Ernst Geßler (lawyer)

Ernst Geßler (born March 5, 1905 in Frankfurt am Main ; † December 29, 1986 ) was a German lawyer and honorary professor at the University of Bonn .

Career in the Third Reich

Geßler studied law at the University of Berlin . In 1930 he became an assistant judge in the Berlin Court District . In 1934 Geßler moved to the Prussian Ministry of Justice . He then worked in the Reich Ministry of Justice , where he was assigned to the department for stock corporation, GmbH and accounting law. There Geßler played a key role in drafting the 1937 Stock Corporation Act. In 1939 he became head of this department. Geßler was released for the Wehrmacht in April 1943 and released from captivity in 1945.

In the Third Reich, Geßler was considered a staunch National Socialist. He had been a member of the NSDAP since May 1, 1933 and was an SA Rottenführer or even an SA Scharführer. In the arbitration chamber proceedings , he was initially classified as a fellow traveler , and in November 1948 classified in the group of exonerated persons.

Career after the end of the war

Geßler worked as a construction and agricultural worker as well as an unskilled worker in a law firm until 1948. From 1948 he worked in the Central Justice Office for the British Zone , from 1949 as Head of Unit. In 1949 he moved to the newly founded Federal Ministry of Justice . When he was about to be promoted to Ministerial Councilor in the fall of 1950, the Federal Ministry of the Interior raised concerns about his Nazi burden. State Secretary Walter Strauss , however, advocated Gessler; this statement is presented in detail in the report of the Independent Scientific Commission at the Federal Ministry of Justice on dealing with the Nazi past (UKW-BMJ). Even the later mention of Gessler in the Braunbuch had no consequences for his professional career.

From 1954 Geßler was sub-department head, from 1965 head of department III, which was responsible for the law of corporations and the mining law unions , accounting law , unbundling regulations and maritime law. Gessler was most recently ministerial director .

1954 Gessler from the University of Hamburg with the investigation "The compensation claim of trade and insurance agents" Dr. iur. PhD.

Geßler was the spiritual father of many fundamental federal German laws in the area of commercial law . For example, under his leadership, the draft law for the reform of stock corporation law was created in 1965, from which the German stock corporation law, still in force today, arose . Geßler participated in the negotiations with the Allies about the unbundling of the coal and steel industry , he prepared the draft of the commercial regulations of the DM accounting law, the drafts of a new co-operative law and a new GmbH law . He was also involved in the EEC negotiations on the harmonization and standardization of European company law.

Geßler was the author of several books and numerous articles on business law. He was co-editor of a commentary on the 1965 Stock Corporation Act and co-author of a commentary on the DM Balance Sheet Act,

For his services, Geßler was appointed honorary professor at the University of Bonn in 1960. In 1971 a commemorative publication was dedicated to him.

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ Obituary in FAZ from December 31, 1986, p. 28.
^ Manfred Görtemaker, Christoph Safferling: The Rosenburg files. The Federal Ministry of Justice and the Nazi era. Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-406-69768-5 , p. 339.
^ Manfred Görtemaker, Christoph Safferling: The Rosenburg files. The Federal Ministry of Justice and the Nazi era. Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-406-69768-5 , pp. 134-135.
^ Manfred Görtemaker, Christoph Safferling: The Rosenburg files. The Federal Ministry of Justice and the Nazi era. Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-406-69768-5 , pp. 134-135.
^ Norbert Podewin (ed.): Braunbuch - war and Nazi criminals in the Federal Republic and in Berlin (West). Reprint of the 1968 edition (3rd edition), Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-360-01033-7 , p. 340 / Manfred Görtemaker, Christoph Safferling: The Rosenburg files. The Federal Ministry of Justice and the Nazi era. Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-406-69768-5 , p. 340.

personal data
SURNAME	Geßler, Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German lawyer and honorary professor at the University of Bonn
DATE OF BIRTH	March 5, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH	Frankfurt am Main
DATE OF DEATH	December 29, 1986

[1] Obituary in FAZ from December 31, 1986, p. 28.

[2] Manfred Görtemaker, Christoph Safferling: The Rosenburg files. The Federal Ministry of Justice and the Nazi era. Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-406-69768-5 , p. 339.

[3] Manfred Görtemaker, Christoph Safferling: The Rosenburg files. The Federal Ministry of Justice and the Nazi era. Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-406-69768-5 , pp. 134-135.

[4] Manfred Görtemaker, Christoph Safferling: The Rosenburg files. The Federal Ministry of Justice and the Nazi era. Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-406-69768-5 , pp. 134-135.

[5] Norbert Podewin (ed.): Braunbuch - war and Nazi criminals in the Federal Republic and in Berlin (West). Reprint of the 1968 edition (3rd edition), Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-360-01033-7 , p. 340 / Manfred Görtemaker, Christoph Safferling: The Rosenburg files. The Federal Ministry of Justice and the Nazi era. Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-406-69768-5 , p. 340.