Fritz Neumayer
German Federal Minister of Justice
In office 1953–1956
Preceded by	Thomas Dehler
Succeeded by	Hans-Joachim von Merkatz
Federal Minister of Public Housing
In office 9 March 1952 – 20 October 1953
Preceded by	Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth
Succeeded by	Victor-Emanuel Preusker
Personal details
Born	(1884-07-29)29 July 1884 Kaiserslautern,Germany
Died	12 April 1973(1973-04-12) (aged 88) Munich, Germany
Resting place	Kaiserslautern
Nationality	Germany
Political party	Free Democratic Party (FDP),Freie Volkspartei (FVP)
Alma mater	University of Würzburg
Profession	Lawyer, politician

Fritz Neumayer (29 July 1884 – 12 April 1973) was a German politician. He wasFederal Minister of Building from 1952 to 1953, andFederal Minister of Justice from 1953 to 1956.

Neumayer was born atKaiserslautern,Germany. Both his father and his grandfather were lawyers and liberal members of parliament. Neumayer studied law atWürzburg,Berlin,Leipzig andStrasbourg.^[1] After his graduation in 1911, he practiced law in his native city of Kaiserslautern until 1945, except for the time of military service.^[2]

AfterWorld War II, Neumayer joined the newly founded liberal party of the westernoccupation zones, theFree Democratic Party (FDP). Also in 1945, he became president of the state court in Kaiserslautern. He was elected to the advisory state board of the newly founded state ofRhineland-Palatinate in 1946, and to therespective state parliament in 1947. When Rhineland-Palatinate became a constituent state of theFederal Republic of Germany in 1949, Neumayer was elected to thefederal parliament,^[2] where his primary concern was ensuring the independence of judges from the state.^[1]

After the death of the liberal minister for building,Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth, in 1952, Neumayer led the ministry until the1953 West German federal election. After the election, he becameFederal Minister of Justice, and worked primarily on reforming thecriminal law.^[1] He furthered judicialgender equality with a law of early 1954, though "according to the natural order"^{[nb 1]} granting a husband the right to issue binding decisions for his spouse if the wellbeing of the family was not endangered.^[3]

Neumayer also furthered an extension to theamnesty of 1949, resulting in the amnesty law of 17 July 1954.^[4][5] In Neumayer's words, the law was to "rule off crimes committed directly or collaterally in the context of the conditions of a chaotic time period".^{[nb 2]} Amnestied were people convicted of crimes up tomanslaughter, but notmurder, committed between 1 October 1944 and 31 July 1945 in the assumption of a legitimacy of their action, especially by following orders,^[6] or out of an emergency. The law also provided for the clearance of several such crimes in the official registries.^[7][8]

In 1956, Neumayer together with all other liberal federal ministers left the FDP to join the newly foundedFreie Volkspartei (FVP). In the same year,West German chancellorKonrad Adenauer dismissed him from his office, giving his high age as the reason.^[1]

Neumayer, who was married with four children, spent the later part of his life inMunich. He was Honorary Chairman of thesupervisory board of the Pfaff AG.^[1] He died on April 12, 1973, in Munich,^[2] and was buried in Kaiserslautern.^[1]

• Dittberner, Jürgen (2005)."Kurzbiographien".Die FDP: Geschichte, Personen, Organisation, Perspektiven; eine Einführung (in German). VS Verlag.ISBN 3-531-14050-7.
• Schröm, Oliver; Röpke, Andrea (2002)."Die stillen Helfer und ihre politischen Freunde".Stille Hilfe für braune Kameraden: das geheime Netzwerk der Alt- und Neonazis (in German) (2 ed.). Ch. Links Verlag.ISBN 3-86153-266-2. Retrieved15 July 2009.
• Freudiger, Kerstin (2002)."Rahmenbedingungen für die Verfolgung von NS-Verbrechen".Die juristische Aufarbeitung von NS-Verbrechen (in German). Mohr Siebeck.ISBN 3-16-147687-5. Retrieved15 July 2009.
• Frei, Norbert (1996).Vergangenheitspolitik: die Anfänge der Bundesrepublik und die NS-Vergangenheit (in German) (2 ed.). C.H.Beck.ISBN 3-406-41310-2. Retrieved15 July 2009.
• Bänsch, Dieter (1985).Die Fünfziger Jahre: Beiträge zu Politik und Kultur (in German) (2 ed.). Gunter Narr Verlag.ISBN 3-87808-385-8. Retrieved15 July 2009.

• 1884 births
• 1973 deaths
• People from Kaiserslautern
• People from the Palatinate (region)
• German Protestants
• Members of the Bundestag for the Free Democratic Party (Germany)
• Free People's Party (Germany) politicians
• German Party (1947) politicians
• Justice ministers of Germany
• Members of the Bundestag 1949–1953
• Members of the Bundestag 1953–1957
• Members of the Bundestag for Rhineland-Palatinate
• Members of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate
• Jurists from Rhineland-Palatinate
• Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

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