Bernhard Dunker

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Bernhard Dunker

Bernhard Dunker , Carl Christian Henrik Bernhard Dunker (born May 22, 1809 in Schleswig , † July 28, 1870 in Christiania ) was a Norwegian lawyer and author.

youth

His parents were the Hessian mining assessor Johan Friedrich Wilhelm d'Uncker (1775–1844) and his wife Conradine Birgitte Hansteen (1780–1866). On May 1, 1839, he married in Christiania Edle Jasine Theodore Grundt (April 2, 1811– December 14, 1887), daughter of Bailiff Lars Otto Grundt (1763–1829) and his wife Helene Dorothea Roll (1785–1849).

Dunker came to Christiania when he was just one year old. His father had moved to Norway in 1810, where he lived until his death in 1844. His youth was determined by illness and poverty. The parents were educated and participated in the music and theater life in Christiania. But the father owed the family, and the mother ran a girls' school at home for a living. There the student Bernhard gave arithmetic lessons. He was intelligent, astute, and persistent. His biting joke became his sharpest weapon. His thoughtless, eccentric way of life came to the fore when his illnesses - rheumatism, migraines, weak lungs, and depression - became chronic.

The lawyer

In 1828 he began his legal studies. He joined the student “Intelligenspartiet” around J. S. Welhaven , A. M. Schweigaard , P. A. Munch and Andreas Munch . During his studies he was tutor to the Vogt Lars Otto Grundt, where he met his future wife. He finished his studies in 1834. He then joined Frederik Stang's office . In 1837 he became a court procurator. In 1841 he became a lawyer at the Supreme Court. In 1859 he became a government lawyer. His keen analytical mind and the eloquence that he had brought with him from his youthful amateur actor experience earned him the reputation of being the best lawyer in court. He has acted in more than 800 cases. Among other things, he defended his friend Ole Bull against the Bergen Police and Marcus Thrane and his supporters in 1850 . The trial of the labor leader Thrane and his circle caused a sensation. They were charged with high treason for demanding political rights and the right to vote for workers. Contrary to prevailing opinion, Dunker saw the claims as justified and accused the judges of bias and vindictiveness. But he could only achieve the acquittal less. Nonetheless, he received a torchlight procession from the workers, and his defense was described as "brilliant".

Over time, his critical view of society changed his aristocratic and conservative political attitudes towards a more liberal and progressive attitude. He took an active part in the debate on the Constitution and the structure of the Union with Sweden. His conservative understanding of the constitution was reflected in his book Om den norske Constitution (On the Norwegian Constitution) from 1840. The writing was written in response to P. K. Gaarder's Fortolkning over Grundloven . In it Dunker wanted to give the king more power and the possibility of an absolute veto in all political questions in which the laws did not expressly determine otherwise. He thought the form of government in Norway was "restrictedly monarchical". He represented a modified authority. The fact that he was decried as an arch-royalist reactionary did not bother him.

Otherwise he dealt with legislation. The Lov om Pant og Tinglæsning of October 12, 1857 and the Konkurslov (bankruptcy law) of June 6, 1863 essentially come from his pen.

The politician

His friendship with the parliamentary state councilors Christian Birch-Reichenwald and Ketil Motzfeldt gave him a major political role on several occasions. In 1854, when reforming the court system, the government was of the opinion that the Storting did not have the right to set up a committee to draft a law to set up a jury in criminal proceedings. In this conflict between the government and Storting, he defended the Storting's right to set up such a committee. Although he was personally against the establishment of a jury, he participated as a member in drafting the bill that was presented in 1857. He was also a leading force when a second jury committee was formed in 1860, which submitted his draft in 1862.

In the summer of 1860 he was ready to become a State Councilor. Instead, his friends left the government. At that time it was about the reaction of the Norwegian government to the decision of the king to dissolve and abolish the Storting . During this time, he also took up the dispute with Sweden over the revision of the Union and resolutely opposed the ideas there of Sweden's sovereignty over Norway. He resolutely rejected Sweden's ideas about revising the Union Act in the direction of closer amalgamation in Om Revision af Foreningsakten mellem Sverige og Norge (two parts, 1866 and 1868) and insisted on compliance with the Union Act of 1815, which he in no way questioned . He was even an admirer of King Karl Johans . However, he viewed a closer merger between Norway and Sweden as a state of bondage for Norway. He insisted on the full independence of Norway in all points that were not expressly excluded in the Union Treaty of 1815. He advocated Scandinavianism as a free collaboration between three Scandinavian peoples. But that presupposed that none of the three peoples had any primacy over the others. The fact that the proposal for a revision of the Union Act, which had been drawn up by the Union Committee, was rejected by Storting on April 17, 1871 by 92 votes against 17, is essentially due to his arguments.

One topic was the governor's dispute. Norway wanted the office of the Swedish governor in Norway to be abolished. In several anonymous writings under the name Flyveblade (leaflet), he intervened in the dispute in 1859/1860. He emphasized the Norwegian right to determine its own constitution. But he did not live to see the repeal of the governorship in 1871.

Cultural work

He was also very involved in cultural life. He supported Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and Henrik Ibsen financially and gave them scholarships. He also helped Camilla Collett publish her book Amtmandens Døttre . From 1860–1863 he was in charge of the theater in Christiania and, with iron discipline, ensured a balanced budget for the theater. He even took care of the direction, the selection of pieces and provided translations. Bjørnson was appointed Artistic Director for the period 1865–1866. The relationship between the two was not free of tension, and Dunker became the model in Bjørnson's En fallit (A Bankruptcy) for the lawyer Berent. Dunker's book R eise til Tellemarken og til Arendal is a homage to the homeland in good romantic tradition.

He became a knight of the Order of St. Olav in 1860 and was also a knight of the Nordstjärne Order.

literature

The article essentially follows the Norsk biografisk Leksikon . Any other information is shown separately.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Nielsen Sp. 1074.
  2. ↑ Higher court procurator at this time was a lawyer who was admitted to litigation at the higher court (i.e. the second instance). He was appointed by the king until 1868, and the number of these lawyers was limited. After that, both were dropped.
  3. ↑ The government advocate prepared expert opinions for the government on legal issues.
  4. ↑ a b c d Hammer p. 521.
  5. ↑ Built Walt is the Scandinavian special form of absolutism.
  6. ^ Law on pledge and conveyance. "Tinglæsning" was the judicial public reading of the deed of ownership as a call for any objections to the transfer of property. (Academy for German Law, 1933–1945. Minutes of the committees, Volume 3. Berlin 1995 ISBN 3-11-014309-7 . P. 697.)
  7. ↑ State Council is the term for minister in Norway.
personal data
SURNAME Dunker, Bernhard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dunker, Carl Christian Henrik Bernhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Norwegian lawyer, politician, member of the Storting and author
DATE OF BIRTH May 22, 1809
PLACE OF BIRTH Schleswig
DATE OF DEATH July 28, 1870
Place of death Christiania