Theodor von Guérard (29 December 1863 – 21 July 1943) was a German

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

of the

Catholic Centre Party The Centre Party (german: Zentrum), officially the German Centre Party (german: link=no, Deutsche Zentrumspartei) and also known in English as the Catholic Centre Party, is a Catholic political party in Germany, influential in the German Empire ...

(known as ''Zentrum''). Zentrum. He served as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

and Minister of Transport of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Early life

von Guérard was born on 29 December 1863 at

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...

, as the son of Bernhard von Guérard (1825–1882), ''Obergerichtsprokurator'' and his wife Eleonore (1829–1905) née Kehrmann. The family of his father had emigrated from

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...

in the 18th century, thus the French name. He studied jurisprudence and political sciences and then joined the Prussian civil service. From 1898 to 1905 he was ''Landrat'' at Mondschau, and then worked at the ''Oberpräsidium'' Koblenz, the administrative center of the Prussian

Rhine Province The Rhine Province (german: Rheinprovinz), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. It ...

. He married Hedwig Mooren (1871–1950) at

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

in 1891. They had two sons and two daughters.

Political career

He was a member of the Reichstag from 1920 to 1930 for the Zentrum. Initially considered part of the conservative wing of the party, he was active on subjects such as the

occupied territories Military occupation, also known as belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is the effective military control by a ruling power over a territory that is outside of that power's sovereign territory.Eyāl Benveniśtî. The international law ...

as well as judicial and transport issues. Following the 1924 elections, he argued in favour of a coalition with the right-wing

German National People's Party The German National People's Party (german: Deutschnationale Volkspartei, DNVP) was a national-conservative party in Germany during the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the Nazi Party, it was the major conservative and nationalist party in Wei ...

(DNVP). However, when he took up the position of executive vice-chair of his party's Reichstag group in May 1926, he became more left-wing oriented. In December 1927, he became chairman of the Zentrum group and in this function helped bring about the demise of the third government of

Wilhelm Marx Wilhelm Marx (15 January 1863 – 5 August 1946) was a German lawyer, Catholic politician and a member of the Centre Party. He was the chancellor of Germany twice, from 1923 to 1925 and again from 1926 to 1928, and he also served briefly as the ...

. He then became Minister of Transport and for the Occupied Territories in the cabinet of Hermann Müller in 1928. During a reshuffle he became Minister of Justice. Although he was considered an opponent of

Heinrich Brüning Heinrich Aloysius Maria Elisabeth Brüning (; 26 November 1885 – 30 March 1970) was a German Centre Party politician and academic, who served as the chancellor of Germany during the Weimar Republic from 1930 to 1932. A political scienti ...

, Theodor von Guérard was again appointed Minister of Transport in 1930 under Brüning's chancellorship. On the behest of president

Paul von Hindenburg Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (; abbreviated ; 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany fro ...

, Theodor von Guérard left the government in autumn of 1931. This ended his political career. He died in

Ahaus Ahaus (; Westphalian: ''Ausen'') is a town in the district of Borken in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near the border with the Netherlands, lying some 20 km south-east of Enschede and 15 km south from Gr ...

(

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

) on 21 July 1943.

Works

* ''Die große Steuerreform des Jahres 1922'', Schriftenreihe zur deutschen Politik, H. 4, 1922 (with H. Lange-Hegermann and P. Schulz-Gahmen) * ''Das besetzte Gebiet'', in: Politisches Jahrbuch, ed. by G. Schreiber, 1925, 1926, 1927/28 (the last with Herm. Hofmann), 1926–28.

References

External links

* 1863 births 1943 deaths Jurists from Rhineland-Palatinate Justice ministers of Germany Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic German untitled nobility {{Germany-noble-stub