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Richard Walther Darré (born Ricardo Walther Óscar Darré; 14 July 1895 – 5 September 1953) was one of the leading
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
"
blood and soil Blood and soil (, ) is a nationalist slogan expressing Nazi Germany's ideal of a racially defined Body national, national body ("Blood") united with a settlement area ("Soil"). By it, rural and farm life forms are idealized as a counterweight t ...
" () ideologists and served as Reich Minister of Food and Agriculture. As the National leader () for agricultural policy, he was a high-ranking functionary in the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
and as a Senior group leader () in the SS, he was the seventh most senior commander in that organisation. Born in
Belgrano, Buenos Aires Belgrano is a northern ''Barrios of Buenos Aires, barrio'' or neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is made up of Middle class, middle and upper class people. Belgrano has three distinct areas: the main one that is made up of apartment buil ...
to German parents, Darré was schooled in Germany and saw active service in the
Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...
during the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. After the war, he pursued a degree in agriculture at the
University of Halle Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...
and joined the agrarian and '' Völkisch'' Artaman League, where he began to develop the tendency which would become "blood and soil". His philosphy was a major influence on
Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...
, a fellow Artaman. In 1930, Darré joined the Nazi Party. Himmler appointed him chief of the SS Race and Settlement Main Office (RuSHA) in 1932, and a year later he was made Reich Minister of Food and Agriculture. Darré was gradually sidelined as both Hitler and Himmler came to regard him as excessively theoretical. Himmler asked him to step down as leader of RuSHA in 1938, and by 1942 he was effectively forced into retirement. At the end of the war, Darré was arrested, tried and found guilty on three counts at the Ministries Trial. He was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment; following his release, he spent his final years in
Bad Harzburg Bad Harzburg (; Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Bad Harzborch'') is a spa town in central Germany, in the Goslar (district), Goslar district of Lower Saxony. It lies on the northern edge of the Harz mountains and is a recognised saltwater spa ...
and died of
liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...
in 1953.


Early life

Darré was born in Belgrano, a
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
neighbourhood in Argentina, to Richard Oscar Darré, a German with
Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...
ancestry (born 10 March 1854,
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
; died 20 February 1929,
Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...
) and Emilia Berta Eleonore, née Lagergren (born 23 July 1872 in
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
to a Swedish-born father and German-born mother; died 20 July 1936 in
Bad Pyrmont Bad Pyrmont (, also: ; West Low German: ) is a town in the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont, in Lower Saxony, Germany, with a population close to 19,000. It is located on the river Emmer (Weser), Emmer, about west of the Weser. Bad Pyrmont is a popul ...
). His father moved to
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
in 1888 as a partner of the German international import/export wholesaler Engelbert Hardt & Co. His parents' marriage was not a happy one; Richard Walther remembered his father as "a hard drinker and a womaniser". They lived prosperously and educated their children privately, until they were forced to return to Germany as a result of worsening international relations in the years preceding
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. Darré gained fluency in four languages: Spanish, German, English, and French. Darré's parents sent him to Germany at age nine to attend school in
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...
. In 1911, he attended
King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The s ...
in
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
as an exchange student. The rest of the family returned to Germany in 1912. Richard (as he was known in the family) then spent two years at the ''Oberrealschule'' in
Gummersbach Gummersbach () is a town in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, being the district seat of the Oberbergischer Kreis. It is located east of Cologne. History In 1109 Gummersbach was mentioned in official documents for t ...
, followed in early 1914 by the ''Kolonialschule'' at
Witzenhausen Witzenhausen () is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in northeastern Hesse, Germany. It was granted town rights in 1225, and until 1974 was a district seat. The University of Kassel maintains a satellite campus in Witzenhausen, which offer ...
, south of
Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...
, for training officials for the German colonies, which awakened his interest in farming. After a single term at Witzenhausen, he volunteered for army service. He was slightly wounded a number of times while serving during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. When the war ended, he contemplated returning to Argentina for a life of farming, but the family's weakening financial position during the years of inflation made that impossible. Instead, he returned to Witzenhausen to continue his studies. He then obtained unpaid work as a farm assistant in
Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...
. His observation of the treatment of returning German soldiers there influenced his later writings. In 1922, he moved to the
University of Halle Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...
to continue his studies. He undertook an agricultural degree, specialising in
animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, animal fiber, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising ...
. He did not complete his PhD studies until 1929, at the age of 34. During those years, he spent some time working in
East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...
and
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
. He married twice. In 1922, he married Alma Staadt, a schoolfriend of his sister Ilse. The marriage produced one daughter, Anneliese, born 1923. He and Alma divorced in 1927 and, in 1931, he married Charlotte Freiin von Vittinghoff-Schell, who survived him. The second marriage also produced one daughter, Elin, born 1938.


