Paul Felisch

Paul Felisch as a student (photograph from 1874)

Paul Ernst Adam Felisch (born December 1, 1855 in Storkow , † December 25, 1933 in Berlin ) was a German judge , admiralty councilor and writer . Felisch was the father-in-law of the communist politician Alexander Schwab and the grandfather of the literary historian Hans Schwab-Felisch . From 1881 Felisch was a magistrate in Carolath . Positions at various local and regional courts in Berlin followed. Felisch was from 1900 to 1921 legal counsel and from 1907 to 1921 department head for justice and supply matters of the Reichsmarinamt . His memoirs give an insight into the mentality of the Prussian civil service in the German Empire .

Childhood, adolescence, studies (1855–1880)

Paul Felisch grew up in Storkow, where his father ran a pharmacy. When Felisch was nine years old, the family moved to Freienwalde on the Oder to enable the boy to attend a grammar school.

In the winter semester of 1871/72, Felisch began studying law at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin , where he attended lectures by Julius Baron , Rudolf Gneist and Albert Friedrich Berner . In the summer semester of 1873, Felisch moved to the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg . Here Felisch joined the student union Leonensia . In Heidelberg, Felisch attended lectures by the legal historian Heinrich Zöpfl . Felisch spent the winter semester 1873/74 in Berlin again, where he completed his state examination in law in January 1875 as an apprentice court trainee.

Felisch wrote in his memoirs that he had already completed a doctorate at the Georg-Wilhelms-Universität Göttingen in March 1875 . Felisch's descriptions show how little formalized the requirements for doctoral candidates could be at the turn of the 20th century at German universities. The day before, Felisch paid the “regular visit” to all the professors, and the “great Jhering ” wished him particularly good luck. During the three-hour rigor , Felisch paid for the five-person examination board at his own expense "all kinds of spirits and other beverages".

Career (1880-1921)

Judge

Felisch reports that in the course of the affair between the married Countess Elisabeth von Hatzfeld and Herbert von Bismarck on April 1, 1881, he was appointed magistrate in Carolath. At that time Elisabeth had announced the divorce from her husband, Karl zu Carolath-Beuthen , in order to marry von Bismarck. From Felisch's memoir it emerges that, as the new magistrate, he should influence the divorce process in favor of Prince Karl zu Carolath-Beuthen:

“Because of this incident… the prince's marriage was divorced. It is characteristic, by the way, that the princess had stipulated in her marriage contract that she would receive an annual payment of - I think I can certainly remember the sum - 10,000 marks even in the event of a divorce because of her own fault. In the Ministry of Justice I was now informed that because of these circumstances they wanted to appoint a judge to Carolath who would emphatically safeguard the judicial interests of the prince, all the more so since the difficult majorat conditions also made a confident demeanor necessary. ... The debate ended with my being referred to the State Secretary, who congratulated me as the new Carolath magistrate. "

On April 1, 1898, Felisch was appointed presiding judge of the first criminal chamber at the Berlin Regional Court.

Imperial Navy

Felisch reports that through the mediation of Paul Herz and Ferdinand Perels, he was proposed to State Secretary and Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz for a position as lecturer in the Reichsmarineamt. In March 1900, Felisch was given leave of absence as a district judge and took over functions as a department head for justice and supply matters and as a legal advisor. In 1907, Felisch was promoted to the head of the Justice and Welfare Department.

On March 16, 1916, Tirpitz resigned as State Secretary of the Naval Office. Tirpitz had previously been heavily criticized in the press, the Reichstag and in military circles for waging the submarine war. Felisch reproduces a confidential conversation on April 1, in which Tirpitz is said to have blamed the Reich Chancellor, Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg , for his resignation:

“The intensified submarine war as the Chancellor is now putting it down is the submarine war that we have always had. ... The Chancellor cannot make up his mind to enforce a firm will, and that is why the neutrals believe that we are weak. In this way, belief in our victory is undermined around the world. If we didn't want to follow the memorandum, we shouldn't have put it into the world. "

On August 2, 1917, there was a mutiny on ships of the Reichsmarine in Wilhelmshaven . A court martial sentenced five of the mutineers to death three days later. As legal advisor to the Reichsmarinamt, Felisch recommended converting the death penalty to imprisonment. Felisch's objections went unheeded: On September 5, the ringleaders Albin Köblis and Max Reichpietsch were shot dead. On August 21, the State Secretary of the Reichsmarinamt, Eduard von Capelle , reported to Reich Chancellor Georg Michaelis that the USPD was allegedly involved in the mutiny. Michaelis proposed a dissolution of the Reichstag. The USPD MPs would then be without immunity and could be charged with high treason. On August 24, Felisch told his superior, Capelle, that the evidence available was insufficient to bring charges against USPD MPs.

The Reichstag , which was dominated by the SPD, had demanded since 1913 that deck officers should be given the rank of officers . In June 1918, Capelle promised the Reichstag to comply with these demands and to form a deck officer corps. The rank reform ended with Capelle's resignation in October 1918: The new State Secretary, Paul Behncke , had no intention of accommodating the Reichstag and commissioned Felisch to examine the rank reform. Felisch decidedly rejected Capelle's plan. There were concerns about the taking of the oath, military law and tax law against equality of deck officers with regular officers.

family

Felisch married Mathilde Kleinschmidt on June 8, 1880, whom he had met through her brother Paul Kleinschmidt. Like Felisch, Paul Kleinschmidt was a member of the Leonensia Association. Felisch and Mathilde had five daughters and a son who committed suicide in 1912.

Felisch's fourth daughter Hildegard married the communist Alexander Schwab in 1914 . Felisch ignores his son-in-law's political activities with the Spartakusbund and the Red Fighters , as does Schwab's work for the social reformation journal Die Form . In his memoirs Felisch writes: "He [Alexander Schwab] is in a secure position here, but is not a civil servant, but only a contractual employee and has a very interesting, but also quite difficult and just as strenuous job."

In 1918 Hildegard gave birth to the later literary historian and journalist Hans Schwab-Felisch . Double names were unusual at the time and required official approval. Felisch writes that he and his parents applied for a double name, otherwise the name Felisch would "expire with me".

Social Commitment

Felisch was a member of the German Association for Poor Care and Charity . In 1897 Felisch wrote The Care for School-Leaving Youth for the German Association . Industrialization and urbanization, according to Felisch, tore up social and family institutions of feudalism . Many young people are exposed to "hardship and ... misery" after attending school. In the cities in particular, this could "result in sinking into criminality." Felisch therefore recommends that the association establish child welfare services for "orphaned and abandoned people". The association should establish a care system, which supports the "foster people" economically and medically and supports them in their personal and professional development.

On January 21, 1896, Felisch took over the chairmanship of the newly founded Association of Voluntary Educational Advisory Board for orphans who left school . Felisch writes that he was an honorary member of the educational council until his death. With the vice chairman of the voluntary educational advisory board , Paul Koehne , Felisch called for the creation of a youth law.

Felisch was also a member of the Berlin Craftsmen's Association , which did educational work for journeymen and workers.

For the German Theater Association Felisch was general counsel and corporate counsel . In 1906, Felisch and Alexander Leander wrote the study The Jurisprudence of the German Stage Arbitration Court for the German Stage Association .

Felisch was also a member of the International Association for Criminology (IKV). Felisch represented the German Reich regional group of the IKV at the 5th general meeting in Heidelberg.

Journalistic activity

Felisch finished his work on the book Reorganization of Human Love in August 1917 . The book discusses which ethical rules the German people should follow after the war . Felisch criticizes what, in his view, is typical of Germany's “all-embracing human love”. Good works should always be made dependent on their usefulness for Germany. "Works of love for Hottentots who do not belong to our protected areas and for other racial ethnic groups" should be avoided. Felisch differentiates between the love of neighbor of the New Testament and the love of people of the 20th century. While the Good Samaritan does a good deed to his neighbor through his own actions, modern human love is characterized above all by financial donations for welfare purposes. Unlike Christian mercy, modern philanthropy should pursue the goal of leading people in need to personal and economic independence in the long term. Associations are best suited to realize social welfare. Therefore, asks Felisch, the state should participate through grants and each individual through donations in the development of welfare-oriented associations. The state must also contribute to promoting welfare through the military, schools, children's homes and youth welfare offices.

Felisch dictated his memoirs to his daughter Erika Hennig from 1932 until shortly before his death in December 1933. Felisch's memoirs are 2015 as memoirs. A career in the empire appeared. The German Maritime Institute describes the memoirs as an important document for understanding the " Wilhelmine zeitgeist [es] and the [er] mentality of the officials at the time." The Preußische Allgemeine Zeitung denies the memoirs a historical added value. Felisch was a "vain braggart" who dealt mainly with "trivialities" in his memoirs.

Fonts

• The care for the school-leaving youth. Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1897.
• The case law of the German stage arbitration court. Kuhz Verlag, Berlin 1906.
• From the history of the Reichsmarinestiftung. Greve, Berlin 1916.
• A German youth law. Mittler Verlag, Berlin 1917.
• Reorganization of philanthropy. Mittler Verlag, Berlin 1918.
• Nature and tasks of youth policy. Bousset, Berlin 1918.
• Foreword to the new youth welfare law. Landgemeinde Verlag, Berlin 1928.
• Commemorative speech for City Councilor Dr. jur. Emil Munsterberg. Held on April 2, 1911 in the ballroom of the Berlin City Hall. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2013 [speech from 1911].
• Life memories. A career in the empire. Eick Verlag, Kiel 2015 [dictated 1932–33].

