische Akademie'' ("Occidental Academy"), a Christian-conservative circle operating since 1952.<ref>Schildt (1999), pp.56-57</ref>


In February 1956, the ''Abendländische Akademie'' became subject to a press campaign initiated by [[Der Spiegel]], claiming the academy's activities were in violation of the [[Grundgesetz|German constitution]].<ref name=Conze165>Conze (2005), p.165</ref><ref>Schildt (1999), p.70</ref> This resulted in investigation by a parliamentary commission and the eventual decline of the academy.<ref name=Conze166>Conze (2005), p.166</ref> During the affair, von Merkatz as one of the academy's leading persons rejected the claims of disobedience to the constitution, but added that because it was rooted in "secular morality", it was "incomplete" for the "conservative mind".<ref>Schildt (1999), p.72, citing von Merkatz (1956): "Das Recht und die Pflicht zu konservativer Politik".</ref>
In February 1956, the ''Abendländische Akademie'' became subject to a press campaign initiated by [[Der Spiegel]], claiming the academy's activities were in violation of the [[Grundgesetz|German constitution]].<ref name=Conze165>Conze (2005), p.165</ref><ref>Schildt (1999), p.70</ref> This resulted in investigation by a parliamentary commission and the eventual decline of the academy.<ref name=Conze166>Conze (2005), p.166</ref> During the affair, von Merkatz as one of the academy's leading persons rejected the claims of disobedience to the constitution, but added that because it was rooted in "secular morality", it was "incomplete" for the "conservative mind".<ref>Schildt (1999), p.72, citing von Merkatz (1956): "Das Recht und die Pflicht zu konservativer Politik".</ref>

Revision as of 15:32, 17 July 2009

Hans-Joachim von Merkatz
Hans-Joachim von Merkatz (right)
German Federal Minister of Justice
In office
1956–1957
Preceded byFritz Neumayer
Succeeded byFritz Schäffer
Personal details
Born(1905-07-07)July 7, 1905
Stargard, Province of Pomerania
DiedFebruary 25, 1982(1982-02-25) (aged 76)
Bonn, Germany
Nationality Germany
Political partyGerman Party
Christian Democratic Union
Alma materUniversity of Jena
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
ProfessionLawyer, politician

Hans-Joachim von Merkatz (July 7, 1905 – February 25, 1982) was a German politician. He was Federal Minister of Justice from 1956 to 1957. He was a member of the Bundestag from 1949 to 1961. He was a member of the German Party before joining the Christian Democratics in 1960.

Early life

Von Merkatz was born at Stargard in the Prussian province of Pomerania into a family of Prussian officers and functionaries, ennobled in 1797. His father, Hauptmann in the German army, died near Vilnius in 1915, during World War I. Von Merkatz received his primary education in Wiesbaden (Hesse), Jena and Naumburg (both in Thuringia).[1] Initially immatriculated for agriculture, he turned to study law and national economics at the universities of Jena and Munich from 1928 to 1931.[1][2]

In the Third Reich

Von Merkatz received his doctorate at the University of Jena in 1934 and his approbation as a lawyer in 1935. The same year, von Merkatz started lecturing foreign and international law at the Kaiser Wilhelm Society in Berlin. In 1938, he became secretary general of both the Ibero-American Institute[1][2] and the German-Spanish Society, both in Berlin. The German-Spanish Society, founded in 1918, was concerned with the public relations to Spain. Since the Nazi take-over of 1933, the society was increasingly incorporated into the Nazi propaganda apparatus, and used to propagate the New Order ideology.[3]

When World War II broke out in 1939, he was drafted into Wehrmacht service, but retired in 1941 due to a severe illness. He then continued to work at his post in Berlin, until the Soviet Red Army advanced towards Berlin.[1] The final stages of the war had confronted von Merkatz with decreasing loyality to the Axis powers in Spain and seizure of Eastern Germany by the Soviets. He nevertheless remained confident in the final succession of the New Order[4] and in the ability of the German forces to repell and avenge the Soviet forces.[5] During the Battle of Berlin, von Merkatz's parents-in-law were killed by Soviet forces in Wusterwitz (Brandenburg), and the family fled westward to settle in Hämelschenburg near Emmerthal (Lower Saxony).[1] The experiences during the final days of the war manifested a strong sense of anti-Communism in von Merkatz's personality.[5]

In West Germany

Offices

After the war, von Merkatz became an employee at the Academy for Area Planning, Hanover, in 1945. He joined the conservative German Party (DP, Deutsche Partei), and acted as its legal consultant from 1946 to 1949. He was voted into the West German federal parliament, Bundestag, in 1949, and remained a Member of Parliament until 1961. From 1949 to 1952, he was Secretary of State in the Federal Ministry for Affairs of the Federal Council (BMBR, Bundesministerium für Angelegenheiten des Bundesrates). From 1950 to 1955, he was vice chairman of the DP Bundestag fraction, and its chairman from 1953 to 1955.[6]

