Hans-Joachim von Merkatz
Encyclopedia
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.
in the Prussia
n 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
. Merkatz received his primary education in Wiesbaden
(Hesse
), Jena
and Naumburg (both in Thuringia
). Initially immatriculated for agriculture, he turned to study law and national economics at the universities of Jena and Munich from 1928 to 1931.
. In 1938, he became secretary general of both the Ibero-American Institute 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.
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. The final stages of the war had confronted Merkatz with decreasing loyalty 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 and in the ability of the German forces to repel and avenge the Soviet forces. During the Battle of Berlin
, 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
). The experiences during the final days of the war manifested a strong sense of anti-Communism
in Merkatz's personality.
, 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 Bundesrat
es). From 1950 to 1955, he was vice chairman
of the DP Bundestag fraction, and its chairman from 1953 to 1955.
From 1951 to 1958, Merkatz was a member of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe
, and from 1952 to 1958, of the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community
. Both the Consultative and Common Assemblies were the predecessors of the modern European Parliament
. 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.
Merkatz was appointed Federal Minister of Justice
on October 17, 1956, and remained in that office until October 21, 1957. In October 1957, Merkatz was the focus of an East German propaganda campaign, which portrayed him as a "fascist" 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 in September, Merkatz resigned from his office. He was replaced by former minister for finance, Fritz Schäffer
.
In 1960, Merkatz left the German Party to become a member of the Christian Democratic Union
(CDU, Christlich Demokratische Union). 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
.
. He also upheld his contacts to Franco
's Spain and joined the European Documentation and Information Centre
(CEDI). President of its German faction, Merkatz was in close personal contact with Otto von Habsburg
, president of the CEDI. In 1956, he joined the Central Council of von Habsburg's International Paneuropean Union
,, and was president of its German faction from 1967 to 1979. In his own words, von Merkatz's political aim was the "conservative rebirth of the Christian occident","...die konservative Wiedergeburt des christlichen Abendlandes." Hans-Joachim von Merkatz as cited in Conze (2005), p. 157. whereby conservativism was understood by him not as an eligible political concept, but as an integral feature of personality. Merkatz was a founding member of the Abendländische Akademie ("Occidental Academy"), a Christian-conservative circle operating since 1952.
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. This resulted in investigation by a parliamentary commission and the eventual decline of the academy. During the affair, 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".
Federal Ministry of Justice (Germany)
The Federal Ministry of Justice is a federal ministry in Germany.Under the federal system of Germany, individual states are most responsible for the administration of justice and the application of penalties. The Federal Ministry of Justice devotes itself to creating and changing law in the...
from 1956 to 1957. He was a member of the Bundestag
Bundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
from 1949 to 1961. He was a member of the German Party
German Party
The German Party is a name used by a number of German political parties in the country's history. The current incarnation is represented only at the local level in Germany. However, from 1949 to 1961, a German Party was part of the ruling coalition in the Bundestag...
before joining the Christian Democratics
Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
in 1960.
Early life
Merkatz was born at StargardStargard Szczecinski
Stargard Szczeciński is a city in northwestern Poland, with a population of 71,017 . Situated on the Ina River it is the capital of Stargard County and since 1999 has been in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship; prior to that it was in the Szczecin Voivodeship...
in the Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n province of Pomerania into a family of Prussian officers and functionaries, ennobled in 1797. His father, Hauptmann
Hauptmann
Hauptmann is a German word usually translated as captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian and Swiss armies. While "haupt" in contemporary German means "main", it also has the dated meaning of "head", i.e...
in the German army
German Army (German Empire)
The German Army was the name given the combined land forces of the German Empire, also known as the National Army , Imperial Army or Imperial German Army. The term "Deutsches Heer" is also used for the modern German Army, the land component of the German Bundeswehr...
, died near Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
in 1915, during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Merkatz received his primary education in Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
(Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
), Jena
Jena
Jena is a university city in central Germany on the river Saale. It has a population of approx. 103,000 and is the second largest city in the federal state of Thuringia, after Erfurt.-History:Jena was first mentioned in an 1182 document...
and Naumburg (both in Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
). Initially immatriculated for agriculture, he turned to study law and national economics at the universities of Jena and Munich from 1928 to 1931.
Third Reich
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 BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. In 1938, he became secretary general of both the Ibero-American Institute and the German-Spanish Society, both in Berlin. The German-Spanish Society, founded in 1918, was concerned with the public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. Since the Nazi take-over of 1933, the society was increasingly incorporated into the Nazi propaganda
Nazi propaganda
Propaganda, the coordinated attempt to influence public opinion through the use of media, was skillfully used by the NSDAP in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's leadership of Germany...
apparatus, and used to propagate the New Order
New Order (political system)
The New Order or the New Order of Europe was the political order which the Nazis wanted to impose on Europe, and eventually the rest of the world, during their reign over Germany from 1933 to 1945...
ideology.
