Walther Sommerlath
Walther Sommerlath (born January 22, 1901 in Heidelberg ; † October 21, 1990 there ) was a German businessman. He became famous as the father of Queen Silvia of Sweden .
Life
In the mid-1920s, Sommerlath went to São Paulo in Brazil, where he worked for the steel company Acus Roechling Boulerus do Brasil, a branch of the German steel company Roechling. There he married the Brazilian Alice Soares de Toledo in 1925, with whom he had three sons (* 1929, 1934 and 1941) and the daughter Silvia (* 1943). In 1938 he returned to Germany. From 1939 to 1943, Sommerlath was the owner of the metal goods and equipment factory Walther Sommerlath in Berlin-Kreuzberg . He had taken over the work from a Jewish businessman as part of the forced Aryanization. Sommerlath joined the NSDAP on December 1, 1934 (membership number 3,592,030). His role during the Nazi era preoccupied the European public from 2010 and several TV documentaries on the subject were published. The documentary film "Sanningen om Sommerlath" (The truth about Sommerlath) from 2010 by Johan Åsard, English title "A royal nazi secret", won 1st prize in the "History and Society" category of the international Film & TV Awards in 2012 excellent in New York.
Walther Sommerlath was the father of Queen Silvia of Sweden . In 2012, an investigation report was published by the Swedish National Archives on behalf of the Swedish royal family, which Walther Sommerlath partially exonerated. The journalist Johan Åsard published a book in 2013 under the title "Drottningens hemlighet" (The Queen's Secret), in which he criticized the official version of the investigative report on Walther Sommerlath's Nazi past as whitewashing.
literature
- Johan Åsard: Drottningens hemlighet (The Queen's Secret) . Ordfront, Stockholm 2013, ISBN 978-91-7579-043-5 .
- Erik Norberg: De glömda documents. Advice from Walther Sommerlath and Efim Wechsler. 2012, accessed on February 16, 2017 (Investigation report of the Swedish National Archives. PDF 9.8 MB).
Web links
- Life data at genealogics.org
- New book about the queen. "Silvia took responsibility for herself". Radio Sweden. News in German. October 10, 2013, accessed on February 16, 2017 (interview with Johan Åsard).
- Royal family Sweden : Drottningen from "The glömda documents - consultants from Walther Sommerlath och Efim Wechsler". Retrieved on February 16, 2017 (public statement by Queen Silvia of Sweden in the context of the investigation report published by the Swedish National Archives in 2012).
- Hannes Gamillscheg: Sweden's Queen's Nazi past in need of explanation. Berlin newspaper . October 10, 2013, accessed February 16, 2017 .
- Queen Silvia's father in the twilight. Badische Zeitung . October 11, 2013, accessed February 16, 2017 .
- Gunnar Herrmann: Queen Silvia and her Nazi father . Süddeutsche Zeitung online, November 29, 2010.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sanningen om Sommerlath - del 1 , tv4.se, August 16, 2011.
- ↑ Missing memories of the Swedish Queen Silvia: New documents about the Nazi past of the father , Deutschlandfunk, November 30, 2010.
- ↑ Walther Sommerlath. Dark past , Frankfurter Rundschau , October 10, 2013.
- ↑ a b Ingrid Raagaard: The Secret of the Queen of Sweden. Hamburger Abendblatt . October 17, 2013, accessed February 16, 2017 .
- ↑ Tung guldmedalj till TV4: s Sommerlath-granskning. April 18, 2012, accessed February 16, 2017 .
- ↑ Hannes Gamillscheg: Sweden's Queen's Nazi past in need of explanation. Berlin newspaper . October 10, 2013, accessed February 16, 2017 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sommerlath, Walther |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German businessman and entrepreneur |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 22, 1901 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Heidelberg |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 21, 1990 |
| Place of death | Heidelberg |