Political career

As a young man in Germany, Darré initially joined the Artaman League, a '' Völkisch'' youth-group committed to the
back-to-the-land movement A back-to-the-land movement is any of various agrarianism, agrarian movements across different historical periods. The common thread is a call for people to take up smallholding and to grow food from the land with an emphasis on a greater degree o ...
. In that context, he began to develop the idea of the link between the future of the
Nordic race The Nordic race is an obsolete racial classification of humans based on a now-disproven theory of biological race. It was once considered a race or one of the putative sub-races into which some late-19th to mid-20th century anthropologists di ...
and the soil, the tendency which became known as "''Blut und Boden''" or
Blood and Soil Blood and soil (, ) is a nationalist slogan expressing Nazi Germany's ideal of a racially defined Body national, national body ("Blood") united with a settlement area ("Soil"). By it, rural and farm life forms are idealized as a counterweight t ...
, where "blood" represents race and ancestry, while "soil" expresses the concepts of territory, land. The essence of the theory involved the mutual and long-term relationship between a people and the land that they occupy and cultivate. Darré's first political article (1926) discussed ''Internal Colonisation'' and argued against Germany attempting to regain its lost colonies in Africa. Most of his writing at that time, however, concentrated on technical aspects of animal breeding. He wrote his first book, ''Das Bauerntum als Lebensquell der nordischen Rasse'' ('Peasantry as the life-source of the Nordic Race'), in 1928. It asserted that German farms had previously been bestowed on one son, the strongest, ensuring the best were farmers, but
partible inheritance Partible inheritance, sometimes also called partitive, is a system of inheritance in which property is apportioned among heirs. It contrasts in particular with primogeniture, which was common in feudal society and requires that the whole or most ...
had destroyed that. Darré demanded the restoration of the ancient tradition, as well as serious efforts to restore the purity of Nordic blood through
eugenics Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human phenotypes by inhibiting the fer ...
. In her biography of Darré, Anna Bramwell interprets his writing as an early example of "
Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...
" or Conservationist thinking. He advocated more natural methods of land management, placing emphasis on the conservation of forests, and demanded more open space and air in the raising of farm animals. Other scholars, however, have challenged that view. One sees Bramwell's books as "devoid of credible evidence" and containing "gross errors". Another acknowledges Bramwell's biography as "undoubtedly the best single source on Darré in either German or English", while at the same time saying that she "consistently downplays the virulently fascist elements in his thinking, portraying him instead as a misguided agrarian radical." Those who heard and heeded Darré's arguments included
Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...
, himself one of the Artaman. Darré's work also glorified "peasant virtues" – as found in the remnants of the Nordics who lived in the country – and disparaged city living. In his two major works, he defined the German peasantry as a homogeneous racial group of Nordic antecedents, who formed the cultural and racial core of the German nation, and promoted the idea that since the Nordic birth-rate was lower than that of other races, the Nordic race was under a long-term threat of extinction.


