Hermann Tessendorf

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hermann Tessendorf

Hermann Ernst Christian Tessendorf (born August 6, 1831 in Niederhinrichshagen , Reinberg parish near Stralsund, † December 1, 1895 in Leipzig ) was a German public prosecutor . Most recently he was a senior Reich attorney . He became known for his crackdown on social democrats and trade unionists as a public prosecutor in Berlin. This wave of persecution that began after 1874 is known as the Tessendorf era .

Career

Tessendorf studied in Greifswald , Tübingen and Berlin law . Then he joined the Prussian judicial service. In 1864 he became public prosecutor in Burg and in 1867 he was the first public prosecutor at the city and district court in Magdeburg . In 1873 he moved to the city court in Berlin. In 1879 he became President of the Senate in Königsberg . From 1885 he was president of the criminal senate at the higher court in Berlin. In 1886 he became a senior realm attorney in Leipzig. He was made an honorary citizen of Leipzig in 1895 in connection with the inauguration of the newly built imperial court building.

Tessendorf era

Already during his time in Magdeburg he distinguished himself through intense persecution of members of the labor movement, for example in connection with the strike of the cigar workers in 1871. He has also drafted proposals for repressive measures in a memorandum. He continued this attitude to a greater extent in Berlin from 1874. He worked closely with the Berlin police chief Guido von Madai . Incidentally, Tessendorf was of the opinion "based on previous long-term observations and experiences (...) that there is no essential difference between social democrats and so-called anarchists."

He charged many leading social democratic politicians and trade unionists with libel of majesty . Other allegations were resistance to state power or the abuse of state institutions. In the months after the persecution began, dozens of socialists were arrested and charged by Tessendorf. August Bebel reported that during this time 87 members of the ADAV had been sentenced to a total of 211 months in prison. He had the headquarters of the ADAV closed. The president of the ADAV, Wilhelm Hasenclever , was sentenced to two months in prison.

In addition to Tessendorf there were a number of other lawyers who distinguished themselves in a similar way. Tessendorf and others could also rely on a general decree to the public prosecutor's offices, which called for action against the Social Democrats after the Reichstag election of 1874 . Courts and authorities enforced the closure of most branches of the ADAV.

The association law also gave him and his colleagues the power to take action against the unions. He was able to dissolve the unions in Berlin, which are closely related to the ADAV. The union movement has been so severely weakened.

Tessendorf was the driving force behind the socialist trial of 1875. The wave of persecution through Tessendorf contributed significantly to the unification of the two workers' parties in 1875. On the basis of the Prussian law on associations, he was responsible for the prohibition of the Socialist Workers' Party in Berlin in 1876 . The headquarters in Hamburg remained unaffected.

Tessendorf took action not only against social democrats, but also against other supposed enemies of the Reich. In 1876 he charged Peter Reichensperger .

The term “Tessendorf era” gave the wave of persecution its name. According to contemporary information, more than 2200 trials against social democrats were counted in Germany after 1871. Three quarters of them fell into the Tessendorf era.

consequences

The measures ultimately proved unsuccessful in halting the growth of social democracy. The Socialist Act of 1878 then greatly expanded the scope against social democrats. From the workers' point of view, the Marxist interpretation of the class state and the class struggle increasingly appeared plausible in view of the increased entrepreneurial power during the founding crisis and the state repression . Marxism prevailed as an ideology until the end of the Socialist Law. The experience of state persecution in the 1870s / 80s left a lasting mark on at least one generation of workers' leaders.

literature

  • Andrea Hartmann: Lese majesty and denigration of the head of state (94 ff. RStGB, 90 StGB): Reform discussion and legislation since the 19th century. Berlin, 2006 p. 93f.
  • Otto Plant: Bismarck. The Chancellor. Munich, 2008 p. 26f.
  • Klaus Tenfelde: The emergence of the German trade union movement. From the pre-March to the socialist law. In the S. u. a. : History of the German trade unions from the beginning to 1945. Cologne, 1987 p. 136
  • Adolf Lobe : Fifty Years of the Reich Court on October 1, 1929, Berlin 1929, p. 161 (picture), 399.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Justice Ministerialblatt for Prussian legislation and administration of justice, Volume 26 (1864), Berlin 1864, p. 269 .
  2. ↑ Justice Ministerialblatt for Prussian Legislation and Administration of Justice, Volume 29 (1867), Berlin 1867, p. 406 .
  3. ↑ Quoting from Johann von Treutlein-Moerdes (1858–1916): The public prosecutor's office at the Reichsgericht, in: The first 25 years of the Reichsgericht, special issue of the Saxon Archives for German Civil Law on the 25th anniversary of the highest German court, p. 113 .
  4. ^ Thomas Ormond: Dignity of a judge and loyalty to the government Service law, political activity and discipline of judges in Prussia, Baden and Hesse 1866–1918 . Frankfurt, 1994 p. 392
personal data
SURNAME Tessendorf, Hermann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tessendorf, Hermann Ernst Christian (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Senior Reich Attorney
DATE OF BIRTH August 6, 1831
PLACE OF BIRTH Niederhinrichshagen parish of Reinberg
DATE OF DEATH December 1, 1895
Place of death Leipzig