Hanns Kerrl (11 December 1887 – 14 December 1941) was a German
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
politician. His most prominent position, from July 1935, was that of Reichsminister of Church Affairs. He was also President of the
Prussian Landtag
The Landtag of Prussia (german: Preußischer Landtag) was the representative assembly of the Kingdom of Prussia implemented in 1849, a bicameral legislature consisting of the upper House of Lords (''Herrenhaus'') and the lower House of Representat ...
(1932–1933) and head of the ''Zweckverband Reichsparteitag
Nürnberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ci ...
'' and in that capacity edited a number of
Nuremberg rally
The Nuremberg Rallies (officially ', meaning ''Reich Party Congress'') refer to a series of celebratory events coordinated by the Nazi Party in Germany. The first rally held took place in 1923. This rally was not particularly large or impactful; ...
yearbooks.
Early life
Kerrl was born into a Protestant family in
Fallersleben
Fallersleben is a part (''Ortsteil'') of the City of Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany, with a population of 11,269 (as of 2010). The village of Fallersleben was first mentioned in 942 under the name of ''Valareslebo''. Fallersleben became a city ...
; his father was a headmaster. He served in the German Army in the
First World War
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 ...
as a
Leutnant
() is the lowest Junior officer rank in the armed forces the German (language), German-speaking of Germany (Bundeswehr), Austrian Armed Forces, and military of Switzerland.
History
The German noun (with the meaning "" (in English "deputy") fro ...
earning the
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...
1st and 2nd Class. He joined the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
(NSDAP) in 1923 and soon afterwards went into regional politics. A member of the ''
Sturmabteilung
The (; SA; literally "Storm Detachment") was the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for Nazi ral ...
'', Kerrl would ultimately hold the rank of SA-''
Obergruppenführer
' (, "senior group leader") was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissio ...
''.
Early Nazi career
Joining the Nazi Party in 1923, he founded and led an ''Ortsgruppe'' (Local Group) in
Peine
Peine (; Eastphalian: ''Paane'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, capital of the district Peine. It is situated on the river Fuhse and the Mittellandkanal, approximately west of Braunschweig, and east of Hanover.
History
A deed from 11 ...
, a suburb of
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 the fall of 1925, Kerrl became a member of the
National Socialist Working Association
The National Socialist Working Association, sometimes translated as the National Socialist Working Community (German: ''Nazionale Sozialiste Arbeitsgemeinschaft'') was a short-lived group of about a dozen Nazi Party ''Gauleiter'' brought together ...
, a short-lived group of north and northwest German ''Gaue'', organized and led by
Gregor Strasser
Gregor Strasser (also german: Straßer, see ß; 31 May 1892 – 30 June 1934) was an early prominent German Nazi Party, Nazi official and politician who was murdered during the Night of the Long Knives in 1934. Born in 1892 in Bavaria, Strasse ...
, which unsuccessfully sought to amend the
Party program
A political party platform (US English), party program, or party manifesto (preferential term in British & often Commonwealth English) is a formal set of principle goals which are supported by a political party or individual candidate, in order ...
. It was dissolved in 1926 following the
Bamberg Conference The Bamberg Conference (german: Bamberger Führertagung) included some sixty members of the leadership of the Nazi Party, and was specially convened by Adolf Hitler in Bamberg, in Upper Franconia, Germany on Sunday 14 February 1926 during the "wilde ...
.
An associate of
Bernhard Rust
Bernhard Rust (30 September 1883 – 8 May 1945) was Minister of Science, Education and National Culture ( Reichserziehungsminister) in Nazi Germany.Claudia Koonz, ''The Nazi Conscience'', p 134 A combination of school administrator and zealous ...
, the local ''
Gauleiter
A ''Gauleiter'' () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a ''Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany, Gau'' or ''Reichsgau''. ''Gauleiter'' was the third-highest Ranks and insignia of the Nazi Party, rank in ...
'', in 1928 Kerrl became the ''
Kreisleiter
''Kreisleiter'' (; "District Leader") was a Nazi Party political rank and title which existed as a political rank between 1930 and 1945 and as a Nazi Party title from as early as 1928. The position of ''Kreisleiter'' was first formed to provide ...
'' of
Peine District. Also elected to the ''
Landtag
A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non- ...
'' of Prussia in 1928, he served as head of the Nazi faction and, on 24 May 1932 after the Nazis won the largest number of seats in the April election, he became President of the assembly. He remained in this position until the ''Landtag'' was finally dissolved on 14 October 1933, in the wake of the Nazi subordination of the German States to the Reich government. After the Nazi seizure of power, Kerrl was appointed Reich Commissioner to the Prussian Ministry of Justice on 23 March 1933 and on 21 April was made Minister of Justice, serving until June 1934. In this position, Kerrl placed a ban on Jewish notaries preparing official documents and banned Jewish lawyers from practicing in Prussia. In September 1933 he was made a member of the
Prussian State Council
The Prussian State Council (german: Preußischer Staatsrat) was the upper chamber of the bicameral legislature of the Free State of Prussia between 1920 and 1933. The lower chamber was the Prussian Landtag (''Preußischer Landtag'').
Implementa ...
