Petersberg Agreement

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The Petersberg near Bonn with the hotel complex located on it
Petersberg - vertical view

The Petersberg Agreement , the official transcript of the agreements between the Allied High Commissioners and the German Chancellor on the Petersberg , was concluded on November 22, 1949 between the West German Federal Government under Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and the Allied High Commissioners . It is named after the Petersberg in the Siebengebirge , the seat of the High Commissioners at the time .

The key points of the agreement were:

  • the cessation of dismantling in some parts of Germany such as Berlin
  • the incorporation of the Federal Republic of Germany into the European Community, e.g. B. by later joining the Council of Europe
  • to gradually resume consular and trade relations with other countries
  • the express promotion of relations with all western states
  • Admission of the Federal Republic of Germany to international organizations
  • the decision of the Federal Government to act according to the principles of freedom, tolerance and humanity and to prevent any resurgence of totalitarian efforts
  • Furthermore, the Federal Government expresses "its serious determination to maintain the demilitarization of the federal territory and to endeavor by all means in its power that the reassembly of armed forces of all kinds is prevented."
  • the acceptance of the international control of the Ruhr area (accession to the Ruhr Statute )
  • the approval of the bilateral agreement on the Marshall Plan
  • antitrust unbundling legislation
  • the partial end of restrictions on shipbuilding

The Petersberg Agreement thus extended the rights of the federal government beyond the occupation statute that had been concluded just a few weeks earlier . It is seen as the first step of the Federal Republic of Germany towards an independent state.

In the debate that took place two days later, on November 24, 1949, in the Bundestag in Bonn , Konrad Adenauer was able to read out a press release from the then DGB leadership, which welcomed joining the Ruhr Union. The SPD- led opposition, however, rejected the "agreement" between Adenauer and the High Commissioners. She saw her goal of socializing the coal and steel industry by cold means by the international Ruhr control , because this question seemed beyond national competence. The Social Democrats were now initially isolated. Adenauer said: "If I had passed a law, the dismantling would have progressed to an unbearable stage for us after about eight weeks before its final resolution." He accused the SPD of irresponsibility, the SPD chairman Kurt Schumacher titled Adenauer as "Federal Chancellor." of the Allies ”. The debate ended in turmoil, as Schumacher seemed to deny the head of government patriotism and the chancellor recalled the nationalist agitation during the Weimar Republic .

Adenauer's policy of integration with the West was made much easier by the image of a stubborn social-democratic opposition that was from then on in the western capitals. Thus, in the debate about the Petersberg Agreement, the roles in Bonn politics were distributed for a long time.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Protocol of the agreement according to the Reuter news agency : Archive of the Present , November 24, 1949 (special edition, p. 208 f., Quote: p. 209).
  2. ↑ Quoted from Der Spiegel, No. 49 of December 1, 1949 .
  3. ↑ Deutschlandfunk, Bert-Oliver Manig: Calendar Sheet: Relaxation of Occupation Law , broadcast on November 22, 2009.

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