Nazi Party member

In July 1930, after Paul Schultze-Naumburg had introduced him to
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
, Darré joined the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
(# 248,256) and the SS (# 6,882). On 1 January 1932, the chief of the SS (''
Reichsführer-SS (, ) was a special title and rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945 for the commander of the (SS). ''Reichsführer-SS'' was a title from 1925 to 1933, and from 1934 to 1945 it was the highest Uniforms and insignia of the Schut ...
'') Himmler appointed him chief of the newly established SS Race and Settlement Main Office, a racist and
antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
organization concerned with the implementation of racial policies and the control of the racial integrity of SS members. In 1932 Darré was given the rank of SS-Group leader (SS-''
Gruppenführer __NOTOC__ ''Gruppenführer'' (, ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA. Since then, the term ''Gruppenführer'' is also used for leaders of groups/teams of the police, fire d ...
'') and in November 1934 he was promoted to SS-Senior group leader (SS-''
Obergruppenführer (, ) 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 commissioned SS rank after ...
''). During the 1932 presidential election, Darré engaged in a campaign of anti-Semitic harassment against Theodor Duesterberg, the candidate of the conservative
German National People's Party The German National People's Party (, DNVP) was a national-conservative and German monarchy, monarchist political party in Germany during the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the Nazi Party, it was the major nationalist party in Weimar German ...
, who, it emerged during the campaign, was the grandson of a Jewish convert to Lutheranism. Duesterberg was so wounded by Darré's attacks that he challenged him to a duel, a challenge that Darré declined under the grounds that it was beneath him to fight a man with "Jewish blood". Duesterberg then took up his dispute with Darré before the court of honor of the Former Officers of the 1st Hanoverian Field Artillery Regiment of Scharnhorst, number 10 to which Darré belonged. The court ruled in Darré's favor. Darré was elected to the '' Reichstag'' in July 1932 and in the following two elections from the Nazi Party
electoral list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...
. He would continue to serve as a deputy until the fall of the Nazi regime in May 1945, being elected from electoral constituency 6 (
Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...
) in the November 1933 election and from constituency 28 ( Dresden-Bautzen) in the March 1936 and April 1938 elections. Darré was not part of the first coalition government headed by Hitler. However, on 29 June 1933, shortly after the approval by the '' Reichstag'' of the
Enabling Act An enabling act is a piece of legislation by which a legislative body grants an entity which depends on it (for authorization or legitimacy) for the delegation of the legislative body's power to take certain actions. For example, enabling act ...
of 23 March, he became Reich Minister of Food and Agriculture, succeeding DNVP leader
Alfred Hugenberg Alfred Ernst Christian Alexander Hugenberg (19 June 1865 – 12 March 1951) was an influential German businessman and politician. An important figure in nationalist politics in Germany during the first three decades of the twentieth century, ...
, who had resigned. He concurrently was made Prussian Minister of Agriculture, and subsequently was named to the
Prussian State Council The Prussian State Council ( German: ''Preußischer Staatsrat'') was the second chamber of the bicameral legislature of the Free State of Prussia between 1921 and 1933; the first chamber was the Prussian Landtag (). The members of the State Cou ...
by Prussian Minister President
Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...
. He was also named Reich Farmers Leader (''Reichsbauernführer'') in May 1933. On 2 June 1933 Hitler appointed Darré a National Leader (''
Reichsleiter (, ) was the second-highest political rank in the Nazi Party (NSDAP), subordinate only to the office of . also functioned as a paramilitary rank within the NSDAP and was the highest rank attainable in any Nazi organisation. Each reported d ...
'') of the Party. He was also a founding member of the Hans Frank's
Academy for German Law The Academy for German Law () 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 after the fall of the Nazi regime on ...
in October 1933. Darré went on to set up an agrarian political apparatus to recruit farmers into the party operating along three main directives: to exploit unrest in the countryside as a weapon against urban governments; to win over the farmers as staunch Nazi supporters; to gain a constituency of people to be used as settlers displacing the
Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...
in future land grabs in the East. The German historian Klaus Hildebrand described Darré together with Himmler and
Alfred Rosenberg Alfred Ernst Rosenberg ( – 16 October 1946) was a Baltic German Nazi theorist and ideologue. Rosenberg was first introduced to Adolf Hitler by Dietrich Eckart and he held several important posts in the Nazi government. He was the head o ...
as one of the leaders of the "agrarian" fraction within the NSDAP who championed anti-industrial and anti-urban "blood and soil" ideology, expansion into Eastern Europe to gain ''
Lebensraum (, ) is a German concept of expansionism and Völkisch movement, ''Völkisch'' nationalism, the philosophy and policies of which were common to German politics from the 1890s to the 1940s. First popularized around 1901, '' lso in:' beca ...
'', an alliance with Great Britain to defeat the Soviet Union, and staunch opposition to restoring the pre-1914 German colonial empire. The "agrarian" fraction took the view that Wilhelmine imperialism had taken Germany in the wrong direction by colonizing lands that were unsuitable for mass colonization by German settlers and had unwisely antagonized Britain. The lesson that the Nazi "agrarians" drew from the German Empire was that Germany must focus its ambitions to the continent of Europe in order to win an alliance with Britain and land suitable for German colonization. Darré was instrumental in founding the Nazi Reich Food Society ('' Reichsnährstand'') as part of the Nazification process of the German society (''
Gleichschaltung The Nazi term (), meaning "synchronization" or "coordination", was the process of Nazification by which Adolf Hitler—leader of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, Germany—established a system of totalitarian control and coordination over all ...
''). Darré campaigned for big landowners to part with some of their land to create new farms, and promoted the controversial Hereditary Farm Law ( Reichserbhofgesetz), which forcibly converted most of the country's small farms (from 7.5 to 125 hectares - 19 to 309 acres), into hereditary estates that were to be passed from father to son under the ancient laws of
entailment Logical consequence (also entailment or logical implication) is a fundamental concept in logic which describes the relationship between statements that hold true when one statement logically ''follows from'' one or more statements. A valid l ...
. While the law protected small farmers from
foreclosure Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has Default (finance), stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the Collateral (finance), coll ...
and the ordeal of
repossession Repossession, commonly referred to as repo, is a "self-help" type of action in which the party having the right of ownership of a property takes the property in question back from the party having right of possession without invoking court proc ...
, it also tied them and their descendants to their hereditary farm forever, not allowing it to be alienated nor mortgaged. At the Nazi 'agricultural school' in Burg Neuhaus, the "Reich School of the Reichsnährstand for Physical Exercises" Darré promoted Nordic racial purity through
eugenics Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human phenotypes by inhibiting the fer ...
and the "New nobility of blood and soil". Darré appointed the photographers Anna Koppitz and German sports photographer Hanns Spudich to produce pictures of the hand-picked young peasant farmers exercising for Rudolf Bode's ''Neuhaus gymnastik''. The pictures appeared in the June 1939 ''Die 5. Reichsnährstands-Ausstellung'' ("5th Reich nutrition exhibition") in Leipzig and in ''Odal'', the organ of Nazi propaganda. Darré developed a plan for ''"Rasse und Raum"'' ("race and space", or territory) along the ideological lines of "Drive to the east" (''"
Drang nach Osten (; 'Drive to the East',Ulrich Best''Transgression as a Rule: German–Polish cross-border cooperation, border discourse and EU-enlargement'' 2008, p. 58, Edmund Jan Osmańczyk, Anthony Mango, ''Encyclopedia of the United Nations and Internati ...
''"), "Living space" ("''
Lebensraum (, ) is a German concept of expansionism and Völkisch movement, ''Völkisch'' nationalism, the philosophy and policies of which were common to German politics from the 1890s to the 1940s. First popularized around 1901, '' lso in:' beca ...
''") and "Hitler's dream of conquest" earlier expounded in ''
Mein Kampf (; ) is a 1925 Autobiography, autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The book outlines many of Political views of Adolf Hitler, Hitler's political beliefs, his political ideology and future plans for Nazi Germany, Ge ...
''. Darré strongly influenced Himmler in his goal to create a German racial aristocracy based on selective breeding. The extreme Nazi policies of eugenics would lead to the annihilation of millions of non-Germans. In the course of the preparations for the "Master Plan for the East" (''
Generalplan Ost The (; ), abbreviated GPO, was Nazi Germany's plan for the settlement and "Germanization" of captured territory in Eastern Europe, involving the genocide, extermination and large-scale ethnic cleansing of Slavs, Eastern European Jews, and o ...
''), Himmler would later break with Darré, whom he saw as too theoretical. Although Darré was considered one of the few Nazi ministers who knew his field well, he was generally on bad terms with Economy Minister
Hjalmar Schacht Horace Greeley Hjalmar Schacht (); 22 January 1877 – 3 June 1970) was a German economist, banker, politician, and co-founder of the German Democratic Party. He served as the Currency Commissioner and President of the Reichsbank during the ...
, particularly as Germany suffered poor harvests in the mid-1930s.


