The Memorandum of
Tübingen (German:''Tübinger Memorandum'') was a
memorandum dealing with
West German foreign policy, written by eight prominent
German Protestant academics and
scientists. It was sent to the
German Bundestag in 1961. The memorandum was a
manifesto
A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...
in protest of the planned
nuclear armament
Nuclear proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons, fissionable material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information to nations not recognized as " Nuclear Weapon States" by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Wea ...
of
West Germany and in favour of the recognition of the
Oder-Neiße line as the official border between
Germany and
Poland by the West German government. Both issues were highly controversial and hotly debated issues in West German politics at the time.
It was signed on 6 November 1961 and sent to several
members of parliament of the German Bundestag. On 24 February 1962 it was made available to the general public.
The signatories were:
*
Hellmut Becker,
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...
,
Kressbronn am Bodensee
*
Joachim Beckmann
Joachim Beckmann (18 July 1901 – 18 January 1987) was a German evangelical theologian. He served between 1958 and 1971 as "Präses" (synod president) of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland.
Life
Joachim Wilhelm Beckmann was born into a ...
,
theologian,
Praeses of the
Evangelical Church in the Rhineland,
Düsseldorf
*
Klaus von Bismarck,
journalist,
intendant
An intendant (; pt, intendente ; es, intendente ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In ...
of the
Westdeutscher Rundfunk,
Cologne
*
Werner Heisenberg,
physicist,
1932 Physics Nobel Prize laureate,
Munich
*
Günter Howe,
mathematician, physicist and theologian,
Heidelberg
*
Georg Picht
Georg may refer to:
* ''Georg'' (film), 1997
* Georg (musical), Estonian musical
* Georg (given name)
* Georg (surname)
* , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker
See also
* George (disambiguation)
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* ...
,
philosopher
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
, theologian and
pedagogue,
Hinterzarten
*
Ludwig Raiser Ludwig Raiser (27 October 1904 – 13 June 1980) was a German legal scholar.
In 1961, he was one of the signatories of the Memorandum of Tübingen on West German foreign policy.
He was President of the Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany f ...
, lawyer, Tübingen
*
Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker, physicist, philosopher and
political scientist (
peace and conflict studies
Peace and conflict studies is a social science field that identifies and analyzes violent and nonviolent behaviours as well as the structural mechanisms attending conflicts (including social conflicts), with a view towards understanding those pro ...
)
Criticism
The Memorandum and the eight signatories were criticised by the German far-right newspaper, the ''
Deutsche National-Zeitung und Soldaten-Zeitung'' for advocating the recognition of the Oder-Neiße line.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Memorandum of Tubingen
Political manifestos
1961 in West Germany
1961 documents
Germany–Poland relations