From 1951 to 1958, von Merkatz was a member of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe,[7] and from 1952 to 1958, of the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community.[nb 1] From 1952 to 1960, he was a member of the directorate and the party executive committee of the DP. From 1955 to 1961, he was Federal Minister for Affairs of the Federal Council.[8]

Von Merkatz became Federal Minister of Justice on October 17, 1956.[9] In October 1957, von Merkatz was in the focus of an East German propaganda campaign, portraying him as a "fashist" and "leading Nazi functionary". The campaign was however mounted untimely: Due to a re-arrangement of the ruling coalition after the 1957 West German federal election of September, von Merkatz had to resign from his office. He was succeeded by former minister for finance, Fritz Schäffer,[10] on 21 October 1957.[9]

In 1960, von Merkatz left the German Party to become a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU, Christlich Demokratische Union).[11] He was Federal Minister for Expellees, Refugees and War Invalids (Bundesminister für Vertriebene, Flüchtlinge und Kriegsgeschädigte) from 1960 to 1961, and the West German representative in the Executive Council of the UNESCO.[8]

Conservative movements

In a Bundestag speech of 1951, von Merkatz avowed himself as a monarchist.[5][12] He also upheld his contacts to Franco's Spain and joined the European Documentation and Information Centre (CEDI).[5] President of its German faction, von Merkatz was in close personal contact with Otto von Habsburg, president of the CEDI.[13] In 1956, he joined the Central Council of von Habsburg's International Paneuropean Union,[14], and in was president of its German faction[13] from 1967 to 1979.[8] In his own words, von Merkatz's political aim was the "conservative rebirth of the Christian occident",[nb 2] whereby conservativism was understood by him not as an eligible political concept, but as an integral feature of personality.[15] Von Merkatz was a founding member of the Abendländische Akademie ("Occidental Academy"), a Christian-conservative circle operating since 1952.[16]

In February 1956, the Abendländische Akademie became subject to a press campaign initiated by Der Spiegel, claiming the academy's activities were in violation of the German constitution.[17][18] This resulted in investigation by a parliamentary commission and the eventual decline of the academy.[19] During the affair, von Merkatz as one of the academy's leading persons rejected the claims of disobedience to the constitution, but added that because it was rooted in "secular morality", it was "incomplete" for the "conservative mind".[20]

Death

Hans-Joachim von Merkatz died in Bonn on February 25, 1982.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ Both the Consultative and Common Assemblies were the predecessors of the modern European Parliament.
  2. ^ "...die konservative Wiedergeburt des christlichen Abendlandes." Hans-Joachim von Merkatz as cited in Conze (2005), p.157

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Hans-Joachim von Merkatz". Munzinger Online. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
  2. ^ a b Conze (2005), p.93
  3. ^ Conze (2005), pp.93-94
  4. ^ Conze (2005), p.95
  5. ^ a b c d Conze (2005), p.98
  6. ^ Rössel & Weber (1999), p.442
  7. ^ Rössel & Weber (1999), pp.442-443
  8. ^ a b c Rössel & Weber (1999), p.443
  9. ^ a b Schmerbach (2008), p.265
  10. ^ von Miquel (2004), p.34
  11. ^ Conze (2005), p.12
  12. ^ Schildt (1999), p.53
  13. ^ a b Conze (2005), p.99
  14. ^ Conze (2005), p.198
  15. ^ Conze (2005), p.157
  16. ^ Schildt (1999), pp.56-57
  17. ^ Conze (2005), p.165
  18. ^ Schildt (1999), p.70
  19. ^ Conze (2005), p.166
  20. ^ Schildt (1999), p.72, citing von Merkatz (1956): "Das Recht und die Pflicht zu konservativer Politik".

Bibliography

  • Conze, Vanessa (2005). "Wurzeln abendländischen Engagements in biographischen Erfahrungen". Das Europa der Deutschen: Ideen von Europa in Deutschland zwischen Reichstradition und Westorientierung (1920-1970) (in German). Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag. ISBN 3486577573.
  • von Miquel, Marc (2004). "Justiz und NS-Vergangenheit 1957-1965". Ahnden oder amnestieren? Westdeutsche Justiz und Vergangenheitspolitik in den sechziger Jahren (in German). Wallstein Verlag. ISBN 3892447489.
  • Schildt, Axel (1999). "Gründung und Blütezeit der Abendländischen Akademie (1952-1955)". Zwischen Abendland und Amerika: Studien zur westdeutschen Ideenlandschaft der 50er Jahre (in German). Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag. ISBN 3486563440.
  • Schmerbach, Folker (2008). Das "Gemeinschaftslager Hanns Kerrl" für Referendare in Jüterbog 1933-1939 (in German). Mohr Siebeck. ISBN 3161495853.
  • Bundesregierung (Federal government of Germany) (1999). Rössel, Uta; Weber, Hartmut (eds.). Die Kabinettsprotokolle der Bundesregierung: Kabinettsausschuß für Wirtschaft (in German). Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag. ISBN 3486579177.
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