Karl Jarres | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Jarres in his office, c. 1900 | |
| Vice-Chancellor of Germany | |
| In office 30 November 1923 – 15 December 1924 | |
| Chancellor | Wilhelm Marx |
| Preceded by | Robert Schmidt |
| Succeeded by | Oskar Hergt |
| Reich Minister of the Interior | |
| In office 11 November 1923 – 15 December 1924 | |
| Preceded by | Wilhelm Sollmann |
| Succeeded by | Martin Schiele |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1874-09-21)21 September 1874 |
| Died | 20 October 1951(1951-10-20) (aged 77) |
| Nationality | German |
| Political party | German People's Party (DVP) |
| Other political affiliations | National Liberal Party |
| Spouse | Freya Schüll (1880–1945) |
| Children | Lotte (*1904), Lore (*1911) |
| Residence | Duisburg |
| Alma mater | University of Erlangen |
| Occupation | Lawyer, civil servant, politician, industrialist |
Karl Jarres (21 September 1874 – 20 October 1951) was a German lawyer and politician of theGerman People's Party (Deutsche Volkspartei, or DVP) during theWeimar Republic. From 1923 to 1924, he was the minister of the Interior andvice-chancellor of Germany. Jarres was also the long-serving mayor ofDuisburg from 1914 to 1933. After theNazis deposed him, he started a career in industry.
Karl Jarres was born on 21 September 1874 inRemscheid, in the PrussianRhine Province. His father, Rudolf Jarres (1842–1922) was a merchant. His mother was Maria Jarres (1849–1936), née Busch (daughter of merchant and Remscheid city treasurer Robert Busch). Karl studied law at London, Paris, Bonn and Berlin, and was awarded aDr. jur. in 1897 at theUniversity of Erlangen. After his legal clerkship, Jarres started working in municipal administration. He wasStadtassessor (1901) and thenBeigeordneter (1903) atDüren. In 1907, he becameBeigeordneter atCologne. In 1910, he was elected mayor of Remscheid.[1]
Jarres was married in Düren in 1903, to Freya (1880–1945), née Schüll, daughter of a paper manufacturer. They had two daughters.[1]
In 1911, Jarres becameOberbürgermeister (lord mayor) of Remscheid. After 1914, he was theOberbürgermeister ofDuisburg, located in theRuhr region, a position he held until 1933.[1] As representative for Duisburg, Jarres was a member of the Prussian upper chamber — theHerrenhaus — from 1914 to 1918.[2]
DuringWorld War I Jarres was successful in securing food supplies for the city. During and after theRevolution he opposed the establishment of a far-leftRäteherrschaft (rule byworkers' and soldiers' councils), at the cost of being at times subject to physical violence. He joined theGerman People's Party (DVP) when it was created in 1918 (he was previously a member of theNational Liberal Party) and remained a member until the DVP dissolved in 1933. However, Jarres never played a leading role in the party.[1] From May 1921 to April 1933, Jarres was a member of thePrussian State Council and served as its Second Vice President from May 1921 to January 1924. He was also a deputy in the ProvincialLandtag ofRhine Province from 1920 to 1933.[3] He was also active in theStädtetag.[4]
During theOccupation of the Ruhr in 1923 Jarres was deposed as mayor by the military authorities and served a deportation order by the Belgians. Since he ignored it, a military court sentenced him to two months in prison. After he was released, the Prussian and German governments appointed himVertrauensmann for the occupied territory. He had become known nationwide for his steadfast stance against the occupation. Strongly nationalistic feeling (he was aBurschenschaft member) and a dedication to liberty made him one of the most ardent supporters of theVersackungspolitik (leaving sole responsibility for the Ruhr to the occupiers).[4][1]
On 11 November 1923, Jarres followed the invitation byGustav Stresemann and became Minister of the Interior in the second Stresemann cabinet. He kept that position under ChancellorWilhelm Marx until December 1924. In the first and second Marx cabinets, Jarres was also Vice-Chancellor. After the Ruhr crisis was over, Jarres loyally supported the policies of Stresemann (now Foreign Minister).[1] The second Marx cabinet resigned on 15 December 1924, and was replaced on 15 January 1925 by the first cabinet ofHans Luther.
Again urged by Stresemann, Jarres became the candidate of the DVP in the1925 German Presidential election, the first direct election to the office ofPresident of the Reich (Reichspräsident), followingFriedrich Ebert's death.[1] In the first round of the election he received the largest number of votes with over ten million and hisplurality was at nearly 39%. The next major candidates wereOtto Braun of theSocial Democrats with nearly eight million votes (29%) andWilhelm Marx of theCatholic Center Party with nearly four million votes (14.5%). Jarres withdrew his candidacy in the second round of voting in favor ofPaul von Hindenburg, who would go on to win the closely fought second round of elections against Marx andErnst Thälmann, the candidate of theCommunist Party of Germany (KPD).
Returning from Berlin to Duisburg in 1925, Jarres worked towards a substantial increase in the size of the city in the territorial restructuring of the Ruhr, but achieved only the merger with Hamborn in 1929 (only in 1975 did Duisburg grow to the size he had envisaged). When theGreat Depression hit the city, relying mostly on heavy industry (coal and steel), was severely affected and Jarres could do little to prevent unemployment from rising.[1]
Reelected in 1930, Jarres was deposed as mayor by theNazis on 5 May 1933 and in November formally retired from public life (im Ruhestand). He spent the rest of his career in private industry, as a member of the supervisory board or management board of well-known Duisburg companies such asDemag. As a leading industrialist, he was appointed byMinister PresidentHermann Göring to the newly reconstitutedPrussian State Council on 11 July 1933 and served until the fall of the Nazi regime.[5] After the end of theSecond World War, he was instrumental in the rebuilding of the Ruhr industry. From 1942 to 1951, he was chairman of the supervisory board ofKlöckner,[4][1][2] because he was a close friend ofPeter Klöckner for decades, who died in 1940.
Jarres died on 20 October 1951 at Duisburg.[1]
Second Stresemann cabinet – 6 October 1923 to 23 November 1923 | ||
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First Marx cabinet – 30 November 1923 to 26 May/3 June 1924 | ||
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Second Marx cabinet – 3 June to 15 December 1924 | ||
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