Martin Sommerfeldt

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Martin Henry Sommerfeldt (born February 5, 1899 in Glücksburg , † April 10, 1969 ) was a German journalist and civil servant.

Life

Sommerfeldt was the son of court preacher Eggert Sommerfeldt in Glücksburg. He attended high school in Flensburg and Lübeck . From 1916 he took part in the First World War as a volunteer . After the war and his participation in the Kapp Putsch , he worked as a journalist for the Reichsbote , and later became editor-in-chief of the Daily Rundschau . On November 11, 1920, Sommerfeldt married Udi von Buch (* August 13, 1899 in Wedendorf; † April 27, 1945 in Potsdam). The marriage was divorced on February 26, 1926.

Even before power was handed over to the National Socialists , he published a popular biography of the Nazi leader and Reichstag President Hermann Göring . That was the decisive factor that on February 17, 1933, Göring brought him to the Prussian State Ministry 's press office, which was then headed by Herbert von Bose . After Göring took over the office of Prussian Prime Minister in April 1933 and Bose moved to the office of Deputy Chancellor Franz von Papen as press officer , Sommerfeldt was appointed the new head of the press office in the Prussian State Ministry. In his capacity as Goering's press officer, he wrote another biography of the Nazi politician in 1933, which had fourteen editions by 1937. In May 1934, Sommerfeldt was released from his position as press officer again, and the management of the press office was now transferred to the head of Göring's staff office, Erich Gritzbach . On July 21, 1934, Sommerfeldt was transferred to temporary retirement and in October 1934 to final retirement. Sommerfeldt volunteered in 1936 for the Wehrmacht, which was under construction.

In the later 1930s, Sommerfeldt was a partner in the publishing house Mittler und Sohn . During the Second World War , Sommerfeldt was a major liaison between the High Command of the Wehrmacht and the Foreign Press Department in the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda . On December 6, 1944, Goebbels ordered Sommerfeldt to be dismissed from the ministry, as the ministry had "made himself very suspicious by a series of phrases and actions bordering on treason".

In the early post-war period, Sommerfeldt made a name for himself with the publication of two volumes of memoirs that deal with his activities and experiences between 1933 and 1945.

Fonts

  • "Goering what occurs to you!" . Mittler, Berlin 1932.
  • Hermann Goering. A picture of life . Mittler, Berlin 1933.
    • In Swedish: Hermann Göring. En Levnadsteckning. 1933.
  • Epilogue to Fanny von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff : Carin Göring. Image of life. Martin Warneck, Berlin 1933 a. ö.
  • Commune! Represented on the basis of the latest official material . Mittler, Berlin 1934.
  • The end of the church dispute . Mittler, Berlin 1935.
  • I was there. The Demon Conspiracy 1933–1939. An eyewitness report . Three sources, Darmstadt 1949.
  • The Wehrmacht High Command announces. An eyewitness report by the OKW's foreign spokesman . West German publishing and printing company, Frankfurt 1952.

literature

  • Willi A. Boelcke (Ed.): War Propaganda 1939–1941. Secret ministerial conferences in the Reich Propaganda Ministry. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1966.
  • Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences: The Protocols of the Prussian State Ministry 1817–1934 / 38. Vol. 12 (April 4, 1925 to May 10, 1938), Teilvol 2, 2004, p. 702.
  • Herrmann AL Degener (Ed.): Who is it? Vol. 10, Berlin 1935, p. 1515.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Willi A. Boelcke (Ed.): War Propaganda 1939–1941. Secret ministerial conferences in the Reich Propaganda Ministry. , 1966, p. 109.
  2. ↑ Elke Fröhlich (ed.): The diaries of Joseph Goebbels. Part II, Vol. 14, Munich 1996, p. 363 (entry from December 6, 1944)
personal data
SURNAME Sommerfeldt, Martin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sommerfeldt, Martin Henry (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German journalist and civil servant
DATE OF BIRTH February 5, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH Glücksburg
DATE OF DEATH April 10, 1969