literature

• Holger H. Herwig : The emperor's elite corps . The naval officers in Wilhelminian Germany (= Werner Jochmann et al. [Hrsg.]: Hamburg contributions to social and contemporary history . Volume 13 ). Hans Christians Verlag, Hamburg 1977, ISBN 3-7672-0514-9 , pp. 138, 155–162 (English: The German naval officer corps. A social and political history. 1890–1918 . Ann Arbor, Mich. 1973. Translated by Karl-Heinz Neubauer, revised and modified German edition).
• Meinolf Nitsch: Private charities in the German Empire . The practical implementation of the bourgeois social reform in Berlin (=  Historical Commission of Berlin [Hrsg.]: Publications of the Historical Commission of Berlin . Volume 98 ). De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1999, ISBN 3-11-016154-0 , p. 177 , urn : nbn: de: 101: 1-2016061923080 (Zugl .: Berlin, Freie Univ., Diss., 1997).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Paul Felisch: Memoirs . A career in the empire. Eick-Verlag, Kiel 2015, ISBN 978-3-9815733-2-9 , pp. 14-45 .
2. ↑ Paul Felisch: Memoirs . A career in the empire. Eick-Verlag, Kiel 2015, ISBN 978-3-9815733-2-9 , pp. 59-60 .
3. ↑ Paul Felisch: Memoirs . A career in the empire. Eick-Verlag, Kiel 2015, ISBN 978-3-9815733-2-9 , pp. 131-132 .
4. ↑ Holger H. Herwig: The emperor's elite corps . The naval officers in Wilhelminian Germany (= Werner Jochmann et al. [Hrsg.]: Hamburg contributions to social and contemporary history . Volume 13 ). Hans Christians Verlag, Hamburg 1977, ISBN 3-7672-0514-9 , pp. 156-162 .
5. ↑ Holger H. Herwig: The emperor's elite corps . Hamburg 1977, p. 138 .
6. ↑ Holger H. Herwig: The emperor's elite corps . Hamburg 1977, p. 155 .
7. ↑ Diethart Kerbs: Schwab, Alexander. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie , Vol. 23 (2007), pp. 770–771.
8. ↑ Paul Felisch: Memoirs . A career in the empire. Eick-Verlag, Kiel 2015, ISBN 978-3-9815733-2-9 , pp. 156 .
9. ↑ Paul Felisch: The care for the school leaving youth. Reported on behalf of the association by Dr. Felisch, district judge in Berlin . In: Writings of the German Association for Poor Care and Charity . tape 33 . Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1897, ISBN 978-3-428-17577-2 , pp. 1, 19 .
10. ↑ Franz Pagel: The voluntary educational advisory board for school-leavers orphans: An attempt to solve the question: What does the German people owe their orphaned children? Oehmigke, Berlin 1896, p. 3 .
11. ↑ Paul Felisch: Memoirs . A career in the empire. Eick-Verlag, Kiel 2015, ISBN 978-3-9815733-2-9 , pp. 79 .
12. ^ Meinolf Nitsch: Private charities in the empire . The practical implementation of the bourgeois social reform in Berlin (=  Historical Commission of Berlin [Hrsg.]: Publications of the Historical Commission of Berlin . Volume 98 ). De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1999, ISBN 3-11-016154-0 , p. 177 , urn : nbn: de: 101: 1-2016061923080 (Zugl .: Berlin, Freie Univ., Diss., 1997).
13. ^ Paul Felisch: A German youth law . Mittler, Berlin 1917.
14. ↑ Paul Felisch: Memoirs . A career in the empire. Eick-Verlag, Kiel 2015, ISBN 978-3-9815733-2-9 , pp. 49-50 .
15. ↑ Landesdenkmalamt Berlin: Craftsmen's Association. In: stadtentwicklung.berlin.de. Retrieved on July 11, 2019 (Obj.-Dok.-Nr .: 09080183). 
16. ^ Paul Felisch, Alexander Leander: The case law of the German stage arbitration court. At the instigation of the German Stage Association and the Cooperative of German Stage Members . Kuhz, Berlin 1906.
17. ↑ * (International Criminological Association.) . In: J. Hörning (Ed.): Heidelberger Akademische Mitteilungen . No. 7 . Universitäts-Buchdruckerei, Heidelberg June 12, 1897, p. 2 ( digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de ).
18. ↑ Paul Felisch: Reorganization of human love . ES Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1918, p. 6-7, 48, 67-68 .
19. ^ Heinrich Walle: Review of Paul Felisch: Memories of life . In: German Maritime Institute (ed.): Marineforum . Mittler-Report-Verlag, Bonn September 2015, p. 56 .
20. ↑ Wolf Oschlies: A boastful story. The memoirs of the naval bureaucrat and secret service agent Paul Felisch. In: Preussische Allgemeine Zeitung. January 9, 2016, accessed May 28, 2019 .