Law to protect the hereditary health of the German people
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Law to protect the hereditary health of the German people |
| Short title: | Marriage Health Act |
| Type: | Law of the Reich Government |
| Scope: | German Empire |
| Legal matter: | Family law |
| Issued on: | October 18, 1935 (RGBl. I p. 1246) |
| Entry into force on: | October 20, 1935 |
| Expiry: |
 Art. 9 Paragraph 2 No. 6 G of August 11, 1961 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 1221 ) G of June 26, 1945
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| Weblink: | Text of the law |
| Please note the note on the applicable legal version. | |
The law to protect the hereditary health of the German people ( Marriage Health Law ) was passed on October 18, 1935 as a supplement to the Nuremberg Race Laws , to which it was not formally a part.
It served the “ eugenic ” aspect of Nazi racism by prohibiting marriages between German nationals under certain conditions and obliging the fiancé to prove to the registrar by means of a certificate from the health department that there was no impediment to marriage before the marriage . Violations of the law led to the nullity of the marriage , and the fraudulent discovery of a prohibited marriage - including abroad - was punished.
A marriage could not be concluded if
- one of the fiancés suffered from a contagious disease which raised the fear of serious damage to the health of the other part or the offspring,
- one of the fiancées was incapacitated or was under temporary guardianship,
- if one of the betrothed, without being incapacitated, suffered from a mental disorder that made the marriage appear undesirable for the national community ,
- one of the fiancés suffered from a hereditary disease within the meaning of the law for the prevention of genetically ill offspring , unless the other fiancé was sterile .
A marriage that opposed an impediment to marriage was not entered in the family register, but the impediment to marriage was noted in the registry office's files.
The legal obligation to submit certificates of marital health to the health department was offset by a lack of suitable doctors for diagnosis and also by the “open rejection of the Marriage Health Act by the population”. The submission of a marriage certificate was therefore not the rule in practice, but was only required if there were justified doubts about the “health” of the spouse.
The law was signed by Adolf Hitler , Rudolf Höß , Nazi Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick and Nazi Justice Minister Franz Gürtner . In the spring of 1936 a comment was published by the Ministerialdirektor Gütt, the Oberregierungsrat Linden and the District Court Councilor Massfeller. Various implementing ordinances and amendments followed by 1941.
On January 1, 1940, it also came into force in the so-called Ostmark .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Law of June 26, 1945 on measures in the field of marriage law, civil status law and inheritance health law, State Law Gazette for the Republic of Austria of June 28, 1945, p. 53
- ^ Anahid S. Rickmann: Rassenpflege im Völkischen Staat: From the relationship of racial hygiene to National Socialist politics , dissertation, Bonn, 2002, p. 157 ff .
- ↑ cf. Section 8 (2) of the Marriage Health Act
- ↑ Anahid S. Rickmann. Racial care in the national state: On the relationship between racial hygiene and National Socialist politics , dissertation, Bonn, 2002, pp. 185f. .
- ^ Arthur Gütt , Herbert Linden , Franz Massfeller : Blood Protection and Marriage Health Act. Law for the protection of German blood and German honor and law for the protection of the hereditary health of the German people together with implementing ordinances and relevant provisions. Munich 1936, p. 23
- ↑ Announcement from the publisher in: Reichsärztekammer (Ed.): Guidelines for termination of pregnancy and infertility for health reasons. Edited by Hans Stadler. J. F. Lehmanns Verlag, Munich 1936, p. 181.
- ^ Arthur Gütt, Herbert Linden, Franz Massfeller: Blood Protection and Marriage Health Act. Law for the protection of German blood and German honor and law for the protection of the hereditary health of the German people together with implementing ordinances and relevant provisions. 1936.
- ^ First ordinance for the implementation of the Marriage Health Act of November 29, 1935, RGBl. I p. 1419
- ↑ Ordinance on the Implementation of the Act to Prevent Hereditary Diseases and the Marriage Health Act of August 31, 1939, RGBl. I p. 1560
- ^ Ordinance on the introduction of the law for the prevention of hereditary offspring and the law for the protection of the hereditary health of the German people in the Ostmark of November 14, 1939, RGBl. I p. 2230
- ^ Second ordinance for the implementation of the Marriage Health Act of October 22, 1941, RGBl. I p. 650
- ^ Ordinance on the introduction of the law for the prevention of hereditary offspring and the law for the protection of the hereditary health of the German people in the Ostmark of November 14, 1939, RGBl. I p. 2230