Hans-Joachim von Merkatz (7 July 1905 – 25 February 1982) was a German politician. He was Federal Minister of Justice from 1956 to 1957. He was a member of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Common ...

from 1949 to 1961. He was a member of the German Party before joining the

Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...

in 1960.

Early life

Merkatz was born at Stargard in the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

n province of Pomerania into a family of Prussian officers and functionaries, ennobled in 1797. His father, a ''Hauptmann'' (Captain) in the Imperial German Army, died near

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

in 1915, on the Eastern Front of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Merkatz received his primary education in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

(

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

and

Naumburg Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018. ...

(both in

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

). Initially immatriculated for agriculture, he turned to study law and national economics at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...

from 1928 to 1931.Conze (2005), p.93

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 The Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science (German: ''Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften'') was a German scientific institution established in the German Empire in 1911. Its functions were taken over by ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. In 1938, he became secretary general of both the

Ibero-American Institute The Ibero-American Institute or IAI (german: Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut, es, Instituto Ibero-Americano Patrimonio Cultural Prusiano) is an interdisciplinary institution located in Berlin, Germany, for academic and cultural exchange between Ger ...

and the German-Spanish Society, both in Berlin. The German-Spanish Society, founded in 1918, was concerned with the

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Since the Nazi take-over of 1933, the society was increasingly incorporated into the

Nazi propaganda The propaganda used by the German Nazi Party in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's dictatorship of Germany from 1933 to 1945 was a crucial instrument for acquiring and maintaining power, and for the implementation of Nazi polici ...

apparatus, and used to propagate the New Order ideology.Conze (2005), p. 93-94 When

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

broke out in 1939, he was drafted into

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

service, but retired in 1941 due to a severe illness. He then continued to work at his post in Berlin, until the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

advanced towards Berlin. The final stages of the war had confronted Merkatz with decreasing loyalty to the

Axis powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

in Spain and seizure of

Eastern Germany The new states of Germany () are the five re-established states of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) that unified with the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) with its 10 states upon German reunification on 3 October 1990. The new st ...

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.Conze (2005), p.98 During the Battle of Berlin, Merkatz's parents-in-law were killed by Soviet forces in

Wusterwitz Wusterwitz is a municipality in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany. Wusterwitz has a population of approximately 3,000 inhabitants. Demography File:Wusterwitz Kirche (03).jpg, Church File:Wusterwitz Bahnhof (01).jpg, ...

(

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

), and the family fled westward to settle in Hämelschenburg near

Emmerthal Emmerthal is a municipality in the Hameln-Pyrmont district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Weser, approximatively 6 km south of Hameln. Its seat is in the village Kirchohsen. In 1973, the Emmerthal was formed by mer ...

(

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

). The experiences during the final days of the war manifested a strong sense of

anti-Communism Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...

in Merkatz's personality.

Post-war period

After the war, Merkatz became an employee at the Academy for Area Planning,

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, 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 West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

federal parliament,

, in 1949, and remained a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

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.Rössel & Weber (1999), p.442 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 The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

. 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.Rössel & Weber (1999), p.443 Merkatz was appointed Federal Minister of Justice on October 17, 1956, and remained in that office until October 21, 1957.Schmerbach (2008), p.265 In October 1957, Merkatz was the focus of an

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

propaganda campaign, which portrayed him as a "fascist" and "leading Nazi functionary".Miquel (2004), p. 34. 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 (12 May 1888 – 29 March 1967) was a German politician of the Bavarian People's Party (BVP) and the Christian Social Union (CSU). He was the Bavarian Minister of Finance from 1931 to 1933, when the Nazis came to power in Berlin ...

. 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 The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Conservative movements

In a Bundestag speech of 1951, Merkatz avowed himself as a

monarchist Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...

. He also upheld his contacts to

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

's Spain and joined the

European Documentation and Information Centre The European Documentation and Information Centre, abbreviated CEDI (french: Centre Européen de Documentation et d'Information), was a former think tank founded in 1952 on the occasion of an international congress held in Santander, Cantabria, ...

(CEDI). President of its German faction, Merkatz was in close personal contact with

Otto von Habsburg Otto von Habsburg (german: Franz Joseph Otto Robert Maria Anton Karl Max Heinrich Sixtus Xaver Felix Renatus Ludwig Gaetan Pius Ignatius, hu, Ferenc József Ottó Róbert Mária Antal Károly Max Heinrich Sixtus Xaver Felix Renatus Lajos Gaetan ...

, president of the CEDI.Conze (2005), p.99 In 1956, he joined the Central Council of von Habsburg's International Paneuropean Union,Conze (2005), p.198 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 The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is the constitution of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The West German Constitution was approved in Bonn on 8 May 1949 an ...

.Conze (2005), p. 165 This resulted in investigation by a parliamentary commission and the eventual decline of the academy.Conze (2005), p. 166 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".Schildt (1999), p. 72, citing von Merkatz (1956): "Das Recht und die Pflicht zu konservativer Politik".

Death

Hans-Joachim von Merkatz died in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

on February 25, 1982.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

Publications by Hans-Joachim von Merkatz

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merkatz, Hans-Joachim Von 1905 births 1982 deaths People from Stargard People from the Province of Pomerania German Party (1947) politicians German untitled nobility Justice ministers of Germany Members of the Bundestag for Lower Saxony Members of the Bundestag 1965–1969 Members of the Bundestag 1961–1965 Members of the Bundestag 1957–1961 Members of the Bundestag 1953–1957 Members of the Bundestag 1949–1953 Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law people University of Jena alumni Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni German monarchists German anti-communists 20th-century German lawyers Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany