Hans Adam Dorten

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Matthes , Dorten and Smeets
(Jos De Swerts, 1923)

Hans Adam Dorten (born February 10, 1880 in Endenich ; † April 1963 in Nice , France) was a doctor of law in the civil service and a separatist leader in the Rhineland and Hesse-Nassau . In 1919 he became "President" of the " Rhenish Republic " in Wiesbaden , the establishment of which failed after a few days. He continued to be involved in the separatist movement and emigrated to France after a second failed coup in 1923.

Career

As the son of a businessman from Endenich, he went to a grammar school in Bonn after elementary school . This was followed by law studies in Heidelberg , Munich and Bonn . After his studies, Dorten initially worked at the Waldbröl District Court , interrupted by his military service in the 2nd Rhenish Field Artillery Regiment No. 23 in Koblenz . On August 11, 1902, he was sworn in for civil service and after a short time switched to the public prosecutor's office at the Düsseldorf Regional Court . In 1907 he received his doctorate. iur. at the University of Leipzig and from 1912 held a judge's office at the district court of Waldbröl.

His entry into the United States is registered for December 22, 1912 . Accompanied by his wife, he traveled on the ship "Victoria Luise" and registered with the immigration authorities on Ellis Island as a non-immigrant. Cleveland and San Francisco were noted as travel destinations . The entry for the closest relative or friend is "friend: von Herling, Berlin, Salzburgerstrasse 16" .

First World War

From October 1, 1914, Dorten was to become a public prosecutor at District Court III in Berlin. The beginning of the First World War , however, led to his draft on August 3, 1914. On December 2, 1918, he was released from military service and on leave until July 1919. During the war, Dorten served as a captain in General Command 54. He was awarded the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class.

Political activities after the First World War

With the end of the empire and the subsequent changes caused by the November Revolution, Dorten turned to politics. He pursued an anti-socialist and Rhenish-regionalist policy. He financed his activities with his fortune. There he saw a Rhenish Republic as his political goal, initially as part of the German Empire.

Contacts to the Rhenish committees and outstanding center politicians , such as B. Konrad Adenauer , however, did not lead to the results he wanted. He could not achieve a leading position in the separatist movement, not least because Dorten rejected an agreement or cooperation with the SPD and the Reich leadership and called for an economic rapprochement with France .

By collecting notarial powers in the Rhineland, Dorten tried to obtain the approval of the districts and cities and to legitimize his goal. These attempts were only partially successful in parts of the Lower Western Forest. After various setbacks, he found like-minded politicians, including a. the publisher of the Rheinische Volkszeitung in the Rheingau, Franz Geueke . There he held talks with high-ranking French officers such as General Mangin, who encouraged him to found a Rhenish Republic, but called for a solution to the Rhineland from the German Empire . There, however, was only ready to detach the Rhineland from the Prussian state and leave it as part of the German Empire. At the beginning of 1919, Dorten moved to Hildastraße 14 in Wiesbaden . There were frequent discussions and meetings with French military and political companions.

Proclamation of the Rhenish Republic in Wiesbaden

On June 1, 1919, the Rhenish Republic was proclaimed in Wiesbaden and Hans Adam Dorten its "President". Due to massive protests by the population, many associations and the entire city administration, the putschists had to view the coup as a failure after a week. The previously announced support was abandoned by the French occupying power in favor of strict neutrality. As a result, the founders of the Rhenish Republic no longer had the opportunity to assert themselves against the city and its citizens. Massive resistance from the city administration and the population prevented the establishment of the Dorten government. An arrest warrant was issued against Dorten for treason, but it could not be carried out in the occupied territory.

Separatist agitation after the failed coup

On August 26, 1923, Dorten was in Mönchengladbach , where a rally was supposed to take place, but it was forcibly prevented by an angry crowd. Dorten pretended to be an American journalist and escaped.

In 1923, Dorten again played a leading role in a renewed attempt to found a Rhenish Republic . Together with Josef Matthes , with the support of the Rhenish Independence League , he put together a "Provisional Government of the Rhenish Republic" on October 20, 1923 in Koblenz. After differences, he proclaimed a government for the southern Rhineland in Bad Ems in mid-November . This attempted coup also failed due to the lack of support from broad sections of the population and the decline in support from the French military.

Life in France

After the second unsuccessful attempt to establish a Rhine state, he emigrated to France on December 31, 1923 and settled in Nice . From 1927 he worked as a lawyer in Nice and received French citizenship in 1928. In 1937 he wrote his memoirs as a book entitled La Tragédie Rhénane . The work was first published in French in 1945 and finally in 1979 as an annotated edition in German translation.

Fonts

  • La tragédie Rhénane. Paris 1945.
  • The Rhenish tragedy. (La tragédie Rhénane), W. Münch: Translation and epilogue, Bad Kreuznach 1979.

literature

  • Erwin Bischof: Rhenish separatism 1918–1924. Hans Adam Dorten's efforts towards the Rhine state. European University Theses, Series 3; 4, Bern 1969.
  • Heinz Boberach: Hans Adam Dorten . In: Wolfgang Benz (Ed.): Biographisches Lexikon zur Weimarer Republik , Verlag CH Beck , Munich 1988, ISBN 3-406-32988-8 , p. 67.
  • Rudolf Morsey : Rhenish People's Association, 1920–1923 / 24. In: Historical Lexicon of Bavaria (Online)
  • Klaus Reimer: Rhineland Question and Rhineland Movement (1918–1933). A contribution to the history of regionalist aspirations in Germany. (European university publications. Series III, history and its auxiliary sciences, vol. 119), Frankfurt am Main / Bern / Las Vegas 1979, ISBN 3-8204-6550-2 .
  • Martin Schlemmer: "Los von Berlin": the efforts towards the state of the Rhine after the First World War. Rheinisches Archiv vol. 152, Böhlau Verlag , Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 2007, ISBN 3-412-11106-6 .
  • Philipp Bender: A Rhenish Republic? The first attempts at the state of the Rhine in 1918/19 in times of international and constitutional upheaval (Writings on Constitutional History, Vol. 87), Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 2019, ISBN 978-3-428-15746-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Hans Adam Dorten in the online version of the edition files of the Reich Chancellery. Weimar Republic
  2. ↑ Ellis Island - FREE Port of New York Passenger Records Search: Ellis Island Ship Database (only registered users can view the original copy)
  3. ↑ Article: "FACTIONAL CLASH AT MUNCHEN-GLADBACH", Lewiston Evening Journal - Aug 28, 1923 ( Google News Archives Search )
personal data
SURNAME Dorten, Hans Adam
ALTERNATIVE NAMES There, Jean Adam
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German lawyer and separatist leader
DATE OF BIRTH February 10, 1880
PLACE OF BIRTH Endeich
DATE OF DEATH April 1963
Place of death Nice , France