Higher Regional Court (East) Berlin

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The Kammergericht (East) Berlin was the part of the Berlin Kammergericht that remained in the Soviet sector of Berlin after the Berlin judiciary was divided in 1949 . Its duties were replaced on November 27, 1959 by the GDR Supreme Court and dissolved in 1961.

history

The Kammergericht , based in Berlin, is the oldest German court with uninterrupted activity. It was mentioned in a document for the first time in 1468. With the Courts Constitution Act of 1879, the Chamber Court was assigned the tasks of a higher regional court.

After the Second World War , the court was divided as a result of political disputes. First, after the war, the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal was limited to the urban area of ​​Berlin. At the end of 1945, the Court of Appeal initially had its seat in East Berlin ( regional court building ).

The division of the Court of Appeal began with an affair involving the Vice President of the Berlin Regional Court, Jakob Blasse . This was suspended on November 8, 1948 following accusations of enrichment by the President of the Chamber Court, Georg Strucksberg . While the three western powers supported this position, the Soviet court officer ordered its reinstatement. On the grounds that such an instruction could only be issued jointly by all four powers, the President of the Regional Court Siegfried Loewenthal refused this order on February 4, 1949. After the threat of arrest and with the tacit support of the Western Allies, the President of the Superior Court of Justice Strucksberg moved the Seat of the authority on February 5, 1949 in the Yorckhaus on Fehrbelliner Platz in West Berlin . The vast majority of judges continued their work there. Ten of the eleven Senate Presidents decided to continue working in the Yorckhaus.

Since at the same time the Kammergericht remained in the Soviet sector, the division of the Berlin judiciary was completed. In the eastern part of the city, the Soviets declared Loewenthal and Strucksberg deposed. On February 16, they appointed Hans Freund as the new President of the Supreme Court, which in turn was not recognized in the West.

The Superior Court of (East) Berlin was designated the Supreme Court of Greater Berlin in an ordinance of the “Magistrate of Greater Berlin” (official name of the East Berlin Magistrate) of November 21, 1952 and was thus the first and last instance in criminal matters of paramount importance, deviating from the instance train in the GDR . It remained so until November 27, 1959, when it was replaced by the GDR Supreme Court and dissolved in 1961.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Friedrich Scholz: Berlin and its justice: the history of the chamber court district 1945 to 1980. de Gruyter, 1982, ISBN 3-11-008679-4 .
  2. ^ Ordinance on the constitution of the courts of Greater Berlin of November 21, 1952 (VOBl. I p. 533)
  3. ↑ Ordinance on the adoption of the laws on the election of judges of the district and district courts by the local people's representative bodies and on the amendment and addition to the Courts Constitution Act of November 27, 1959 (VOBl. I p. 813)
  4. ^ Günther Wieland : The punishment of Nazi crimes in East Germany 1945–1990 , in: Christiaan F. Rüter (Ed.): GDR justice and Nazi crimes . Procedure register and volume of documents, Munich 2010, p. 66 ff.