. He also was named to the
Academy for German Law
The Academy for German Law (german: Akademie für deutsches Recht) was an institute for legal research and reform founded on 26 June 1933 in Nazi Germany. After suspending its operations during the Second World War in August 1944, it was abolished ...
and sat on its ''präsidium'' (standing committee). Kerrl was elected to the ''
Reichstag'' for electoral constituency 16, South Hanover-Brunswick, in November 1933. When the Reichstag convened on 12 December, he was named First Deputy President to ''Reichstag'' President
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...
and would serve in this capacity until his death. On 17 June 1934, Kerrl entered the national Reich cabinet as a ''
Reichsminister
Reichsminister (in German singular and plural; 'minister of the realm') was the title of members of the German Government during two historical periods: during the March revolution of 1848/1849 in the German Reich of that period, and in the mode ...
''
without Portfolio.
Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs
In the following year, on 16 July 1935, he was appointed ''Reichsminister'' of the newly created
Reich Ministry for Church Affairs
The Reich Ministry for Church Affairs (''Reichsministerium für die Kirchliche Angelegenheiten'') also sometimes referred to as the Reich Ministry for Ecclesiastical Affairs, existed in Nazi Germany from 1935 until 1945 under the leadership of Han ...
. On the one hand, Kerrl was supposed to mediate between those Nazi leaders who hated Christianity (for example
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...
) and the churches themselves and stress the religious aspect of the Nazi ideology. On the other hand, in tune with the policy of ''
Gleichschaltung
The Nazi term () or "coordination" was the process of Nazification by which Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party successively established a system of totalitarian control and coordination over all aspects of German society and societies occupied b ...
'', it was Kerrl's job to subjugate the churches—subject the various denominations and their leaders and subordinate them to the greater goals decided by the
Führer
( ; , spelled or ''Fuhrer'' when the Umlaut (diacritic), umlaut is not available) is a German word meaning "leader" or "guide". As a political title, it is strongly associated with the Nazi Germany, Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
Nazi Germany ...
,
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
. Indeed, Kerrl had been appointed after
Ludwig Müller
Johan Heinrich Ludwig Müller (23 June 1883 – 31 July 1945) was a German theologian, a Lutheran pastor, and leading member of the pro-Nazi "German Christians" (german: Deutsche Christen) faith movement. In 1933 he was appointed by the Nazi go ...
had been unsuccessful in getting the Protestants to unite in one "Reich Church."
Kerrl was considered one of the milder Nazis, nonetheless, in a speech before several compliant church leaders on 13 February 1937, he revealed the regime's growing hostility to the church when he declared: "
Positive Christianity
Positive Christianity (german: Positives Christentum) was a movement within Nazi Germany which promoted the belief that the racial purity of the German people should be maintained by mixing racialistic Nazi ideology with either fundamental or s ...
National Socialism .... True Christianity is represented by the party .... the Führer is the herald of a new revelation." Kerrl liked to refer to Hitler as "Germany's Jesus Christ."
He also pressured most of the Protestant pastors to swear an oath of loyalty to Hitler.
Gregory Munro (
Australian Catholic University
Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome.
History
Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamatio ...
,
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
) states that:
Increasingly marginalized by Hitler, who did not even grant him a personal conversation, Kerrl became desperate and embittered. A completely powerless minister, he died in office on 14 December 1941, aged 54. He was succeeded by
Hermann Muhs
Hermann Muhs (16 May 1894, Barlissen – 13 April 1962, Göttingen) was a German lawyer and Nazi Party politician who served as State Secretary and leader of the Reich Ministry for Church Affairs (''Reichsministerium für die Kirchlichen Ang ...
.
Aryanization of the Lindemann house
From 1935 to 1941 Kerrl lived at Rupenhorn 5 at Stößensee in Berlin in a house that had been
Aryanized
Aryanization (german: Arisierung) was the Nazi term for the seizure of property from Jews and its transfer to non-Jews, and the forced expulsion of Jews from economic life in Nazi Germany, Axis-aligned states, and their occupied territories. I ...
, that is forcibly sold, from its Jewish owner, Paul Lindemann. The Lindemann Haus, built in 1928/29 by architect
Bruno Paul
Bruno Paul (19 January 1874 – 17 August 1968) was a German architect, illustrator, interior designer, and furniture designer.
Trained as a painter in the royal academy just as the Munich Secession developed against academic art, he first ca ...
, was acquired in 1935 by Kerrl when Lindemann was forced to sell by the Nazis.
Personality
The American diplomat, William Russell wrote in his memoir (
''Berlin Embassy'') that Kerrl frequented "Berlin dives" and bars "until the wee hours of the morning".
References
Further reading
*
John S. Conway: ''The Nazi Persecution of the Churches 1933–1945'' (London, 1968).
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerrl, Hanns
1887 births
1941 deaths
Christian fascists
German Army personnel of World War I
German Protestants
Justice ministers of Prussia
Members of the Academy for German Law
Members of the Landtag of Prussia
Members of the Reichstag of Nazi Germany
National Socialist Working Association members
Nazi Germany ministers
Nazi Party officials
Nazi Party politicians
People from Wolfsburg
Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class
Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 2nd class
Sturmabteilung officers