Hans-Joachim von Merkatz | |
|---|---|
 Merkatz on a 1961 CDU election poster | |
| German Federal Minister of Justice | |
| In office 1956–1957 | |
| Preceded by | Fritz Neumayer |
| Succeeded by | Fritz Schäffer |
| Member of theBundestag | |
| In office 7 September 1949 – 19 October 1969 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1905-07-07)7 July 1905 |
| Died | 25 February 1982(1982-02-25) (aged 76) |
| Nationality |  Germany |
| Political party | German Party Christian Democratic Union |
| Alma mater | University of Jena |
| Profession | Lawyer, politician |
Hans-Joachim von Merkatz (7 July 1905 – 25 February 1982) was a German politician. He wasFederal Minister of Justice from 1956 to 1957. He was a member of theBundestag from 1949 to 1961. He was a member of theGerman Party before joining theChristian Democrats in 1960.
Merkatz was born atStargard in thePrussianprovince of Pomerania into a family of Prussian officers and functionaries, ennobled in 1797. His father, aHauptmann (Captain) in theImperial German Army, died nearVilnius in 1915, on theEastern Front ofWorld War I. Merkatz received his primary education inWiesbaden (Hesse),Jena andNaumburg (both inThuringia).[1] Initially immatriculated for agriculture, he turned to study law and national economics at theUniversity of Jena from 1928 to 1931.[1][2]
Merkatz received his doctorate at the University of Jena in 1934 and his approbation as a lawyer in 1935. The same year, von Merkatz started lecturing foreign and international law at theKaiser Wilhelm Society inBerlin. In 1938, he became secretary general of both theIbero-American Institute[1][2] and the German-Spanish Society, both in Berlin. The German-Spanish Society, founded in 1918, was concerned with thepublic relations toSpain. Since theNazi take-over of 1933, the society was increasingly incorporated into theNazi propaganda apparatus, and used to propagate theNew Order ideology.[3]
WhenWorld War II broke out in 1939, he was drafted intoWehrmacht service, but retired in 1941 due to a severe illness. He then continued to work at his post in Berlin, until theSovietRed Army advanced towards Berlin.[1] The final stages of the war had confronted Merkatz with decreasing loyalty to theAxis powers in Spain and seizure ofEastern Germany by the Soviets. He nevertheless remained confident in the final succession of the New Order[4] and in the ability of the German forces to repel and avenge the Soviet forces.[5] During theBattle of Berlin, Merkatz's parents-in-law were killed by Soviet forces inWusterwitz (Brandenburg), and the family fled westward to settle in Hämelschenburg nearEmmerthal (Lower Saxony).[1] The experiences during the final days of the war manifested a strong sense ofanti-Communism in Merkatz's personality.[5]
After the war, Merkatz became an employee at the Academy for Area Planning,Hanover, in 1945. He joined the conservative German Party (DP,Deutsche Partei), and acted as its legal consultant from 1946 to 1949. He was voted into theWest German federal parliament,Bundestag, in 1949, and remained aMember of Parliament until 1961. From 1949 to 1952, he wasSecretary of State in the Federal Ministry for Affairs of the Federal Council (BMBR,Bundesministerium für Angelegenheiten desBundesrates). From 1950 to 1955, he was vicechairman of the DP Bundestagfraction, and its chairman from 1953 to 1955.[6]
From 1951 to 1958, Merkatz was a member of the Consultative Assembly of theCouncil of Europe,[7] and from 1952 to 1958, of theCommon Assembly of theEuropean Coal and Steel Community.[nb 1] From 1952 to 1960, he was a member of the directorate and the party executive committee of the DP. From 1955 to 1961, he was Federal Minister for Affairs of the Federal Council.[8]
Merkatz was appointedFederal Minister of Justice on October 17, 1956, and remained in that office until October 21, 1957.[9] In October 1957, Merkatz was the focus of anEast German propaganda campaign, which portrayed him as a "fascist" and "leading Nazi functionary".[10] The campaign was, however, mounted untimely: due to a re-arrangement of the ruling coalition after the1957 West German federal election in September, Merkatz resigned from his office. He was replaced by former minister for finance,Fritz Schäffer.[10]
In 1960, Merkatz left the German Party to become a member of theChristian Democratic Union (CDU,Christlich Demokratische Union).[11] He was Federal Minister for Expellees, Refugees and War Invalids (Bundesminister für Vertriebene, Flüchtlinge und Kriegsgeschädigte) from 1960 to 1961, and the West German representative in the Executive Council of theUNESCO.[8]
In a Bundestag speech of 1951, Merkatz avowed himself as amonarchist.[5][12] He also upheld his contacts toFranco's Spain and joined theEuropean Documentation and Information Centre (CEDI).[5] President of its German faction, Merkatz was in close personal contact withOtto von Habsburg, president of the CEDI.[13] In 1956, he joined the Central Council of von Habsburg'sInternational Paneuropean Union,[14] and was president of its German faction[13] from 1967 to 1979.[8] In his own words, von Merkatz's political aim was the "conservative rebirth of the Christian occident",[nb 2] wherebyconservativism was understood by him not as an eligible political concept, but as an integral feature of personality.[15] Merkatz was a founding member of theAbendländische Akademie ("Occidental Academy"), a Christian-conservative circle operating since 1952.[16]
In February 1956, theAbendländische Akademie became subject to a press campaign initiated byDer Spiegel, claiming the academy's activities were in violation of theGerman constitution.[17][18] This resulted in investigation by a parliamentary commission and the eventual decline of the academy.[19] During the affair, Merkatz as one of the academy's leading persons rejected the claims of disobedience to the constitution, but added that because it was rooted in "secular morality", it was "incomplete" for the "conservative mind".[20]
Hans-Joachim von Merkatz died inBonn on February 25, 1982.[1]
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