Hermann Homburg

Hermann Homburg

Hermann Robert Homburg (born March 17, 1874 in Norwood , Adelaide in South Australia , † December 12, 1964 in Dulwich , Adelaide, South Australia) was an Australian lawyer , politician and minister. He was of German descent and lived with his family in the second generation in Australia . Hermann Homburg was subjected to reprisals by Australian authorities in both world wars.

Life

Hermann Homburg was the eldest son of Caroline Magdalene Pauline and Robert Homburg , a lawyer, politician and minister. Hermann Homburg and his family had emigrated from Braunschweig to South Australia in the early 1850s .

He went to school at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide. He then began studying law , graduating from Adelaide University . He then worked in his father's law firm. In 1897 he was admitted to the bar. In the same year, on November 29th, he married Emma Lydia Louisa, née Herring. With her he had a son and two daughters.

Hermann Homburg was involved in the Adelaide Society, he was a member of the Adelaide Liedertafel , in whose reorganization he played a major role after both world wars, and he was president of a cycling club for many years. In February 1929 he traveled to Germany and promoted trade relations between the two countries. There he spoke out in favor of only white people immigrating to Australia; he rejected Asian immigrants. In doing so, he advocated the widespread racist White Australia Policy practiced in Australia at the time .

Deputy, Attorney General, Minister

From 1906 to 1915 and 1927 to 1930 Hermann Homburg was a member of the Lower House of South Australia for the Murray constituency. From 1933 to 1941 he was elected a member of the Legislative Council. From 1909 to 1910, Prime Minister Archibald Peake made Homburg Federal Attorney General and Federal Minister of Justice, and from 1912 to 1915 also Minister of Industry. From 1929 to 1930 he continued his political career as Attorney General and Federal Minister of Justice as well as Minister of Industry in the government under Prime Minister Richard Layton Butler .

First World War

At the beginning of the First World War , Homburg's political career stalled. A war hysteria had arisen in Australia, which was directed against the so-called enemy aliens . For Australia, Germans in Australia were also an opponent of the war. This even though some people of German origin lived there in the second or third generation. Australia as part of the British Commonwealth fought with the Allies. Many people of German origin were interned or had to report to the police continuously. Homburg held a ministerial office in South Australia in 1914. When his office, which he used as minister, was examined shortly after the start of the war, he was not there. Australian Imperial Force soldiers entered his office with rifles and bayonets mounted. He then resigned from his ministerial post in January 1915. Homburg wrote that he was facing a campaign of lies and character assassination. This campaign is because he is not of British descent. Prime Minister Peace regretted his resignation.

In April 1915 Homburg was defeated in the elections and also in 1924. He was only successful in an election in 1927, but lost in 1930.

Between the two world wars, Homberg led the secular German community of Adelaide and devoted himself above all to cultivating German culture. In various publications he was said to have developed more into a German than an Australian-German patriot at that time. He was disappointed when numerous German named places were renamed after 1918. Because, in his opinion, these names documented the share of German immigrants in the development of Australia.

His brother Robert (1875–1948) was also a lawyer and politician. He was from 1912 to 1915 MP for the Burra Burra constituency in the lower house of South Australia. He retired from politics after facing slander.

Second World War

With the rise of Hitler and his abuse of German culture for political purposes, Hermann Homburg did not recognize the dangers hidden behind it. He played it down and advocated the politics of the “german way”. After the start of the Second World War in September 1939, the Australian authorities distrusted him and examined his home and office. On October 25, 1940, the authorities put him in detention. After an objection, he was released from the Australian internment camp in January 1941 and placed under conditions. He was allowed to travel to Melbourne and in February to Ballarat , where he resigned from parliament. After that, he did not stand for another election. On December 18, 1942, he was allowed to return to Adelaide. There he had to report to the police three times a week until the end of the war. He worked as a lawyer until his death in 1964.

publication

In 1947 Robert Homburg published a book about his experiences in the two world wars with the title South Australian Lutherans and War-Time Rumors .

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c d e f} Ian Harmstorf: Homburg, Hermann Robert (1874–1964) , from 1983, on Australian Dictionary of Biography . Retrieved November 12, 2017
2. ^ H. Homburg , Photograph edition, from 1904. Retrieved November 12, 2017
3. ↑ Mr. Hermann Homburg. A Legal and Musical Family . dated September 21, 1912 on The Mail . Retrieved November 12, 2017
4. ^ The Hon. H. Homburg in Germany. Labor Troubles and other Questions. , dated February 11, 1929, on The Advertiser . Retrieved November 12, 2017