[CONSTITUTION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY]: ADENAUER KONRAD (1876-1967) German statesman who

[CONSTITUTION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY]: ADENAUER KONRAD (1876-1967) German statesman who

‘Ladies and gentlemen! We wish God to bless this people and this work

 for the blessing of Europe and the blessing of peace in the world!’

 

 

[CONSTITUTION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY]: ADENAUER KONRAD (1876-1967) German statesman who served as the first Chancellor of West Germany (officially the Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany) from 1949-63. An historically important group of printed documents concerning the introduction of the West German constitution following the end of World War II, and other related items, two signed by Adenauer, all relating to the Grundgesetz fur die Bundesrepublik Deutschland ('Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany', i.e. the West German Constitution), comprising -

 

(i) printed 4to copy of the Entwurf des Grundgesetzes ('Draft of the Basic Law') in the version of the second reading of the Parliamentary Council, published by the Bonn University printers as Parliamentary Council paper number 883, 8^th May 1949, comprising 38 pages, in German, and consisting of 146 numbered articles forming the proposed West German Constitution, containing a series of pencil corrections (most in German, although, curiously, a few in English too) to the margins, in the hand of Rudolf Nadolny, alongside articles 21, 22, 37, 38, 54, 82, 132, 136, 137 and 144.

 

(ii) printed 4to copy of the Grundgesetz fur die Bundesrepublik Deutschland ('Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany') as passed by the Parliamentary Council in Bonn, 8^th May 1949, published by the Bonn University printers, comprising 38 pages, in German, and consisting of 146 numbered articles forming the definitive West German Constitution and reflecting the amendments as noted in the preceding draft copy, the introduction stating, in part, 'Aware of their responsibility before God and mankind, inspired by the will to maintain their national and state unity and to serve world peace as an equal member in a united Europe, the German people in the states of Baden, Bavaria, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Nieder-Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Schleswig-Holstein, Wurttemberg-Baden and Wurttemberg-Hohenzollern, to give state life a new order for a transitional period, passed this Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany by virtue of its constituent power….'.

 

(iii) printed 4to copy of the first edition of the Federal Law Gazette, issued in Bonn, 23^rd May 1949, published by the Bonn University printers, comprising 20 pages, in German, and presenting the 146 numbered articles of the West German Constitution (Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany), signed ('Adenauer') by Konrad Adenauer in bold fountain pen ink with his name alone at the conclusion.

 

(iv) a folio presentation album containing thirty original unsigned photographs (most approximately 9 x 7, a few smaller) documenting the work of the Parliamentary Council in preparing and approving the West German Constitution at Bonn in 1949, the images depicting the members of the committee working together at tables in a large hall, various members of the press seated at tables, a press conference, four female parliamentary councillors engaged in discussion, various committee members working in their offices, a secretary working at a telex machine, committee members taking a lunch break, relaxing over a game of cards, committee members casting their votes in a secret ballot, the counting of the votes, and the announcement of the result by Konrad Adenauer, and the closing session showing Adenauer delivering his proclamation of the constitution on 23^rd May 1949. The majority of the photographs are by Hehmke-Winterer of Dusseldorf and bear their blind embossed credit stamp, and the majority of the pages have brief printed German captions and tissue guards. One of the final pages, featuring a photograph of Adenauer standing at a lectern, is signed ('Adenauer') by the soon-to-be elected Chancellor in the margin, and on the facing page appears a printed 8vo menu card for a dinner at the La Redoute restaurant in Bad Godesberg, Bonn, on 24^th May 1949, signed by four individuals including Adenauer, and dated 24^th May 1949 in his hand. The menu has been affixed to the page with clear sellotape across each of the signatures. A printed oblong 12mo label is pasted to the inside cover indicating that the album was presented by the State Government of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in May 1949, and bears two unidentified signatures.

 

(v) an original mimeograph typed copy of Adenauer's speech given on the occasion of the proclamation of the West German constitution in Bonn on 23^rd May 1949, six pages, 4to, in German, commencing 'Ladies and Gentlemen! I ask you, in view of the importance of the work that we have just completed, after the minutes of excitement, to look together for a few moments now, so that we can take stock of what has happened and where we are. First of all, I would like you to be able to state, so that the public outside does not get the wrong impression, that of the thirteen representatives of Bavaria in the Parliamentary Council, seven have approved the constitution, i.e. the majority. And I think one can hope that there will also be a majority in the Bavarian state parliament when this Basic Law is presented to the state parliaments in the near future. Ladies and Gentlemen! It's probably true and I don't think any of those who justified their no-vote will deny it - for us Germans this is the first happy day since 1933. We want to start counting from then on and not just from the collapse. Difficult as the years of collapse were, the years 1933-1945, which saw us in terrible bondage, must not be erased from our memories. The time that lies behind us was difficult and we are only slowly beginning to take a look and take a step towards a better future. Let me begin by thanking the foreign ministers of the three Western powers, who, I would like to remind you once again, have made our cause their concern from Washington. Let me also take this opportunity to thank the military governors who, after all, looked after our interests with great care and benevolence not only in form but also in their inner conviction. Let me also thank the members of the liaison staffs here in Bonn who have always been available with their advice in a distinguished and, one could almost say, friendly manner. Ladies and gentlemen! In the three Western zones, now that economic consolidation has started, we have also made good progress in political consolidation. In my opinion, one should not always and exclusively look at the goal that has not yet been reached…….' And concluding 'We have completed most of the work on the tasks that had been set for the Parliamentary Council, we have completed them, even if there was a discord here and there, but supported by a feeling of love and obligation to the German people. Ladies and gentlemen! We wish God to bless this people and this work for the blessing of Europe and the blessing of peace in the world!'

