Marburg speech

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Franz von Papen in 1936

The Marburg speech was a speech by Vice Chancellor Franz von Papen at the University of Marburg on June 17, 1934 . This speech is considered to be the last that was given in the National Socialist German Reich at a high level and publicly against the extensive claim to power of National Socialism .

author

The speech was mainly written by the Munich lawyer and writer Edgar Julius Jung , who had been Papen's ghostwriter since 1933 . Papen's press chief Herbert von Bose , who also organized the illegal distribution of the speech in 5000 copies secretly printed in the Germania printing plant, and Papen's adjutant Fritz Günther von Tschirschky also had an influence on the text . The assertion that Erich Klausener contributed to the text is almost certainly inaccurate, probably goes back to publications by German groups of exiles and since then has perished a persistent afterlife as a wandering error.

After 1945, von Papen repeatedly claimed that he was the actual author of the speech and that Jung only collected material for it and made minor stylistic improvements. The later testimonies of Tschirschky and Heinrich Brüning and the young friends Edmund Forschbach and Karl Martin Graß , however, agreed that Jung was the author. Tschirschky even claimed that Papen first saw the speech on the train ride to Marburg. He, Tschirschky, prevented changes to Jung's text by pointing out that copies of the speech had already been sent abroad.

content

The old university , in whose auditorium the speech was given

Encouraged by President Paul von Hindenburg , von Papen spoke out about the excesses of the National Socialists under Adolf Hitler , whom he himself had only brought to power 17 months earlier. The Marburg speech called for an end to intimidating terror, lamented the disappearance of a free press and included a warning of a “permanent revolution”, an “eternal uprising from below” and “talk of the second wave that would complete the revolution” - a warning that clearly referred to the Sturmabteilung of the NSDAP (SA). Papen gave the speech in the auditorium of the Old University for the annual general meeting of the Marburg University Association; he was invited on April 30, 1934, after the preferred speaker had canceled.

In 1936 Konrad Heiden summarized Papen's statements:

“ The situation is serious, he says, the laws have flaws, the people feel the economic hardship, violence and injustice are being practiced, people stop falsely whitewashing! Papen castigated the diversion of dissatisfaction onto 'helpless people'. Nor should one continuously patronize the people. It all went against Goebbels . Doctrinal fanatics would have to fall silent - this one blow against Rosenberg . But the sharpest thing was: false personality cult was un-Prussian. Great men weren't made by propaganda . Byzantinism does not hide this. And now quite sharply: Anyone who speaks of Prussianism should first think of quiet and impersonal service, but only last, preferably not at all, of wages and recognition. A lash against Goering . Almost after every sentence bursts of applause. The speech was spoken to Germany from the heart. [...] The speech exposed the men around Hitler and Hitler himself in front of the whole people. "

- Konrad Heiden

Golo Mann ruled in 1958:

“ The speech, it must be said in honor of the windy man, was good. But the various conservative circles [...] had prepared nothing more than speeches or secret talks. "

- Golo man

Reactions and consequences

Hitler, who was at a Gauleiter conference in Gera , Thuringia , reacted angrily to the speech, and Papen then showed him Hindenburg's congratulatory telegram. Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels prevented the speech from being published and shortly afterwards replied publicly: “Ridiculous tots! Miseries! Subjects run up! The people have not yet forgotten the times when these gentlemen ruled in the club chairs. ”In Germany, the speech could only be printed in the evening edition of the“ Frankfurter Zeitung ”on June 17th. Due to the private prints launched by Bose, however, several thousand copies circulated at home and abroad, which were secretly circulated and copied.

Alan Bullock stated in 1952 that Goebbels had confiscated the Frankfurter Zeitung that had printed the speech, as well as a brochure with the text of the speech. However, since some copies were smuggled out of Germany, the speech was published abroad and caused a great stir there. On June 20, Papen went to see Hitler and demanded that the publication ban on the speech be lifted. He also threatened to resign and that of the other conservative members of the government. When Papen appeared in public on June 24th in Hamburg, he was greeted with loud cheers.

During the internal party purge ( Röhm Putsch ) staged by Hitler two weeks later, Papen stayed in his apartment on Göring's personal advice. His office was ravaged, Jung, Bose, Klausener and many others were murdered. Konrad Heiden on this: “You all suffer a terrible death. Your Führer Papen lives - and continues to serve Hitler ”. He resigned as Vice Chancellor, resigned from the Reich government on August 7, 1934, and was sent by Hitler as envoy to Austria.

Prints

  • Speech by Vice Chancellor von Papen to the University Association, Marburg, on June 17, 1934 , Germania, Berlin 1934, 16 pages octave ( online at LAGIS Hessen ) [PDF; 10.83 MB] original version
  • Speech by Vice Chancellor von Papen to the University Association, Marburg, on June 17, 1934 , in: Edmund Forschbach : Edgar J. Jung. A conservative revolutionary June 30, 1934 , 1984, p. 154 ff. (Complete reprint of the speech in the appendix)

literature

  • Reiner Küpper : The “ghostwriter” of the “Herrenreiters”. The Edgar Julius Jungs discourse and the Marburg speech of June 17, 1934, written for Vice Chancellor Papen: a contribution to the analysis of language in early National Socialism . Food 2010.
  • Rainer Orth : "The Marburg speech as the initial spark for the planned 'coup'", in: Ders .: "The official seat of the opposition?": Politics and state restructuring plans in the office of the Deputy Chancellor in the years 1933–1934 . Böhlau, Cologne 2016, pp. 451–472, ISBN 978-3-412-50555-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stephan M. Buchholz: How Papen went swimming in Marburg , in: Marburger UniJournal , No. 15, April 2003, p. 61 ff. , Abridged version of a lecture given on January 17, 2003; the title refers to the fact that Papen and his companions took a bath in the university swimming pool after the event.
  2. ↑ a b Konrad Heiden : Adolf Hitler. The age of irresponsibility. A biography , Europa-Verlag, Zurich 1936, p. 423.
  3. ^ Golo Mann : German history of the 19th and 20th centuries , S. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1958, 18th edition 1985, ISBN 3-10-347901-8 , p. 834.
  4. ^ Alan Bullock : Hitler. A Study of Tyranny , Volume 1, The Path to Power , Original: Hitler. A Study in Tyrrany , 1952, German edition: Droste Verlag, Düsseldorf 1953, quoted from: Fischer Bücherei, Bücher des Wissens, Volume 583/584, Frankfurt am Main 1964, p. 304.
  5. ^ Konrad Heiden : Adolf Hitler. The age of irresponsibility. A biography , Europa-Verlag, Zurich 1936, p. 447.
  6. ^ Konrad Heiden : Adolf Hitler. The age of irresponsibility. A biography , Europa-Verlag, Zurich 1936, p. 454.