Thomas Carstens

Thomas Carstens (born March 16, 1881 in Gribbohm ; † February 15, 1926 there ) was a German politician of the Schleswig-Holstein State Party , officer , lodge master of the Hamburg Freemason Lodge and large Holstein landowner .

Life and work

Carstens came from an old Holstein family from Gribbohm in the Steinburg district, where they had owned a farm since the 17th century. After attending the Kaiser Karl School in Itzehoe , Carstens, who was a Protestant , began studying agriculture. He was married to Katharina, née Hebbeln.

At the beginning of the 20th century he took over the Gribbohm estate from his father. Thanks to good management, this rose to become one of the largest large bourgeois estates in Schleswig-Holstein. After a fire in 1906 that destroyed all of the farm buildings on the estate, Carstens rebuilt the estate in a more stately form. The manor house still shapes the image of the village of Gribbohm today . In the First World War Carstens fought, most recently as captain of the Imperial Automobile Corps . For his achievements he was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross and the Hanseatic Cross of the City of Hamburg.

In his private life he was involved in the further development of agricultural technology, in the Chamber of Agriculture and as lodge master of the Great Lodge of Hamburg .

Carstens died on February 15, 1926, leaving his wife as main heir to more than 250 hectares of land, later his son Hinrich Carstens took over the family estate.

Party founder and MP

During the German Empire Carstens was initially the royal head of office and from 1913 he was also a member of the state of the landowners in the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein .

In the Weimar Republic, Carstens was one of the founders of the Schleswig-Holstein farmers 'and agricultural workers' democracy and the Schleswig-Holstein state party, which saw its origins in the Augustenburg party of the Schleswig-Holstein uprising and was supported earlier by the Carstens family. The party represented Carstens for many years as a member of the district council and a member of the main committee. In his function as a member of parliament, Carstens u. a. jointly responsible for the issuance of emergency money for the district of Rendsburg. He also succeeded in expanding the railway connection and thus more integrating the rural area. In the Weimar Republic he also ran for the Schleswig-Holstein State Party in the election to the Prussian state parliament on February 20, 1920.

At the meeting of March 26, 1926, the members of the Rendsburg district council commemorated Carstens himself and his commitment to Schleswig-Holstein.

Literature and Sources

• Henning Oldekop: Topography of the Duchy of Holstein. Kiel 1908.
• Alexander Ritter: Steinburger yearbooks. Castles, manors, manors and estates. Itzehoe 1984.
• Schleswig-Holstein State Archives: Various primary sources (newspaper articles, minutes of meetings, etc.)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ cf. Trial of September 27, 1880 by the Royal District Court of Schenefeld with further evidence
2. ^ Topography of the Duchy of Holstein. Kiel 1908, p. 43.
3. ↑ Annual report on experiences and progress in the general field of agriculture. Friedrich Vieweg, 1904, p. 122.
4. ^ The Chamber of Agriculture for the Province of Schleswig-Holstein. Career and development in the years 1896-1927. Chr.Donath, Kiel 1928, p. 8.
5. ↑ Hartmut Winkel: Steinburger Yearbook 1985. The Gribbohm estate. P. 85ff.
6. ↑ Addresses of homage to Se. Highness Duke Friedrich VIII of Schleswig-Holstein from the Duchy of Holstein, AF Jensen Schwers, Kiel 1864, p. 24 .; 100 years of the Rendsburg district. A look back at 1867-1967. A. Möller, Rendsburg 1968, pp. 27ff.
7. ^ Prussian statistics. The elections to the Prussian state parliament on February 20, 1920. p. 28.
8. ↑ Minutes of the meeting of the district assembly from March 26, 1926. Landesarchiv No. 320 and 28, district sheet from March 1926.