Karl Heinrich Lübke(German:[ˈhaɪnʁɪçˈlʏpkə];14 October 1894 – 6 April 1972) was a German politician, who served aspresident of West Germanyfrom 1959 to 1969.
Heinrich Lübke | |
|---|---|
 Lübke in 1959 | |
| President of West Germany | |
| In office 13 September 1959 – 30 June 1969 | |
| Chancellor | Konrad Adenauer Ludwig Erhard Kurt Georg Kiesinger |
| Preceded by | Theodor Heuss |
| Succeeded by | Gustav Heinemann |
| Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Forestry | |
| In office 20 October 1953 – 15 September 1959 | |
| Chancellor | Konrad Adenauer |
| Preceded by | Wilhelm Niklas |
| Succeeded by | Werner Schwarz |
| Member of theBundestag | |
| In office 6 September 1953 – 2 September 1959 | |
| Preceded by | Franz Etzel |
| Succeeded by | Arnold Verhoeven |
| Constituency | Rees–Dinslaken |
| In office 14 August 1949 – 19 November 1950 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency created |
| Succeeded by | Ernst Majonica |
| Constituency | Arnsberg–Soest |
| Minister for Food, Agriculture and Forests of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia | |
| In office 6 January 1947 – 1 January 1953 | |
| Preceded by | Hermann Heukamp |
| Succeeded by | Johannes Peters |
| Member of theLandtag of North Rhine-Westphalia | |
| In office 1946 – 6 March 1954 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Karl Heinrich Lübke 14 October 1894 Enkhausen,Kingdom of Prussia,German Empire |
| Died | 6 April 1972(aged 77) Bonn,West Germany |
| Political party | Centre Party (Zentrumspartei)(1930–1933)Christian Democratic Union(1945–1972) |
| Spouse | |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  German Empire(1914–1918) Weimar Republic(1918) Nazi Germany |
| Branch/service |  Imperial German Army German Army |
| Rank | Captain in the reserve |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
He suffered from deteriorating health towards the end of his career and is known for a series of embarrassing incidents that may have resulted from his health issues. Lübke resigned three months before the scheduled end of his second term amid a scandal as to his involvement with the Nazi regime duringWorld War II.
Early life
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Born inEnkhausen,Westphalia,Lübke had a very humble upbringing. He was the son of a shoemaker and farmer from theSauerland,and was a surveyor by training.[1]He volunteered for service inWorld War Iin August 1914. He completed his basic training first with the Westphalian Foot Artillery Regiment No.7, with which he was then deployed on theEasternandWestern Fronts.In 1916 he was promoted toVizefeldwebel.After a gas attack, he was taken to a field hospital. In 1917 he was promoted tolieutenantand became deputy battery chief in the52nd Reserve Division.He then became an orderly officer and was involved in theBattle of Passchendaele.Before the end of the war he was transferred to the GHQ of theSupreme Army Command.During the war he received theIron Cross1st and 2nd class. He was discharged from military service in December 1918.
Lübke resumed his studies and received an examination as a surveying and cultural engineer in 1921. During his studies in Bonn he joined the student association K.D.St.V. Ascania Bonn in theCartellverband.From 1921 to 1924 he studied economics inMünsterandBerlin.From 1921 to 1922 he was employed by the Westphalia tenants and settlers association in Münster. From October 1922 he was managing director of the Reich Association of Small Agricultural Enterprises (from 1925 also medium-sized enterprises). After 1924 he was also a member of the executive committee of theDeutscher Bund für Bodenreform.In 1926 he became managing director of theDeutsche Bauernschaft.From 1927 he was also the managing director of the Bauernland AG settlement company.
In 1929 Lübke marriedWilhelmine Keuthen(1885–1981) in Berlin-Wilmersdorf.
In 1930 he became a member of theRoman CatholicCentre Party (Zentrumspartei)and in April 1932 was elected as a member of thePrussianParliament.From 1932 to 1933 Lübke was a member of the Prussian state parliament for the German Center Party. He was re-elected in the state elections on March 5, 1933. On May 18, 1933, as in the Reich, the state parliament approved an enabling law for Prussia against the votes of the SPD. After that, it never met again. On October 14, 1933, the representative bodies of the federal states were dissolved and finally repealed without replacement on January 30, 1934.