Discrediting and displacement

Darré's influence began to wane as Hitler and Himmler both came to feel that he was too much of a theoretician and an incompetent administrator. By September 1938, Himmler demanded that Darré step down as leader of the SS Race and Settlement Main Office in favour of Günther Pancke. Darré was later placed on an extended leave of absence as Reich Minister on 23 May 1942, ostensibly on health grounds, and his duties were assumed by his State Secretary, Herbert Backe. Darré nominally remained Reich Minister until Backe formally took over as Reich Minister on 6 April 1944. However, Darré was effectively sidelined from May 1942 and retired to his hunting lodge in the Schorfheide forest outside Berlin until the end of the
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
regime. The transcript of a 1940 speech, supposedly given by Darré, was published in ''
Life magazine ''Life'' (stylized as ''LIFE'') is an American magazine launched in 1883 as a weekly publication. In 1972, it transitioned to publishing "special" issues before running as a monthly from 1978 to 2000. Since then, ''Life'' has irregularly publi ...
'', 9 December 1940, reads:
By blitzkrieg . . . before autumn . . . we shall be the absolute masters of two continents . . . a new aristocracy of German masters will be created . . . .
ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometers, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is i ...
slaves assigned to it, these slaves to be their property and to consist of landless, non-German nationals . . . we actually have in mind a modern form of medieval slavery which we must and will introduce because we urgently need it in order to fulfil our great tasks. These slaves will by no means be denied the blessings of illiteracy; higher education will, in future, be reserved only for the German population of Europe . . . .


