Andreas Hermes

Andreas Hermes on a 2003 German postage stamp

Andreas Hermes (18 July 1878, Cologne – 4 January 1964) was a German Christian Democratic Union politician, agricultural scientist, Finance Minister of the Weimar Republic, and a member of the resistance to Nazism.

Life

Hermes was born in Cologne on 18 July 1878 to Andreas and Theresia (Schmidt) Hermes. He was raised as a Catholic in Mönchengladbach, and lost his father at the age of 8. Hermes studied agriculture and philosophy at the universities of Bonn, Jena and Berlin, receiving his diploma in 1900. After completing further studies in the area of animal breeding, Hermes received his doctorate in 1905 with a dissertation on the optimisation of crop rotation. Shortly thereafter Hermes began his career with the German Agricultural Society. Hermes continued to work in various scientific and advisory positions in the field of Agriculture both before and during World War I.^[1]

Following the war, Hermes was appointed to the Reich Ministry for Economic Affairs in Berlin. Hermes was named Reich Minister for Food and Agriculture in 1920. The 1920s saw Hermes serving in multiple locations within the government: Hermes was named Reich Minister for Food and Agriculture in 1920, headed the Reich Ministry of Finance from October 1921 to August 1923, served as a member of the Prussian parliament from 1924 to 1928, and was also a member of the Reichstag from 1928 to 1933, belonging to the Centre Party.^[2] He was president of the Reich Association of German agricultural cooperatives from 1930 to 1933 and President of the Association of German Farmers' Associations, which was renamed the Christian Association of German Farmers' Associations in 1931.

Opposition to the Nazis

Hermes openly opposed the Nazis even before the Enabling Act of 1933 and was resultantly arrested on March 21, 1933 on charges of corruption. After being released from prison five months later, Hermes found himself without employment. This led to him taking the opportunity in 1936 to head into exile in Bogota, Colombia, where he was able to find work as an agricultural advisor to the Columbian government. Rather than remain separated from his family, Hermes returned to Germany at the outbreak of World War II in 1939. He then developed contacts with Carl Friedrich Goerdeler and the Kreisau Circle and was earmarked to be the Minister of Agriculture had the July 20 plot succeeded.^[3] As the result of his role in the Kreisau Circle, Hermes was arrested on 22 July 1944. As a prisoner Hermes was at one point detained in Ravensbrück, and was often tortured and humiliated. On 11 January 1945, Hermes was sentenced to death by the People's Court. Due to the efforts of his wife his execution was postponed and he survived the war.

Politics

During his time as a member of the Kreisau Circle, Hermes often worked with Wilhelm Elfes on developing a christian political party for the "citizen, peasent, and worker." After the war he was the co-founding chairman of the CDU in Berlin in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany. Facing opposition by the Soviets he moved to Bad Godesberg in December 1945, and joined the CDU in the West. From 1947 to 1948 he was a member of the Economic Council, and chairman of the nutrition committee. From 1948 to 1955 he was the first president of the German Farmers' Association, and remained the president of the German Raiffeisen (Cooperative) until 1961.

Personal life

Hermes married Anna Schaller in 1920, and the two had five children together - three sons and two daughters - in the following years. Two of Andreas and Anna's sons died in World War II, and the third (Peter Hermes) survived only after falling into Russian captivity. Peter would eventually become a German diplomat and served as Secretary of Foreign Affairs from 1975 until 1979. Hermes' Christian faith motivated his political involvement, and he cited his Christian worldview as his main motive for partaking in the July 20 assassination plot. Hermes died on 8 August 1964 in Krälingen.

Further reading

• Morsey, Rudolf (2004). "Andreas Hermes." Christliche Demokraten gegen Hitler: Aus Verfolgung und Widerstand zur Union. Ed. Buchstab, Günter; Kaff, Brigitte; Kleinmann, Hans-Otto. Freiburg, Germany: Herder, 2004. 240-245. Print.

References

1. ^ Morsey, Rudolf (2004). "Andreas Hermes." Christliche Demokraten gegen Hitler: Aus Verfolgung und Widerstand zur Union. Ed. Buchstab, Günter; Kaff, Brigitte; Kleinmann, Hans-Otto. Freiburg, Germany: Herder, 2004. p.240-241. Print.
2. ^ Morsey p.241
3. ^ Morsey p.243

External links

• dmh de Biography of Andreas Hermes

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