Heinrich Henkel (politician)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Heinrich Henkel, 1863

Heinrich Ludwig Michael Henkel (born January 9, 1802 in Schmalkalden , † June 26, 1873 in Kassel ) was a German liberal politician. Among other things, he was a member of the Hessian Estates Assembly and the Frankfurt National Assembly .

Life and work

Henkel was the son of the mountain council and high school graduate Johann Ludwig Henkel. He studied law in Marburg between 1817 and 1822 . There he stood out as the spokesman for the fraternity ; In 1819 he became a member of the old fraternity Germania Marburg . From 1823 he practiced as a lawyer in Kirchhain and two years later he became a higher court lawyer in Marburg . Between 1830 and 1834 he was a private lecturer in Marburg. Then he was a senior court attorney in Kassel until 1854. He then practiced again in Marburg, before moving to Kassel before 1860.

politics

Pre-march

In 1830, Henkel went public with a petition “The City of Marburg to the Landtag in Kassel” at the Hessian Constituent Assembly of Estates, in which he made radical constitutional demands. He was a member of the Electoral Hesse Assembly of Estates in 1833, 1845 to 1850 and again from 1862 to 1866 as a member of the Upper Hessian cities.

Henkel was a liberal who was valued for his clever speeches, but who was also hostile and viewed as an "enfant terrible" because of his often unorthodox views. He was also a supporter of the Friends of Light movement . In 1839 he chaired a meeting against the "enemies of light". His political positions did not always agree with the liberal majority opinion. He spoke out in 1833 against the mainly driven by the Liberals Minister indictment against conservative Prime Ludwig Hassenpflug out. In 1847 he also pleaded for a monument in honor of Elector Wilhelm II. However, he was fundamentally opposed to the restorative government policy. In 1846, Henkel was charged with allegedly cheeky reprimands by the state government and his parliamentary mandate was suspended. In 1847 he was acquitted of this charge.

Revolution 1848/49

In March 1848 , Henkel wrote the complaint from citizens of Kassel to the Elector Friedrich Wilhelm . He was a member of the preliminary parliament . He was a member of the Frankfurt National Assembly from May 8, 1848 to July 1, 1848 as a representative of the Kurhessen 4 constituency ( Fritzlar ). He was succeeded by Sylvester Jordan . A second time he belonged to the parliament from March 7, 1849 to May 30, 1849, this time as the successor to Ludwig von Baumbach as a member of the city of Kassel. In both phases he was a member of the Württemberger Hof parliamentary group . He was a member of the Committee on the Priority of Petitions and Motions. Henkel elected Friedrich Wilhelm IV as Emperor of the Germans. In 1848 he was also the editor of the "Kurhessische Volkszeitung". In 1849 he was also a member of the Gotha Assembly and then of the Volkshaus of the Erfurt Union Parliament .

Constitutional conflict and aftermath

During the Hesse constitutional conflict of 1850, Henkel was a member of the permanent standing committee. During this time he wrote, among other things, an open letter to Commander-in-Chief Haynau . He was arrested and brought to trial before the court martial in Kassel for alleged incitement to disobedience and dissatisfaction with the state government. Henkel was 1,852 to imprisonment sentenced of 22 months. He served this in the Spangenberg Fortress until 1853 .

Grave of Heinrich Henkel in the main cemetery in Kassel

Henkel was elected to the city council of Kassel in 1860. However, the state government refused recognition. In 1861 he was co-author of an address to the German Federal Assembly calling for the restoration of the state rights of the Electorate of Hesse, which were reduced after 1850. Because of his expressions of opinion critical of the prince in the context of his legal profession, criminal proceedings were initiated against him in 1864. Because of the end of Kurhessen, he no longer needed to take another fortress detention. In the 1860s he spoke out in favor of German unification under Prussian leadership and therefore also advocated the Prussian annexation of the electorate.

Henkel was the author of numerous legal, political and religious-political publications and pamphlets. In the latter, he sharply attacked the Hessian revival movement and the denominational Lutherans.

In 1873, shortly before his death, he was made an honorary citizen of Kassel. He was also an honorary citizen of Marburg.

literature

  • Helge Dvorak: Biographical Lexicon of the German Burschenschaft. Volume I: Politicians. Sub-Volume 2: F-H. Winter, Heidelberg 1999, ISBN 3-8253-0809-X , pp. 297-298.
  • Ewald Grothe : “Tendency to be insubordinate and to revolt”. Heinrich Henkel and the beginnings of the Hessian liberalism. In: Burghard Dedner (ed.): The Wartburg Festival and the Opposition Movement in Hessen , Marburg: Hitzeroth, 1994 (= Marburg Studies on Literature , 7), pp. 79-107.
  • Ewald Grothe: Henkel, Heinrich . In: Kassel Lexicon . Edited by der Stadt Kassel, Vol. 1, Kassel: euregio Verlag 2009, p. 254.
  • Ewald Grothe: Constitution and Constitutional Conflict. The Electorate of Hesse in the first era Hassenpflug 1830-1837 , Berlin 1996 (= writings on constitutional history , 48), ISBN 3-428-08509-4 .
  • Philipp Losch : Heinrich Henkel (1802-1873) / politician . In: Ingeborg Schnack (Ed.): Life pictures from Kurhessen and Waldeck 1830-1930 . Vol. 2, Marburg: Elwert, 1940 (= publications of the Historical Commission for Hesse and Waldeck , 20.2), pp. 204–207.
  • Hellmut Seier (Ed.): Files and letters from the beginnings of the Hessian constitutional period 1830-1837 , Marburg: Elwert, 1992 (= publications of the Historical Commission for Hesse , 48.4; Prehistory and history of parliamentarism in Hesse , 8), ISBN 3-7708-0993-9 .
  • Hellmut Seier (Hrsg.): Files and submissions from the Electorate of Hesse 1837-1848 , Marburg: Elwert, 1996 (= publications of the Historical Commission for Hesse , 48.6; Prehistory and history of parliamentarism in Hesse , 15), ISBN 3- 7708-1074-0 .
  • Hellmut Seier (Hrsg.): Files and documents on the history of the Electorate of Hesse and the constitution, 1848-1866 , Marburg: Elwert, 1987 (= publications of the Historical Commission for Hesse , 48.2; Prehistory and history of parliamentarism in Hesse , 4), ISBN 3-7708-0866-5 .
  • Karl Wippermann:  Henkel, Heinrich . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 11, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1880, pp. 756-760.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Henkel, Heinrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Henkel, Heinrich Ludwig Michael (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German liberal politician
DATE OF BIRTH January 9, 1802
PLACE OF BIRTH Schmalkalden
DATE OF DEATH June 26, 1873
Place of death kassel