Johann Behlen

Johann Behlen (born September 11, 1882 in Hoheliet near Westerstede , † May 18, 1950 in Oldenburg (Oldb) ) was a German teacher and as a state politician of the NSDAP from 1933 to 1934 President of the Oldenburg State Parliament .

Career

Behlen was the son of the small farmer Friedrich Behlen. From 1897 to 1901 he attended the Evangelical Teachers' College in Oldenburg . Since April 10, 1901 he was a secondary teacher in Oberlethe . After his military service (1902–1903) he was employed as a secondary teacher in Halsbek in October 1903 and in 1905 took the second examination to become a main teacher. In May 1906 he became main teacher in Jeddeloh II and in May 1910 in Weserdeich . From October 1911 he was also a teacher at the advanced training school in Berne . When the First World War broke out in 1914, Behlen was initially released, but instead worked for war aid and also gave historical lectures, among other things. From April 1916 to June 1918 he took part in the war, most recently as a company commander in the Oldenburg 91st Infantry Regiment . After the war he taught again at the school in Weserdeich.

Because of the war experience and his right-wing conservative attitude, he went into politics, joined the German People's Party (DVP) and was elected chairman of the Stedingen local group in January 1919 . From 1920 to 1923 and again from March 14, 1924, when he replaced the retired Friedrich Lohse , until 1925 he was a member of the Oldenburg state parliament. Afterwards, Behlen, who was characterized by a certain demeanor and a pronounced self-confidence, first joined the more nationally oriented German National People's Party (DNVP) before finally, after its first major electoral successes, converted to the NSDAP on December 1, 1930. On February 1, 1931, he also joined the National Socialist Teachers' Association (NSLB). From 1932 to 1933, Behlen was again a member of the now majority National Socialist state parliament and, after the state elections, acted as second vice-president from June 16, 1932 under the newly elected NSDAP prime minister Carl Röver . At the first meeting after the start of conformity on May 23, 1933, when the state parliaments were reorganized based on the number of votes in the Reichstag election of March 5, 1933 , Behlen was elected President of the state parliament, which has since become insignificant. He performed this function until the state parliament was dissolved with the law on the rebuilding of the Reich of January 30, 1934.

Although he was an experienced politician and an avid Gau propaganda speaker for the NSDAP in Oldenburg as an experienced politician and with over 1000 speeches, Behlen did not belong to the inner circle of Carl Röver, his deputy Georg Joel , and the other representatives of the state government of the Free State of Oldenburg Julius Pauly and Heinz Spangemacher . After his appointment as head of the district department on December 1, 1934, he did not hold any other politically significant offices. Since November 1, 1933, Behlen has been the rector's post at the girls' school in Oldenburg-Osternburg, and on January 1, 1934, he was confirmed as rector.

Behlen's political career ended with the end of National Socialist rule. In 1945 he was released from school and interned in the Fallingbostel camp . In the course of the denazification he was classified in several proceedings as an “essential promoter of National Socialism” in category III (“less polluted”).

family

Behlen married on April 17, 1906 Margarethe geb. Evers (1887-1953). The marriage produced a son and a daughter.

literature

• Behlen, Johann. In: Hans Friedl u. a. (Ed.): Biographical manual for the history of the state of Oldenburg . Edited on behalf of the Oldenburg landscape. Isensee, Oldenburg 1992, ISBN 3-89442-135-5 , pp. 59-60 ( online ).

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} Beatrix Herlemann , Helga Schatz: Biographical Lexicon of Lower Saxony Parliamentarians 1919–1945 (= publications of the Historical Commission for Lower Saxony and Bremen. Volume 222). Hahnsche Buchhandlung, Hannover 2004, ISBN 3-7752-6022-6 , p. 36.