Rudolf von Campe

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Rudolf Ernst Emil Otto von Campe (born February 10, 1860 in Bückeburg , † June 23, 1939 in Hildesheim ) was a German government official and politician of the German People's Party (DVP) .

From 1917 to 1920 Rudolf von Campe was the district president of the Prussian administrative district of Minden in Westphalia .

Life

Rudolf von Campe was born as a member of the Lower Saxon nobility of the Hildesheim diocese in Bückeburg and in 1879 passed his school leaving certificate there. He then studied six semesters at the universities of Freiburg , Leipzig , Konigsberg and Goettingen jurisprudence . In August 1882 he earned a doctorate in both rights (iuris utriusque) at the University of Göttingen.

At the higher regional court in Celle , he passed the examinations for trainee lawyer and court assessor in March 1887. From 1882 to 1891 he worked at various courts. From 1891 to 1894 von Campe was an assistant judge in Hildesheim . In 1894 he was appointed magistrate at the Northeim District Court . From 1898 to 1916 Rudolf von Campe was employed at the Hildesheim Regional Court, most recently as Regional Court Director. In 1916 he was appointed president of the regional court in Stade .

In May 1917, the Prussian government appointed von Campe as the district president of the administrative district of Minden . During his time as president of the government, von Campe, who is considered to be conservative, and his senior government officials came into conflict with the rising working class, who called for democratic reforms.

Especially during the so-called Kapp Putsch in March 1920, there was a serious confrontation with the representatives of the Minden SPD and the other parties of the Weimar coalition , as they unconditionally supported the Reich government Ebert / Bauer and von Campe refused this support. After the governing parties had called all Minden residents to a general strike on March 13, 1920 and re-established the Minden Workers' Council, Dr. In a communication to the district administrators and mayors in the administrative district, von Campe took the position “that law and order must be ensured under all circumstances and that strikes must be prevented” (quoted from Meynert, p. 118). In a later letter to the editor to the social democratic newspaper “Volkswacht” it was even alleged that Dr. von Campe is said to have told the representatives of the workers' council that he did not know whether the Ebert government was still in existence, so he could not stand behind it either, he was based on the facts (cf. Meynert, p. 120).

With his attitude, von Campe also contradicted an order from the Oberpräsident of the Province of Westphalia, Bernhard Wuermeling , who was his direct superior. President Wuermeling had called on all officials subordinate to him to protect the legitimate government. Dr. Another reason von Campe did not want to show himself to be loyal to the Reich government was that he would support the efforts that led to the general strike, but he sees a "danger of death" in a general strike (cf. Meynert, p. 120).

After the workers 'council intervened directly in the administration of the city of Minden for the first time on March 15 and banned the Mindener Zeitung and the Mindener Tageblatt , the district president tried to get the Minden police to work because the workers' council could not be recognized.

However, the Minden police chief, Mayor Carl Dieckmann (DDP), refused to allow the police to intervene because he had found out about the empowerment of the workers' council through a telegram from the Reich government. Von Campe did not accept this direct authorization either; On March 16, 1920, he went to the High Presidium in Munster to protest against the measures taken by the Workers' Council: “The gentlemen presumed the prior censorship of the press, control of telephone and telegraph traffic, threatened with violence if they were not followed, controlled the food trains and threatened to replace me like the district administrator with violence etc. I was stormed by the audience with requests for protection. ”(quoted from Meynert, p. 125).

The SPD, DDP and USPD then demanded that the upper president replace Campes as president of the government. The conservative circles of Minden officials, pharmacists and doctors even considered a civil counter-strike to support von Campe, but that never happened. It was only when the coup collapsed on March 17, 1920 that District President von Campe was ready to profess his loyalty to the Reich government. However, the public and political pressure was already so strong that on the same day he asked the President to be transferred to temporary retirement. This request was granted on April 9, 1920 and Dr. von Campe was founded by Dr. Paul Hagemeister replaced.

Rudolf von Campe was a Protestant and married. His son Carl von Campe was a member of the Bundestag for the German party from 1950 to 1952 and then German ambassador to Chile.

Political mandates

From 1904 to 1917 von Campe was a member of the Prussian House of Representatives for the National Liberal Party . Because of promotions he had to resign from his seat in 1906, 1910, 1916 and 1917, but was re-elected in the replacement election - except for 1917. In 1919 he ran for the DVP in Celle for the National Assembly. From 1920 to 1932 he was a member of the Prussian state parliament and from 1920 to 1928 he was chairman of the state parliament group of the DVP.

Awards

Rudolf von Campe was holder of the Red Eagle Order IV class , the Prussian Crown Order III. Class , the Iron Cross II. Class and carried the title of Privy Councilor of Justice . He was an honorary doctor of theology from the University of Wroclaw .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mann, Bernhard (edit.): Biographical manual for the Prussian House of Representatives. 1867-1918. Collaboration with Martin Doerry , Cornelia Rauh and Thomas Kühne . Düsseldorf: Droste Verlag, 1988, p. 93 (handbooks on the history of parliamentarism and political parties: vol. 3)

literature

  • Beatrix Herlemann , Helga Schatz: Biographical Lexicon of Lower Saxony Parliamentarians 1919–1945 (= publications of the Historical Commission for Lower Saxony and Bremen. Volume 222). Hahnsche Buchhandlung, Hannover 2004, ISBN 3-7752-6022-6 , p. 74.
  • Dr. Joachim Meynert, Ursula Bender-Wittmann (Ed.) : No journeymen without a fatherland. Contributions to the history of social democracy in Minden. Minden, 1994.
  • Ernst Siemer : 175 years old: A district government in East Westphalia 1816 - 1991, a documentation published by the district president in Detmold, Detmold 1991.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Campe, Rudolf von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Campe, Rudolf Ernst Emil Otto von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German government official and politician (DVP)
DATE OF BIRTH February 10, 1860
PLACE OF BIRTH Buckeburg
DATE OF DEATH June 23, 1939
Place of death Hildesheim