Friedrich Bräuninger (lawyer)

Friedrich Bräuninger (born December 14, 1877 in Drais , † 1942 in Triberg ) was a German lawyer . For a long time he was a district judge in Triberg, where he stood up for a Jewish doctor after the seizure of power and is therefore considered a resistance member in the judicial service.

Life

Friedrich Bräuninger was born in Drais. After school he studied at the University of Heidelberg Law . He had to repeat his first state law examination , and in the second in 1906 he achieved a below-average result. He managed to get a place in the Baden civil service and in 1906 he was appointed court assessor. In Mannheim he failed because of "bad company", as it was called in the service files, and in 1908 he was transferred to the little popular Mosbach . In the First World War he was classified as unfit for war and only briefly fit for garrison service. Nevertheless, he received the Prussian Cross of Merit for War Aid because he had advertised intensively for war loans.

In 1918 he came to Triberg, where he worked as a magistrate until his retirement. He turned down promotions. In Triberg he was considered a respected citizen and was involved in the community, among other things, as chairman of the trade court, the rental agreement office, the labor court and the court of inheritance . After the seizure of power , like all judges, he was expected to make a clear commitment to the new government and Adolf Hitler , which he avoided as much as possible. So he never joined the NSDAP , not even in the Association of National Socialist German Lawyers, which is actually mandatory for all lawyers . He only joined the Reich Air Protection Association , the German Air Sports Association and the National Socialist People's Welfare .

He became known through the case of Dr. Wagner. The Jewish doctor, presumably out of pity, had carried out illegal abortions on three women who were considered "poorly well-off" . As a result, a preliminary investigation was initiated against him. The local SA besieged his practice and destroyed his reputation. Wagner even tried to commit suicide with his family, with the two-year-old son dying. The Offenburg district court sentenced the doctor to one year and five months. During this time, the National Socialist doctor Dr. Jäger used the practice rooms and refused to leave them after Wagner's release from prison, as he had assured Wagner's wife in writing. The case, which meanwhile also occupied the district leadership of the NSDAP, now landed before the district judge Bräuninger. The local NSDAP tried to put pressure on the lawyer, but Bräuninger was not deterred and decided in favor of Wagner. When Jäger referred to his personal interests as a doctor, Bräuniger asked the rhetorical question : “ And the [the Jewish doctor] should perish? ". If Jäger refused to hand over the practice, he ordered foreclosure . The judgment was confirmed in the second instance before the Offenburg Regional Court .

The NSDAP local group leader then tried to put pressure on Bräuninger, which he replied with a detailed letter in which he sharply attacked the behavior of the local group leader and the local health insurance company, which reduced Wagner's benefits, and confirmed that Dr. As a German national, Wagner had the same rights and obligations as any other citizen. On February 4, 1935, the practice was finally evacuated, which not only hunters but also a local school class under their National Socialist teacher wanted to prevent. Ultimately, however, the situation was resolved without the use of force.

The case should not end well for Bräuninger either. He turned to the Schwarzwälder Tageblatt , which did not print his letter, but instead passed it on to the local NSDAP group. The President of the Offenburg Regional Court, Link, tried to mediate in the case and to obtain a formal settlement of the matter. Finally, the Baden Ministry of Justice got involved. Heinrich Reinle , later President of the Higher Regional Court, also tried to mediate, but threatened Bräuninger with a transfer. Ultimately, the case ended in a macabre way: Wagner and his wife jointly committed suicide in March 1935, as did Wagner's father two months later. There was never a reconciliation between Bräuninger and the NSDAP. In his political assessment that the service certificate was settled Bräuninger was described as opponents of the regime.

In 1942 Bräuninger died of a heart attack. He had increasingly suffered from heart problems.

His fate was remembered in 2017 with an inclusion in the anthology Furchtlose Juristen , edited by Heiko Maas . His life story was written down by Michael Kißener .

Private life

Bräuninger had been married since 1916. His wife, the daughter of a Catholic furrier , was sixteen years younger and came from wealthy liberal democratic circles.

literature

• Michael Kißener : Friedrich Bräuninger (1877–1942) District Court Judge in Triberg . In: Heiko Maas (Hrsg.): Feartlose Juristen. Judges and prosecutors against Nazi injustice . CH Beck, Munich 2017, ISBN 978-3-406-70746-9 , pp. 52-53 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Michael Kißener : Friedrich Bräuninger (1877–1942) District Court Judge in Triberg . In: Heiko Maas (Hrsg.): Feartlose Juristen. Judges and prosecutors against Nazi injustice . CH Beck, Munich 2017, ISBN 978-3-406-70746-9 , pp. 43-44 .
2. ^ Michael Kißener : Friedrich Bräuninger (1877–1942) District Court Judge in Triberg . S. 45-46 .
3. ^ Quoted from Michael Kißener : Friedrich Bräuninger (1877–1942) District Court Judge in Triberg . S. 49 .
4. ^ Michael Kißener : Friedrich Bräuninger (1877–1942) District Court Judge in Triberg . S. 46-49 .
5. ^ Michael Kißener : Friedrich Bräuninger (1877–1942) District Court Judge in Triberg . S. 50-51 .
6. ^ Michael Kißener : Friedrich Bräuninger (1877–1942) District Court Judge in Triberg . S. 42-43 .
7. ^ Michael Kißener : Friedrich Bräuninger (1877–1942) District Court Judge in Triberg . S. 53 .
8. ^ Michael Kißener : Friedrich Bräuninger (1877–1942) District Court Judge in Triberg . S. 45 .