Robert Weismann

Robert Weismann (born June 3, 1869 in Frankfurt am Main ; died February 2, 1942 in New York ) was a German lawyer and Prussian civil servant. He was State Commissioner for 4 years and State Secretary for 9 years in the Prussian State Ministry before he had to emigrate during the Nazi era . Weismann was one of the 33 Germans who were on the National Socialists' first expatriation list drawn up on August 23, 1933 .

Life

Robert Weismann attended high school in Karlsruhe, placed here graduated from high school, and then studied at the universities of Berlin and Heidelberg law . In Berlin he became a member of the Corps Normannia . In 1891 he passed the first state examination. He completed his legal clerkship in Frankfurt am Main and became a Dr. jur. PhD. In 1894 he passed the second state examination and initially worked in Wiesbaden before becoming a public prosecutor in Duisburg in 1903 . In 1908, Weismann moved to the Berlin I district court . In 1910, he was appointed to the public prosecutor's office. Politically, Weismann belonged to the Center Party .

After the November Revolution, Robert Weismann was the first public prosecutor and senior public prosecutor as well as head of the political department of the public prosecutor's office I in Berlin. But when, on March 25, 1920, the Prussian State Commissioner for Public Order Herbert von Berger (1881-1965) was dismissed from office due to failure during the Kapp Putsch , Robert Weismann took over as State Commissioner for the protection of the constitution. This institution was formed in August 1919 by a resolution of the Prussian State Ministry. Their task was to collect and evaluate information to protect the constitutional order in the entire area of ​​the Weimar Republic by means of intelligence services, with the assistance of reports from the 12 intelligence agencies of the provinces. This concerned activities to disrupt public order, economic sabotage and anti-constitutional incitement to the population. The flaw of this authority, however, was from the beginning that it was not a Reich authority, but its tasks were aimed at providing protection of the constitution in all parts of the Weimar Republic. It quickly became apparent that it couldn't work that way. The states were suspicious of Prussia's dominant role and the Reich government criticized the lack of influence of the Reich on the work of the Prussian State Commissioner. As early as the turn of the year 1919/1920, the personal assistant to Reich Minister Matthias Erzberger (1875–1921), Heinrich Hemmer (1886–1942), tried to take steps to expand the state authority into an institution of the Weimar Republic. On February 14, 1920, there was also a cabinet proposal to overcome the state level on the table. That is why Weismann himself urged, just a few days after taking office, in a letter of April 2, 1920, for the Prussian State Commissariat to be converted into a Reich authority. In taking such a step, he signaled a readiness to retire from his office. However, the Reichsrat did not agree to this proposal, but instead founded a separate Reich authority for the protection of the constitution, the Reichskommissariat for Public Order, on April 10, 1920, emphasizing that the Prussian State Commissioner remains responsible for Prussian interests. As Reich Commissioner, Colonel a. D. Hermann Emil Kuenzer (1872–1946) was appointed with immediate effect. Weismann's provisional assignment was soon converted into a regular and he submitted the first reports within these days. These concerned the assessment of the communist movement, the arrest of Max Hoelz (1889-1933) and the security policy assessment of the situation after the Kapp Putsch

Robert Weismann succeeded in quickly and effectively implementing the mandate and the necessary regular reports from the State Commissariat to the Reich government, individual ministries and also the police, despite the persistently difficult political situation. Weekly situation reports were sent to the Reich Chancellery, the State Chancellery of the State of Prussia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and brief information was given by telephone on extraordinary events or perceptions and, if necessary, a written report was sent to the relevant office. The focus of information gathering related primarily to the left-wing movement around the KPD and the USPD, the activities from Soviet Russia, less in the direction of the right-wing forces, since at that time the right-wing movement was still very fragmented. It was not until 1922 that right-wing extremist groups also became a regular item in the weekly situation reports. In addition, Robert Weismann was a topic-related participant in the cabinet meetings and selected chief meetings at the Reich level, where questions of public order or political violence were on the agenda. He took part in the international conferences in London (1921) and Genoa (1922).

But there were repeated attempts to change the current situation, which now existed with two constitutional protection institutions working in parallel. This became clear in cabinet meetings, criticisms of the way of working, open disputes over competence between the RKO and the PrStKom up to personal attacks on the person of Robert Weismann. In particular, the state of Bavaria and increasingly right-wing circles made an appearance with ever more open attacks on Weismann as a person. But there were also several disputes between the two institutions themselves, which ultimately led to such fundamental decisions as in 1921 that Weismann, as Prussian State Commissioner, had to limit himself to the state of Prussia, only to obtain the consent of the RKO for contacts abroad and only in case of danger in default he was allowed to work directly with Reich authorities. The following years were also characterized by further and further restrictions on the powers of the State Commissioner, although the quality of the reporting on such events as the murder of Matthias Erzberger in 1921, the murder of Walter Rathenau in 1922, a planned poison attack on Philipp Scheidemann or the 1923 surveys in Hamburg Halle, the coup attempt in Munich took place with meaningful details on the causes and behind men. But as early as 1923 there were changes in the authority that already indicated the end of the State Commissariat. The official dissolution of the Prussian "State Commissariat for the Protection of Public Order" then took place on April 1, 1924. The areas of responsibility, individual employees and managed sources went to Department IA (Political Police) of the Berlin Police Headquarters, others changed to the Foreign Office's intelligence department. From then on, the police authority in the state of Prussia was responsible for the state security of the intelligence service.

On April 15, 1923, Robert Weismann was appointed acting State Secretary in the Prussian State Ministry. His regular appointment followed a short time later. From 1923 onwards, Weismann was the representative of Prussia at the Reichsrat . In this capacity he took part in the Locarno conference (1925). He was a close advisor to Prime Minister Otto Braun . He valued Weismann as a rich source of information and skilled diplomats. Weismann remained in close contact with the individual Reich governments and with Reich and Land ministers. He also took part in numerous meetings of the Reich Cabinet, the Reich Ministers and the Prussian Government. Contact was also maintained on a private level. Hermann Pünder reported that together with Weismann and Otto Meissner from the Reichspräsidialamt he had formed the “Club of State Secretaries”, a group that stuck together “like bad luck” and met in a relaxed atmosphere in a beer pub to informally clarify difficult problems.

In early 1932, Robert Weismann filed a civil lawsuit against Mosse Verlag Berlin and its general agent Ernst Lachmann-Mosse (1885–1944). The NSDAP used this circumstance and the internal information that became known in the process to initiate a smear campaign against Weismann, some of which included death threats. The personal attacks that took place via the National Socialist media and also against individuals led to Robert Weismann's capitulation in July 1932. In order to get out of the firing line of this smear campaign, he wrote in a letter of July 7, 1932 to Kurt von Schleicher that he would go to Karlsbad for a cure with immediate effect. The desolate political situation within the governments of Heinrich Brüning and Franz von Papen , the dismissal of the Prussian government under Otto Braun in June 1932 and the coup-like action by Franz von Papen, who had himself appointed Reich Commissioner of Prussia , also exacerbated the situation . It is unclear, however, why Franz von Papen thought of Robert Weismann as a possible executive force for the Prussian strike that had already been decided . This refused, among other things because he was not ready, as requested, to dismiss Albert Grzesinski and Wilhelm Abegg from their offices. Since no office was planned for State Secretary Robert Weismann in the new Prussian Commissioners' Government, he had been appointed at short notice as a member of the Reich Disciplinary Court in Leipzig. He remained on leave until October 31, 1932 and, according to his own application, was released into statutory retirement with effect from November 1, 1932.

Shortly after the National Socialist seizure of power in early 1933, Robert Weismann left Germany in March. He was one of the 33 Germans who were on the National Socialists' first expatriation list drawn on August 23, 1933 and published on the 25th . First he emigrated to Czechoslovakia , later he went to the USA via Switzerland and France . As early as August 1933, his German citizenship was revoked. Weismann, who pointed out that he had served four decades “loyalty to Prussia and the Reich” and fought for the “greatness of the fatherland and the restoration of freedom”, felt his honor deeply offended.

family

Robert Weismanns was married to Gertrud Weismann (born 1877). The marriage resulted in 3 children. The eldest daughter was Julia Anne, born on August 28, 1898 in Wiesbaden. The eldest son Diez, born in 1900, and the youngest son Gert, born on June 9, 1903 in Berlin. His daughter Julia became Alfred Kerr's second wife in April 1920 ; Robert Weismann was the grandfather of Michael Kerr and Judith Kerr . The son Diez Weismann (1900–1982) became concertmaster of the chamber orchestra of the station WQXR after emigrating to the USA , the son Gert Whitman (1903–1970) became a banker.

Robert Weismann died on February 2, 1942 in New York.

literature

• Dirk Emunds, From the Protection of the Republic to the Protection of the Constitution? The Reich Commissioner for the Monitoring of Public Order in the Weimar Republic, research reports from the University of Public Administration, Verlag Dr. Kovac Hamburg, 2017,
• Werner Röder, Herbert A. Strauss (Hrsg.): Biographical manual of the German-speaking emigration after 1933. Volume 1: Politics, economy, public life . Munich: Saur, 1980, p. 809
• Ernst Ritter (Ed.), Situation reports of the Reich Commissioner for the Monitoring of Public Order and the News Collection Agencies (1920–1929), Federal Archives Koblenz Stock R 134, Munich 1979,
• Robert Volz: Reich manual of the German society . The handbook of personalities in words and pictures. Volume 2: L-Z. Deutscher Wirtschaftsverlag, Berlin 1931, DNB 453960294 , p. 2009.
• Robert Weismann, biography in Munzinger-Archiv GmbH, Ravensburg, in: http://www.munzinger.de/document/00000002403 ,

Web links

• Robert Weismann in the online version of the Reich Chancellery Edition Files. Weimar Republic

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Michael Hepp (Ed.): The expatriation of German citizens 1933-45 according to the lists published in the Reichsanzeiger . tape 1 : Lists in chronological order. De Gruyter Saur, Munich 1985, ISBN 978-3-11-095062-5 , pp. 3 (reprinted 2010).
2. ↑ Kösener corps lists 1910, 13 , 291
3. ↑ Dirk Emunds, From the Protection of the Republic to the Protection of the Constitution? The Reich Commissioner for the Monitoring of Public Order in the Weimar Republic, research reports from the University of Public Administration, Verlag Dr. Kovac Hamburg, 2017, p. 23 ff
4. ↑ documents the Chancellery to chief meeting of 10 April 1920 in: BArch R 43-I / 2305, p 39
5. ↑ See Weismann's report of April 7, 1920; Minutes of the cabinet meeting of April 8, 1920; Weismann's report of April 17, 1920, in: Files of the Federal Archives / Reich Chancellery http://www.bundesarchiv.de/aktenreichskanzlei/1919-1933/0000/adr/adrsz/kap1_5/para2_81.html
6. ↑ Protocols of the Prussian State Ministry, Volume 11 I. (PDF; 2.7 MB) p. 20
7. ↑ Protocols of the Prussian State Ministry, Volume 12 I. (PDF; 2.3 MB) p. 33
8. ↑ See minutes of the meeting of the Commission of the Prussian State Government on October 27, 1932; Judgment of the State Court in the dispute between Prussia and Reich 1932, letter from Robert Weismann to Kurt von Schleicher of July 7, 1932, meeting of the Prussian Commission Government on July 20, 1932, in: Files of the Federal Archives / Reich Chancellery http://www.bundesarchiv.de /aktenreichskanzlei/1919-1933/0000/adr/adrsz/kap1_5/para2_81.html
9. ^ Albert Grzesinski, Eberhard Kolb: In the struggle for the German republic: memories of a social democrat . 2001, books.google.com
10. ↑ Dieter Gosewinkel: Naturalization and exclude. The nationalization of citizenship from the German Confederation to the Federal Republic of Germany . Göttingen, 2001, p. 379, books.google.com
11. ↑ Lost language in exile . one day , October 16, 2007; Interview with Judith Kerr; Retrieved November 27, 2009
12. ^ Diez Weismann Is Dead at 82; A Concertmaster With WQXR , NYT obituary, Oct. 28, 1982

predecessor	Office	successor
Herbert von Berger (1881–1965)	Prussian State Ministry, State Commissioner for Monitoring Public Order 1920–1923	Office of State Commissioner for Prussia in the Reich Commissioner for Monitoring Public Order