When World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
broke out in 1939, he was drafted into Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
service, but retired in 1941 due to a severe illness. He then continued to work at his post in Berlin, until the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
advanced towards Berlin. The final stages of the war had confronted Merkatz with decreasing loyalty to the Axis powers
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
in Spain and seizure of Eastern Germany by the Soviets. He nevertheless remained confident in the final succession of the New Order and in the ability of the German forces to repel and avenge the Soviet forces. During the Battle of Berlin
Battle of Berlin
The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European Theatre of World War II....
, Merkatz's parents-in-law were killed by Soviet forces in Wusterwitz
Wusterwitz
Wusterwitz is a municipality in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany. Wusterwitz has a population of approximately 6000 inhabitants....
(Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
), and the family fled westward to settle in Hämelschenburg near Emmerthal
Emmerthal
Emmerthal is a municipality in the Hamelin-Pyrmont district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Weser, approximatively 6 km south of Hamelin. Its seat is in the village Kirchohsen....
(Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
). The experiences during the final days of the war manifested a strong sense of anti-Communism
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
in Merkatz's personality.
Post-war period
After the war, Merkatz became an employee at the Academy for Area Planning, HanoverHanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
, in 1945. He joined the conservative German Party
German Party
The German Party is a name used by a number of German political parties in the country's history. The current incarnation is represented only at the local level in Germany. However, from 1949 to 1961, a German Party was part of the ruling coalition in the Bundestag...
(DP, Deutsche Partei), and acted as its legal consultant from 1946 to 1949. He was voted into the West German
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
federal parliament, Bundestag
Bundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
, in 1949, and remained a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
until 1961. From 1949 to 1952, he was Secretary of State
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
in the Federal Ministry for Affairs of the Federal Council (BMBR, Bundesministerium für Angelegenheiten des Bundesrat
Bundesrat
Bundesrat means federal council and may refer to:* Bundesrat of Germany* Federal Council of Austria* Swiss Federal Council...
es). From 1950 to 1955, he was vice chairman
Parliamentary group leader
The leader or chairman of a parliamentary group holds an influential political post in a parliamentary system with strong party discipline...
of the DP Bundestag fraction, and its chairman from 1953 to 1955.
From 1951 to 1958, Merkatz was a member of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
, and from 1952 to 1958, of the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community
European Coal and Steel Community
The European Coal and Steel Community was a six-nation international organisation serving to unify Western Europe during the Cold War and create the foundation for the modern-day developments of the European Union...
. Both the Consultative and Common Assemblies were the predecessors of the modern European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
. 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.
Merkatz was appointed Federal Minister of Justice
Federal Ministry of Justice (Germany)
The Federal Ministry of Justice is a federal ministry in Germany.Under the federal system of Germany, individual states are most responsible for the administration of justice and the application of penalties. The Federal Ministry of Justice devotes itself to creating and changing law in the...
on October 17, 1956, and remained in that office until October 21, 1957. In October 1957, Merkatz was the focus of an East German propaganda campaign, which portrayed him as a "fascist" 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 in September, Merkatz resigned from his office. He was replaced by former minister for finance, Fritz Schäffer
Fritz Schäffer
Fritz Schäffer was a German politician for the Bavarian People's Party and the Christian Social Union . In 1945 he became the first Bavarian Minister-President after World War II...
.
In 1960, Merkatz left the German Party to become a member of the Christian Democratic Union
Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
(CDU, Christlich Demokratische Union). 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
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
.
Conservative movements
In a Bundestag speech of 1951, Merkatz avowed himself as a monarchistMonarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
. He also upheld his contacts to Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
's Spain and joined the European Documentation and Information Centre
European Documentation and Information Centre
The European Documentation and Information Centre was founded in 1952 on the occasion of a first international congress in Santander...
(CEDI). President of its German faction, Merkatz was in close personal contact with Otto von Habsburg
Otto von Habsburg
Otto von Habsburg , also known by his royal name as Archduke Otto of Austria, was the last Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary from 1916 until the dissolution of the empire in 1918, a realm which comprised modern-day Austria, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia,...
, president of the CEDI. In 1956, he joined the Central Council of von Habsburg's International Paneuropean Union
International Paneuropean Union
The International Paneuropean Union claims to be the oldest European unification movement and is also referred to as the Paneuropean Movement and the Pan-Europa Movement...
,, and was president of its German faction from 1967 to 1979. In his own words, von Merkatz's political aim was the "conservative rebirth of the Christian occident","...die konservative Wiedergeburt des christlichen Abendlandes." Hans-Joachim von Merkatz as cited in Conze (2005), p. 157. whereby conservativism was understood by him not as an eligible political concept, but as an integral feature of personality. Merkatz was a founding member of the Abendländische Akademie ("Occidental Academy"), a Christian-conservative circle operating since 1952.
In February 1956, the Abendländische Akademie became subject to a press campaign initiated by Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
, claiming the academy's activities were in violation of the German constitution. This resulted in investigation by a parliamentary commission and the eventual decline of the academy. During the affair, 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".
External links
- Publications by Hans-Joachim von Merkatz, German National LibraryGerman National LibraryThe German National Library is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany...