Curt Joël | |
|---|---|
| Reich Minister of Justice | |
| In office 5 December 1930 – 30 May 1932 | |
| Chancellor | Heinrich Brüning |
| Preceded by | Johann Viktor Bredt |
| Succeeded by | Franz Gürtner |
| Acting 15 April 1924 – 15 December 1924 | |
| Chancellor | Wilhelm Marx |
| Preceded by | Erich Emminger |
| Succeeded by | Josef Frenken |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1865-01-18)18 January 1865 Greiffenberg,Kingdom of Prussia |
| Died | 15 April 1945(1945-04-15) (aged 80) Berlin,Nazi Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Political party | Independent |
| Occupation | Civil servant, jurist |
Curt Walter Joël (18 January 1865 – 15 April 1945) was a Germanjurist and civil servant. He was the senior civil servant in the Ministry of Justice for much of the 1920s and early 1930s, during theWeimar Republic era. Joël also served as acting Minister of Justice and in 1931/32 was a member ofHeinrich Brüning'ssecond cabinet.
Curt Walter Joël was born on 18 January 1865 atGreiffenberg, Silesia, in what was then theKingdom of Prussia. His father, Hermann (1827–80), was a lawyer and notary there (later atBromberg) and came from a family of Jewish merchants fromDanzig. Curt Joël's mother was Else (née Pollack, 1843–90), also from a family of Jewish merchants. After her husband's death, she married Theodor Römpler in 1883, founder and head physician at the family-owned Sanatorium Görbersdorf (Waldenburg, Silesia). Curt's siblings included Eugen (1863–1911), Dr. med. and after 1902 head of the Sanatorium Görbersdorf, Arthur (b. 1866), textile merchant and manufacturer at New York, and Walter (1867–1947), president of aFinanzgericht (Fiscal Court). His cousinOtto Joel [de] (1856–1916) was founder and long-serving president ofBanca Commerciale Italiana.[1]
Curt Joël married Vally von Dressler (1880-1968) atBreslau in 1899. They had a daughter and a son,Günther Joël [de].[1]
He studied law atJena,Freiburg im Breisgau and Berlin. From 1899, he was a prosecutor atLandgerichte inHanover and Berlin, 1903–06 at theKammergericht and 1906-08 judicial aide at theReichsanwaltschaft [de] atLeipzig. In 1908, he was promoted toGeheimer Regierungsrat andVortragender Rat at theReichsjustizamt (Imperial Ministry of Justice).[1]
At the outbreak ofWorld War I, Joël served asLandwehroffizier at the counterintelligence department of theStellvertretender Generalstab in Berlin. From early 1915 until November 1917, he was aHauptmann (captain), in charge of a department inoccupied Belgium (known as theGeneralgouvernement) and head of the Generalgouvernement'sZentralpolizeistelle (police headquarters). He also remained active in counterintelligence. In 1915, he fought determinedly, but unsuccessfully, against the execution of British citizenEdith Cavell, who had been found guilty of treason.[1]
In October 1917, he became aDirektor at theReichsjustizamt and subsequently was named deputyBundesratsbevollmächtigter of Prussia (representative in theBundesrat). In early 1918, Joël resumed work on a reform of criminal law he had previously worked on in 1908 (early draft) and since 1911 as a member of theGroße Strafrechtskommission. Together with three co-workers he finished the reform draft in 1919.[1]
By then, the Empire had been replaced with a republic but Joël continued to work at theReichsjustizministerium (Ministry of Justice) and in early 1920 becameUnterstaatssekretär (under-secretary) and on 1 April 1920Staatssekretär. During theKapp-Lüttwitz Putsch of March 1920, Joël organised a conference of the ministerial under-secretaries and then went toKapp to deliver their unanimous declaration against the putschists and in favour of the legitimate government.[1]
He competently and loyally served a total of eleven ministers and 15 cabinets, from a variety of political backgrounds. Never a member of any party himself, Joël represented the unpolitical, technocratic civil servant. He worked to keep the ministry free of party politics, which contributed to the high esteem in which the ministry was held by other ministries, state governments and the parliament. During this time he served repeatedly as acting minister of justice, first in thecabinet of chancellor Wilhelm Marx. Joël was particularly close toGustav Radbruch,Kuno von Westarp,Heinrich Brüning andWilhelm Kahl [de].[1]
However, in October 1931, at that point again acting minister since 1930, Joël acceded to Brüning's request to become Minister of Justice in hissecond cabinet. The cabinet resigned in June 1932 and Joël then refused the offer byFranz von Papen to join its successor, since he did not want to be a party to the planned lifting of the legal ban onSturmabteilung andSchutzstaffel, which he had earlier co-signed into law.[1]
Joël died on 15 April 1945 in Berlin.[1]
First Brüning cabinet – 30 March 1930 to 10 October 1931 | ||
|---|---|---|
| .svg) | |
Second Brüning cabinet – 10 October 1931 to 1 June 1932 | ||
|---|---|---|
| | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
 | This article about a German politician is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |
