Wolfgang Mettgenberg

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Wolfgang Mettgenberg during the Nuremberg Trials

Wolfgang Mettgenberg (born October 10, 1882 in Kleve ; † April 7, 1950 in Landsberg ) was a German lawyer. From 1920 he worked in the Reich Ministry of Justice and was considered a capacity in the fields of international law and extradition law . During World War II he led the implementation of the Night and Fog decree and was because of this war crime in the legal process of the Nuremberg Trials sentenced in 1947 to ten years in prison.

Life

Mettgenberg was the son of pastor Karl Mettgenberg (1848–1920). After the father's appointment as consistorial councilor , the Kleve family moved to Koblenz , where Mettgenberg passed the final exams at the Kaiserin-Augusta-Gymnasium in 1902 . He then studied at the Universities of Grenoble , Bonn and Berlin . From 1905 he completed his legal clerkship in Boppard and Koblenz and passed his assessor examination in 1909 . In 1906 he received his doctorate from the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn with a thesis on the "Assassination Clause in German Extradition Law".

From 1909 Mettgenberg worked as a public prosecutor's assistant in Koblenz, Aachen, Cologne and Elberfeld. In 1916 he was appointed public prosecutor and in 1920 he was drafted into the Reich Ministry of Justice . It was founded in 1921 to Senior Government , 1923 Ministerial and 1939 Ministerial finally and for Ministerialdirigenten transported.

Mettgenberg was promoted during National Socialism , although he was not a member of the NSDAP . He headed subdivision III A for non-political individual criminal matters in the Reich Ministry of Justice and in 1938/39 he was special advisor for " treacherous " matters. He also worked in Department II for Criminal Legislation as a key consultant for interstate criminal law and extradition law. In Department IV (criminal justice) he carried out the special task of "occupied territories" during the Second World War . His department included the “Night and Fog” section under Wilhelm von Ammon , which was responsible for implementing the Night and Fog Decree . Mettgenberg and Ammon coordinated in dubious cases and played a key role in drawing up the guidelines.

Because of their involvement in the implementation of this war crime, Mettgenberg and Ammon were indicted in the Nuremberg legal process, where they largely confessed. Both were sentenced to ten years in prison each. The court took into account that Mettgenberg did not hold a high position and was not a member of the NSDAP or SS. However, it attested to him that he had far-reaching powers and far-reaching scope for decision-making. Mettgenberg died in the Landsberg war crimes prison .

Publications

  • The assassination clause in German extradition law. H. Laupp, Tübingen 1906.
  • The extradition agreement of the Central American republics of December 20, 1907. De Gruyter, Berlin 1908.
  • Joseph Gorres. A contribution to the history of extradition law. In: Journal for international private and public law; 18. 1908.
  • The reciprocity in German extradition law. In: Archives for Public Law; 25th 1909.
  • Christian von Massenbach. A contribution to the history of extradition law. In: Journal of International Law; 20th 1910.
  • Georg Friedrich Rebmann. A contribution to the history of extradition law. In: Journal of International Law; 20th 1910.
  • Karl Heinrich Brüggemann. A contribution to the history of extradition law. In: Journal of International Law; 20th 1910.
  • The practice of the German Reich Court in extradition matters. In: Journal of International Law; 23rd 1913.
  • The legal treaties of the German Reich with explanations in individual issues edited by Wolfgang Mettgenberg and Erich Volkmar. J. Bensheimer, Mannheim 1925.
  • The treaties with Czechoslovakia on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. Bensheimer, Mannheim 1925.
  • A German may not be extradited! (Article 112, Paragraph 3 of the Imperial Constitution). Dümmler, Berlin 1925.
  • The redesign of the German extradition law. A radio lecture. Mohr, Tübingen 1927.
  • Free passage and extraterritoriality. Dümmler, Berlin 1929.
  • (Ed.): German extradition law. J. Bensheimer, Mannheim etc. 1930.
  • German consular jurisdiction. Decker, Berlin 1936.
  • (Ed.): Erwin Bumke on his 65th birthday. v. Decker, Berlin 1939.

literature

  • Ernst Klee : The personal lexicon for the Third Reich - who was what before and after 1945. 2nd edition. Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 405.
  • Lore Maria Peschel-Gutzeit (ed.): The Nuremberg jurists judgment of 1947: historical context and current references. 1st edition. Nomos-Verlag, Baden-Baden 1996, ISBN 3-7890-4528-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Curriculum vitae , in: Wolfgang Mettgenberg: The assassination clause in German extradition law. H. Laupp, Tübingen 1906, p. 57.
  2. ↑ Werner Schubert: Introduction. In: Werner Schubert (Ed.). Minutes of the Great Criminal Trial Commission of the Reich Ministry of Justice (1936–1938). First reading: guiding principles, preliminary proceedings, main proceedings, joint procedural rules (judge, public prosecutor, participants, means of truth research, means of coercion). Legal remedies (general rules, complaint, appeal). Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1991, ISBN 9783110129465 ( Sources on the reform of criminal and criminal procedural law. 3rd section, Nazi period (1933–1939) - Criminal procedural law . Vol. 2, Part 1), pp. IX – XXXI., here p. XXV.
  3. ^ Lothar Gruchmann: Justice in the Third Reich 1933-1940. Adaptation and submission in the Gürtner era. 3rd edition, Oldenbourg, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-486-53833-0 , p. 264.
  4. ↑ Michael P. Hensle: Broadcasting crime . Listening to "enemy broadcasters" under National Socialism. Metropol Verl., Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-936411-05-0 , p. 262.
  5. ↑ a b Kevin Jon Heller : The Nuremberg Military Tribunals and the Origins of International Criminal Law . Oxford UP, Oxford 2011, p. 316.
  6. ↑ Kevin Jon Heller: The Nuremberg Military Tribunals and the Origins of International Criminal Law . Oxford UP, Oxford 2011, p. 286.
personal data
SURNAME Mettgenberg, Wolfgang
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German lawyer
DATE OF BIRTH October 10, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH Kleve
DATE OF DEATH April 7, 1950
Place of death Landsberg