After the seizure of power by theNational Socialistsin 1933 and the subsequent dissolution of theZentrumspartei,Lübke was accused of misappropriating public funds and imprisoned; after 20 months in prison he was released, when no evidence could be produced to back up the politically motivated charges. It was not until 1937 that he was able to get a senior position with abuilding society(German:Wohnungsbaugesellschaft). In 1939, just before the outbreak ofWorld War II,he moved to a company of building engineers managed by the architectWalter Schlempp.Here he came to the notice ofAlbert Speerand was given responsibility for major building projects, some of which were under the aegis of the Armaments Ministry run by Speer. One of these was the extension of the "Army Research CenterPeenemünde"(Heeresversuchsanstalt Peenemündein German, abbreviated HVP) and the "Air Force Test Centre" (Erprobungsstelle der Luftwaffein German), Peenemünde-West.[1]In February 1945 Lübke was charged by Speer with setting up a "post-war office for planning prefabricated housing" alongside architectRudolf Wolters.
He performed three military exercises in theWehrmachtas a reserve officer and was promoted to first lieutenant in the reserve. In 1942 he was promoted to captain of the reserve.
Post-war political career
editAfter the war, Lübke returned to his career in politics, becoming a member of the West GermanCDU party,being appointed Minister of Agriculture in the state parliament ofNorth Rhine-Westphaliain 1947. In 1953Konrad Adenauerappointed him to his cabinet as Federal Minister of Agriculture inBonn.[1]
Lübke was chosen by Adenauer as a candidate for the largely ceremonial post of president to ensure that Adenauer's political schemes were not disturbed by too strong a personality in this position,[citation needed]which is nominally the highest post in the German state. Lübke defeatedCarlo Schmid,the SPD candidate, andMax Becker,the FDP candidate for the presidency, in the second round of voting in 1959.
On June 29, 1964, at a press conference in Berlin, Prof.Albert Norden,one ofGDR's chief Communist propagandists, alleged that Lübke acted as an informer for the Gestapo (secret police) during the war[2]and at the very least he had been aware of the use of slave labour on his projects; building plans bearing his signature and containingconcentration campbarrack blocks were advanced as evidence of his complicity, but these were dismissed in the West as East German andEastern Blocpropaganda.[1]
On 1 July 1964, he was re-elected by theFourth Federal Convention.The re-election was preceded by a meeting between Lübke andHerbert Wehner(SPD) during a cure in Bad Kissingen, at which both agreed on re-election and spoke out in favor of a grand coalition. Only then did Lübke inform the CDU and was confirmed in office with the votes of both major parties. The State Secretary in the Office of the Federal President,Hans von Herwarth,who had internally opposed a second term in office because of Lübke's state of health, was subsequently replaced and sent to Rome as ambassador. Lübke campaigned for the formation of the Grand Coalition (Kiesinger cabinet).
Lubke stated in Berlin on July 19, 1964, "Our young people must learn more about the devotion and the willingness to sacrifice themselves that marked the men and women who rose against Hitler."[3]
In September, 1966, Lübke's office claimed that the document with his signature on display in Munich was a "forgery" and was Communist inspired. The document contained a directive for the construction of a wartime concentration camp.[4]
The historianTony Judthas observed that Lübke's presidency, like the chancellorship ofKurt Georg Kiesinger,showed the "a glaring contradiction in theBonn Republic's self-image "in view of their previous Nazi allegiances.[5]Lübke's status as a one-time political prisoner under the National Socialists placed him in good stead. Nevertheless, the potential scandal threatened to damage the office of president; on 14 October 1968 Lübke announced that he would resign on 30 June 1969, his resignation taking effect three months before the scheduled end of his term of office.
The former president's health deteriorated. His intention to live inWest Berlinfrom time to time could not be realized, nor could he, with his private library of about 5,000 books, pursue his scientific hobbies incomparative linguisticsandmicrobiology.
Lübke's political friends ignored him, if they did not avoid him. His successor in the presidency,Gustav Heinemann,however, kept in contact with him. Trips toTenerifein the fall of 1969 and at Christmas in 1970 and 1971 brought no improvement in his condition.Arteriosclerosisof the arteries in both his brain and his limbs was becoming increasingly noticeable, leading to seriousspeech disorders,declining physical mobility, and progressivememory loss.In retrospect, it was clear that this disease had started several years earlier and explained many aspects of the West German president's behaviour during his last years in office. In November 1971, the former president visited hisbirthplacein Enkhausen for the last time.
On 30 March 1972, an acutestomach hemorrhagerequired an emergency operation during which it was discovered that he was suffering from a very advanced form ofstomach cancerwhich had alreadyspreadto his brain. After two more hemorrhages, Lübke died on 6 April 1972 at the age of 77 in the West German capital ofBonn.
As a speaker
editLübke was a poor public speaker and was frequently subject to ridicule, especially near the end of his term of office when his age and his failing health started to affect his memory and general cognitive abilities. He frequently forgot where he was (Lübke: "When I talk to you today in...eh... in.." Voice from the crowd shouting: "Helmstedt!"Lübke:"...eh...when I talk to you today in... Helmstedt, then it was following my own will... ", etc.). This was further ridiculed in the German translation ofDanger Mouse,where Penfold is called "Lübke" and is frequently ordered to "shut up" ( "Lübke, Schnauze!" ).
Various other slips are well documented, such as the address inAntananarivo,Madagascar:"My very dear Mr. President, dear Mrs. Tananarive..."[6]His word-for-word translations of German into English (seeLübke English) were also the subject of much mockery.
Tapes from Lübke's speeches were collected by the German satirical magazinePardonand distributed on a best-selling record.[7]
Honours
editNational honour
edit
West Germany:
Grand Cross Special Class (and former Grand Master) of theOrder of Merit of the Federal Republic of West Germany[8][9][10]
Foreign honours
edit
Cameroon:
Grand Cordon of theOrder of Valour[11]
Ethiopia:
Knight of theOrder of Solomon[12][13]
France:
Grand Cross of theOrder of the Legion of Honour[14]
Indonesia:
Star of the Republic of Indonesia,1st Class[15]
Iran:
First Class with Collar of theOrder of Pahlavi[16][17]
Malaysia:
Honorary Recipient of the Most ExaltedOrder of the Crown of the Realm
Philippines:
Grand Collar (Raja) of theOrder of Sikatuna[18][19]
South Korea:
Thailand:
Knight of theOrder of the Rajamitrabhorn[20]
Knight Grand Cordon (Special Class) of theOrder of Chula Chom Klao[9]
United Kingdom:
Honorary Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of the Bath[10][21]
References
edit- ^abcdDie Zeit:"Der Fall Lübke" (The Lübke Case)(2007, in German)
- ^"East German Asserts Lübke Was Informer for Gestapo",New York Times,pg 5, June 30, 1964.
- ^"German Moral Revival Is Urged In Spirit of '44 Anti-Hitler Plot", New York Times, pg 10, July 20, 1964.
- ^Jewish Telegraphic Agencyreport "Allegations of forgery" inThe Australian Jewish Herald(Melbourne, Vic.) on Friday, September 9, 1966.
- ^Judt, Tony (2005).Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945.New York: Penguin. p. 811.ISBN978-0-14-303775-0.
- ^Die Zeit:Lübke und die NegerArchived15 September 2008 at theWayback Machine(2002, in German)
- ^"Some examples".Heinrichluebke.de.Retrieved27 August2017.
- ^"Photographic image: Lübke wearing Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of West Germany, Special Class insignia"(JPG).1.bp.blogspot.Retrieved17 January2019.
- ^ab"Photographic image: Wearing German and Thai orders"(JPG).Commons.wikimedia.org.Retrieved17 January2019.
- ^ab"Wearing German and British orders"(JPG).Cache4.asset-cache.net.Retrieved17 January2019.
- ^"Photographic image: Grand cross of the Order of valour"(JPG).C7.alamy.Retrieved17 January2019.
- ^"Photographic image: receiving Knight Grand Collar of the Order of Solomon"(JPG).4.bp.blogspot.Retrieved17 January2019.
- ^"Photographic image: Lübke wearing Knight Grand Collar of the Order of Solomon"(JPG).1.bp.blogspot.Retrieved17 January2019.
- ^"Photographic image: Grand Cross of the Order of the Legion of Honour presentation"(JPG).Upload.wikimedia.org.Retrieved17 January2019.
- ^"Presiden Soekarno dan Presiden Heinrich Luebke Makan Malam Bersama di Hotel Indonesia, 2 November 1963".
- ^"Photographic image: Knight Grand Cordon with Collar of the Order of Pahlavi"(JPG).Upload.wikimedia.org.Retrieved17 January2019.
- ^"Photographic image: Knight Grand Cordon with Collar of the Order of Pahlavi".Cache3.asset.cache.net.Archived fromthe original(JPG)on 23 December 2015.Retrieved17 January2019.
- ^"Philippine Diplomatic Visits: Philippines ~ West Germany 1963".Philippinediplomaticvisits.blogspot.co.uk.26 April 2011.Retrieved27 August2017.
- ^"Photographic image: Lübke wearing Rajah Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Sikatuna"(JPG).1.bp.blogspot.Retrieved17 January2019.
- ^"Photographic image: Honorary Knight Grand Cordon with Collar of the Order of the Rajamitrabhorn"(JPG).S-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.Retrieved17 January2019.
- ^"Photographic image: Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath"(JPG).C7.alamy.Retrieved17 January2019.