 

 

(vi) Rudolf Nadolny (1873-1953) Prussian military intelligence officer under German Foreign Office cover who served as the German Ambassador to Turkey 1924-33 and the Soviet Union 1933-34 and was also head of the German delegation at the World Disarmament Conference 1932-33. Nadolny sought to pursue close relations between the Weimar Republic and the Soviet Union. T.L.S., Nadolny, one page, oblong 8vo, Rhondorf bei Honnef, 13^th August 1949, to Mr. [Gerard] Ball, in German. Nadolny writes to make a request of his correspondent, explaining that he had been visited the day before by two Englishmen and two Germans who inspected the whole of his house and surveyed the rooms with, he believes, the intention of confiscating it for use by the English authorities, and asking that he and his wife be allowed to stay in the apartment in consideration of their ages and that they had recently carried out some repairs at considerable expense.

 

(vii) Rudolf Nadolny - a second T.L.S., Nadolny, one page, 4to, Rhondorf bei Honnef, 22^nd January 1950, to Gerard Ball, in German. Nadolny states that it is a pity he has not seen his correspondent for so long, but is aware that he has been working deliriously, continuing 'I should like to send a copy of the attached booklet (no longer present) which I offer to you, to the well known Mr. Sandys, Winston Churchill's son-in-law, but do not know his address. Could you tell me how to send it to him? The accompanying book will show how a peace with Germany could look according to the rules of national law. It has been written for the case that all four occupying forces together conclude such a peace. If, however, the Western Allies wanted to include Germany in a West-European combination, I thought that this could only be done on the basis of full equality'.

 

An exceptional and rare grouping of documents, pivotal in the history of Germany in the aftermath of World War II. Some very light coverall age wear, a few minor stains and small tears, generally VG, 7

 

 

In August 1945 the Potsdam Agreement was made between three of the Allies of World War II, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union, and resulted in the military occupation and reconstruction of Germany. Subsequently the country was divided into four occupation zones, a French Zone in the far west, a British Zone in the northwest, an American Zone in the south, and a Soviet Zone in the East. Berlin was separately divided into four zones. These divisions were not intended to dismember Germany, only to designate zones of administration.

 

Between 1946 and 1949, three of the occupation zones began to merge. First, the British and American zones were combined into the quasi-state of Bizonia. Soon afterwards, the French zone was included into Trizonia. Conversely, the Soviet zone became East Germany. In 1949 with the continuation and aggravation of the Cold War the two German states that were originated in the Western Allied and the Soviet Zones became known internationally as West Germany and East Germany.

 

Rudolf Nadolny's participation in the political negotiations at this time appear to have largely been carried out in secret. Having lived in the Soviet Zone, Nadolny was initially viewed with some suspicion by politicians in the West and according to newspaper reports he was 'used in the past by the Soviet Military Administration for compromise offers to the West'. Nevertheless, Nadolny was guest of honour at a secret conference organised by Andreas Hermes and attended by a number of prominent politicians, industrial and economic leaders, all close friends and co-leaders in Adenauer's Christian Democratic Union. Nadolny informed the gathering that Germany's chief interest lay in an early withdrawal of all the occupation forces. In his view Germany, if then unified and 'neutralised', could resume its former place in the European economy and play an important role as mediator between East and West.

 

The Parliamentary Council agreed that a basic law should be drafted under the presidency of the CDU politician Konrad Adenauer, which should act as a constitution. As early as August 1948 experts had produced a draft of the basic law in a constitutional convention. The Parliamentary Council added the essential details. First and foremost, the immediate validity of all basic rights was ensured, as well as the guarantee of recourse to the courts.

 

The West German Constitution was approved in Bonn on 8^th May 1949 and came into effect on 23^rd May after having been approved by the occupying Western Allies of World War II on 12^th May.

 

It would be over fifty years later, in 1990, that West Germany and East Germany jointly signed the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (the 'Two-plus-Four Agreement') by which transitional status of Germany following World War II was definitively ended and the Four Allied powers relinquished their joint residual sovereign authority for Germany.