Ferdinand von Lüninck (Upper President)

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Ferdinand Freiherr von Lüninck before the People's Court, 1944

Ferdinand Joseph Meinolph Anton Maria Freiherr von Lüninck (born August 3, 1888 in Ostwig ; † November 14, 1944 in Berlin-Plötzensee ) was a German officer and politician (initially DNVP , from 1933 NSDAP ) and from 1933 to 1938 Chief President of Westphalia. As a participant in the resistance, he was arrested after July 20, 1944 and sentenced to death by the “ People's Court ” .

Family, education and the First World War

Ferdinand von Lüninck came from the old Lower Rhine noble family von Lüninick and was the oldest of eight children of Carl Freiherr von Lüninck. His brother Hermann Freiherr von Lüninck later became President of the Rhine Province . The mother Anna came from the family of the central politicians von Mallinckrodt. At first Ferdinand was tutored by a private tutor, later he switched to the Stella Matutina boarding school in Feldkirch in Vorarlberg in line with family tradition and completed his education at the Petrinum Brilon grammar school in 1906. Ferdinand von Lüninck studied law in Münster , Göttingen and Munich . In 1909 he passed his legal traineeship exam. He did his voluntary military service with the Guard Rifle Battalion in Berlin-Lichterfelde . He then worked as a trainee lawyer in Düsseldorf and in the Erkelenz district office. At the beginning of the First World War , Lüninck became a soldier and company commander in the Guard Rifle Battalion; at last he was lieutenant in the reserve. He was only able to take his assessor examination in 1917. Shortly before the revolution of 1918, he married Auguste Freiin von Gaugreben-Schönau .

The way to the right during the Weimar Republic

Lüninck's house during his time in Neuss, 1918–1922

After the First World War he made a career in civil service. Without consulting the revolutionary government, he was appointed provisional district administrator in Neuss by the district president in Düsseldorf in 1918 . In this office there were repeated conflicts with the Belgian occupation authorities, which in 1920 led to a Belgian court sentenced to eight weeks in prison. Conservative already influenced by his origins, these frictions led to a radicalization of his views. Lüninck strictly rejected the republic and democracy, remained a monarchist and came closer and closer to the German nationalists without first joining this party. On September 30, 1922, he voluntarily resigned from the civil service because the new republican order did not correspond to his political ideas.

He returned to Ostwig not only because of the conflicts with the Belgian authorities, but also to take over his inheritance. In 1923 he took over the management of the "Westfalenbund", a "Patriotic Association" that emerged from the Escherich organization , which he converted to the Stahlhelm in 1924 . The political thinking of the leadership of the "Westfalenbund" was influenced by the ideas of the young conservatives around Arthur Moeller van den Bruck in the Berlin Juniklub and the associated Political College under the direction of Martin Spahn . Above all, the idea of ​​a national community , which is linked to the idea of ​​a corporate state and which recurs in the programmatic statements of the “Westphalia Federation”, can be traced back to the influence of the young conservatives.

Until 1928, Lüninck shared the chairmanship of the Westphalia State Steel Helmet Association with Major General a. D. Eduard Kreuter . He did not feel politically represented by the Center Party , which was more dominated by the workers' wing in the Sauerland , and was initially active as a non-party in the conservative peasant movement. As early as 1925 he was one of the founders of the regional cultural society "Sauerland" and took over its chairmanship. This became the most important agricultural interest organization in ten districts in South Westphalia. In 1929 he became Vice President of the Westphalian Farmers' Association and in 1931 President of the Chamber of Agriculture in Münster. By this time Lüninck had long been a member of the DNVP and in 1929 spoke out in favor of the popular initiative initiated by the monarchist right and the NSDAP against the Young Plan . During his time as President of the Chamber of Agriculture, he spoke out openly and vehemently against democracy and the republic.

1933 to 1938: Upper President of the Province of Westphalia

Street sign Ferdinand-von-Lüninck-Straße in Bestwig-Ostwig

As a fierce opponent of democracy and parliamentarism, Lüninck welcomed the Nazi takeover. After January 30, 1933, Lüninck recommended his political stance to the new National Socialist rulers. Last but not least, the intercession of Franz von Papen , who also came from Westphalia, with Adolf Hitler , he owed his appointment as President of Westphalia . He was thus the highest representative of the state in Westphalia. As a result of this office he was a. a. full member of the historical commission for Westphalia . His brother Hermann took over the post of high president in the Rhine province . The National Socialists hoped that these personal details would give them a higher degree of recognition among the Catholics in the two western provinces, which they could hardly reach until 1933.

In his remarks, Lüninck spoke out clearly for the regime. In his first speech as Chief President, he defended the so-called Gleichschaltung . In a speech on July 12, 1933, he praised Hitler as "sent by Divine Providence".

As a high state executive body, it participated in the persecution and de-legalization of entire ethnic groups. While there were also numerous riots against Jews in Westphalia, Lüninck's initiatives were not discernible.

In 1938, at Göring's instigation, von Lüninck was replaced by Gauleiter Alfred Meyer , who - as has long been the practice in the other provinces - exercised both offices in personal union. Since historians do not see any open conflicts between Lüninck and the party from the files, it can be assumed that a man like Lüninck simply no longer fit into the political landscape for the party.

Military service and participation in the resistance

With the outbreak of war, von Lüninck returned to the military and was first battalion commander in Soest in 1939 and later in the 9th Grenadier Replacement Battalion in Potsdam.

At the end of 1943, Carl Friedrich Goerdeler suggested that after a planned coup he take on a position as Political Representative for West Prussia and, with his consent, put him on a list of planned political representatives and liaison officers. The Gestapo found this list in Goerdeler's notes after the failed assassination attempt on July 20, 1944 . Thereupon von Lüninck was arrested on his estate Ostwig near Bestwig. On November 13th, he was sentenced to death by the People's Court , chaired by Roland Freisler , and hanged one day later in Plötzensee .

During the Gestapo interrogation after his arrest, von Lüninck stated that the treatment of the churches and Christianity in the National Socialist state had "put a lot of water into the wine of the first enthusiasm". Since he has not commented on his socio-political ideas for the time after the coup or when he first had contacts with the resistance, much is unclear. It can be taken as certain that von Lüninck is part of the so-called national - conservative resistance. The latter approved of Nazi domestic and foreign policy to a certain extent, but particularly rejected the methods used after the war began. The contact to Goerdeler was most likely established by the resistance fighter Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenburg , who was an officer in the 9th Infantry Replacement Battalion, also stationed in Potsdam, and who maintained close contacts with Goerdeler. According to Ekkehard Klausa, von der Schulenburg von Lüninck is said to have enlisted for the resistance as early as the summer of 1942 (and thus before the defeat of Stalingrad). The Schulenburg biographer Ulrich Heinemann, on the other hand, emphasizes that such recruiting attempts did not take place until 1943.

Honors

The Catholic Church accepted Ferdinand Freiherr von Lüninck as a witness of faith in the German martyrology of the 20th century .

literature

  • Ekkehard Klausa : From ally to “high traitor”. The path of the conservative resistance fighter Ferdinand von Lüninck. In: Westphalian research. 43, 1993, pp. 530-571.
  • Gerd Krüger : From the resident services to the steel helmet. The national combat organization “Westfalenbund” eV (1921–1924). In: Westphalian magazine. 147, 1997, pp. 405-432.
  • Peter Möhring: Ferdinand Freiherr von Lüninck. In: Friedrich Gerhard Hohmann (Ed.): Westfälische Lebensbilder. Volume 17, Münster 2005, pp. 60-102.
  • Helmut Moll (Ed. On behalf of the German Bishops' Conference): Witnesses for Christ. The German martyrology of the 20th century. Paderborn et al. 1999, 7th revised and updated edition 2019, ISBN 978-3-506-78012-6 , 601–604.
  • Ines Reich: Potsdam and July 20, 1944. On the trail of the resistance against National Socialism. Accompanying document to the exhibition of the Military History Research Office and the Potsdam Museum. Rombach, Freiburg im Breisgau 1994, ISBN 3-7930-0697-2 , p. 82 f.
  • Patrick Ernst Sensburg : The great lawyers of the Sauerland. 22 biographies of outstanding legal scholars. FW Becker, Arnsberg 2002, ISBN 978-3-930264-45-2 .
  • Karl Teppe: The Upper Presidents of the Province of Westphalia 1919 to 1945. A socio-historical study. In: Mentalities and living conditions. Examples from the social history of modern times. Rudolf Vierhaus on his 60th birthday. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1982, pp. 261-274.
  • Karl Teppe: Province - Party - State. On provincial self-government in the Third Reich, examined using the example of Westphalia (= publications of the Historical Commission for Westphalia. Volume 38). Munster 1977.

Web links

Commons : Ferdinand Freiherr von Lüninck  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl Teppe: Province - Party - State, p. 19.
  2. ^ Klausa, p. 535.
  3. ^ Karl Ditt: Space and Volkstum. The cultural policy of the Provincial Association of Westphalia 1923–1945, p. 164.
  4. ^ Teppe: Die Oberpräsident der Provinz Westfalen, p. 269.
  5. ^ Klausa, p. 550.
  6. ^ Karl Teppe: Province - Party - State, p. 84.
  7. ↑ Hans-Adolf Jacobsen (Ed.): Mirror image of a conspiracy. Stuttgart 1989, p. 168.
  8. ^ Klausa, p. 564.
  9. ^ Ulrich Heinemann: A conservative rebel. Berlin 1990, p. 102.
personal data
SURNAME Lüninck, Ferdinand von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lüninck, Ferdinand Joseph Meinolph Anton Maria Freiherr von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German landowner and officer
DATE OF BIRTH August 3, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Ostwig
DATE OF DEATH November 14, 1944
Place of death Berlin-Plötzensee