After the war

In April 1945, the American authorities arrested Darré, interned him at Flak-Kaserne Ludwigsburg and tried him at the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials, as one of 21 defendants in the Ministries Trial, also known as the Wilhelmstrasse Trial (1947–1949)."Records of the United States Nuernberg War Crimes Trials: United States of America v. Ernst Von Weizsaecker et al (Case XI). December 20, 1947 – April 14, 1949."
US Government archives
He was charged under the following counts: * Count I: participation in the planning, preparation, initiation, and waging of wars of aggression and invasion of other countries. Found not guilty. * Count II: conspiracy to commit crimes against peace and crimes against humanity: The count was dismissed, the tribunal finding that no evidence was offered. * Count IV: crimes against humanity, relating to offenses committed against German nationals from 1933 to 1939. The count was dismissed upon the arguments of defense counsel. * Count V: atrocities and offenses committed against civilian populations between 1938 and 1945. Found guilty. * Count VI: plunder and spoliation. Found guilty. * Count VII: slave labor. Found not guilty. * Count VIII: membership of criminal organizations. Found guilty. Darré was sentenced to seven years at
Landsberg Prison Landsberg Prison is a prison in the town of Landsberg am Lech in the southwest of the German state of Bavaria, about west-southwest of Munich and south of Augsburg. It is best known as the prison where Adolf Hitler was held in 1924, after the ...
. He was released in 1950 and spent his final years in
Bad Harzburg Bad Harzburg (; Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Bad Harzborch'') is a spa town in central Germany, in the Goslar (district), Goslar district of Lower Saxony. It lies on the northern edge of the Harz mountains and is a recognised saltwater spa ...
. He died in a
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
hospital, on 5 September 1953, of
liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...
. He is buried in
Goslar Goslar (; Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Goslär'') is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the Goslar (district), district of Goslar and is located on the northwestern wikt:slope, slopes of the Harz ...
.


Works

Darré's works were primarily concerned with ancient and present Nordic peasantry, and the ideology of
blood and soil Blood and soil (, ) is a nationalist slogan expressing Nazi Germany's ideal of a racially defined Body national, national body ("Blood") united with a settlement area ("Soil"). By it, rural and farm life forms are idealized as a counterweight t ...
. Within this context, he made an explicit attack against Christianity. In his two main writings, * ''Das Bauerntum als Lebensquell der nordischen Rasse'', easantry as Life-source of the Nordic Race(1928) * ''Neuadel aus Blut und Boden'', ew Nobility from Blood and Soil(1930), Darré accused Christianity, with its "teaching of the equality of men before God," of having "deprived the Teutonic nobility of its moral foundations", the "innate sense of superiority over the nomadic tribes".


See also

*
Hunger Plan The Hunger Plan () was a partially implemented plan developed by Nazi Germany, Nazi bureaucrats during World War II to seize food from the Soviet Union and give it to German soldiers and civilians. The plan entailed the genocide by Starvation (cri ...
* List SS-Obergruppenführer *
Nazism and race The German Nazi Party adopted and developed several racial hierarchical categorizations as an important part of its racist ideology (Nazism) in order to justify enslavement, extermination, ethnic persecution and other atrocities against ...
* Reich Harvest Thanksgiving Festival * Ecofascism


Notes


References


Bibliography

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External links


Das Erbhofgesetz
*


''Neuordnung unseres Denkens'' "New Order of Our Thought" by Richard Walther Darré at archive.org

''Blut und Boden – Ein Grundgedanke des Nationalsozialismus'' "Blood and Soil – A Basic Tenet of National Socialism" by Richard Walther Darré at archive.org
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Darre, Richard Walther 1895 births 1953 deaths 20th-century agronomists 20th-century Freikorps personnel Argentina in World War II Argentine emigrants to Germany Argentine people of French descent Argentine people of German descent Argentine people of Swedish descent Argentine prisoners and detainees Argentine propagandists Agriculture ministers of Germany Deaths from liver cancer in Germany German agrarianists German agronomists German Army personnel of World War I German Nazi propagandists German people convicted of crimes against humanity German people of French descent German people of Swedish descent Government ministers of Nazi Germany Members of the Academy for German Law Members of the Prussian State Council (Nazi Germany) Members of the Reichstag 1932 Members of the Reichstag 1932–1933 Members of the Reichstag 1933 Members of the Reichstag 1933–1936 Members of the Reichstag 1936–1938 Members of the Reichstag 1938–1945 Nazis convicted of war crimes People convicted by the United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals People educated at King's College School, London People from Buenos Aires Proslavery activists Reichsleiters SS-Obergruppenführer University of Halle alumni