Carl Johann Ludwig Dham

Carl Johann Ludwig Dham (also D'ham, born August 27, 1809 in Schmallenberg ( Sauerland ), † February 21, 1871 in Paderborn ) was a German lawyer , politician and member of the Frankfurt National Assembly 1848/49.

Life

Dham was the son of the doctor Clemens Ludwig Dham, was raised Catholic and studied law in Bonn , Greifswald and Heidelberg from 1830–1833 . During his studies he became a member of several fraternities : Old Bonn Burschenschaft (1831), Burschenschaft Populonia Bonn (1831), Old Heidelberg Burschenschaft Franconia (1831), Old Greifswalder Burschenschaft (1832). After completing his studies, he was initially an auscultator at the court in Arnsberg . Because of the membership in this then opposition fraternity movement, the participation in the Hambacher Fest and because of democratic statements, there was a criminal case for high treason in 1833 . As a result, Dham served a fortress detention in Magdeburg in the years 1833-1840 . In another trial in 1836 the sentence was increased to 25 years and Dham dismissed from the legal service. In 1840 Dham was pardoned and was able to resume his professional activities in the judiciary. Despite all the harshness of the political persecution during the restoration era, the reinstatement shows that the states of the German Confederation were far from a dictatorship of the 20th century.

After his release from prison, Dham worked as a higher regional court assessor, first in Marsberg and Brilon and from 1846–1848 in Arnsberg . In the spring of 1848 he returned to Brilon and became a district judge there in 1850 and later a judge (lawyer). From 1866 until his death he was a lawyer in Paderborn.

During the revolution of 1848/49 Dham was elected to the national assembly for the constituency of Meschede and was a member of the parliamentary group of the " Württemberger Hof ". He represented the creation of a parliamentary monarchy with strong representation of the people and a federal constitution for Germany in a large German form . Indeed, Dham agreed with these principles, as shown by an article in a newspaper from 1849. In it Dham clearly recognized that the March achievements are by no means certain. He advocated a constitutional monarchy with a "free-thinking constitution" and a unicameral parliament. He called for a free press law and the responsibility of the ministers. However, a free-spirited municipal constitution and a reform of the state administration are also necessary as a basis. The same applies to the judiciary. He advocated public and oral hearings and the establishment of jury courts. However, Dham soon moved away from the Greater German positions and he was one of those who turned to a Little German solution and elected Friedrich Wilhelm IV as Emperor of the Germans. In the 1860s he wrote a political pamphlet in which the former Democrat Dham approached partly national liberal and partly conservative positions.

Fonts

• A look back at 1848 . In: Mescheder Zeitung of January 27, 1849. Printed in: Magdalena Padberg (Ed.): When we became Prussian. The Sauerland from 1816–1849. Fredeburg, 1982. pp. 364f.
• Application by MP Dham, from Westphalia, regarding a new political division of Germany: a contribution to the German constitution , Wilmans Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, 1848
• March letter to the German people. Unity or Downfall? Leipzig, 1861.

literature

• Heinrich Best , Wilhelm Weege: Biographical handbook of the members of the Frankfurt National Assembly 1848/49 (= handbooks on the history of parliamentarism and the political parties. Volume 8). Droste, Düsseldorf 1996, ISBN 3-7700-5193-9 , pp. 123-124.
• Helge Dvorak: Biographical Lexicon of the German Burschenschaft. Volume I: Politicians. Sub-Volume 1: A-E. Winter, Heidelberg 1996, ISBN 3-8253-0339-X , pp. 197-198.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Helge Dvorak: Biographical Lexicon of the German Burschenschaft. Volume I: Politicians. Sub-Volume 1: A-E. Winter, Heidelberg 1996, ISBN 3-8253-0339-X , p. 197.