Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F031735-0003, Bonn, Abschiedsempfang Landesvertretung Hamburg

Carlo Schmid (3 December 1896 – 11 December 1979) was a German academic and politician of the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

(SPD). Schmid is one of the most important authors of both the

German Basic Law The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany. The West German Constitution was approved in Bonn on 8 May 1949 and came in ...

and the Godesberg Program of the SPD. He was intimately involved in German-French relations and served as "Federal Minister for the Affairs of the Federal Council and States" from 1966 to 1969.

Biography and profession

Schmid was born in

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...

, France, and lived there for five years before his family moved to Germany. In 1908, the family moved to Stuttgart, where Schmid attended the prestigious humanist , where he passed his

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen yea ...

in 1914. From 1914 to 1918, Schmid fought in the German army. After the war he studied law at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

after which he successfully sat the first (1921) and second (1924) Legal State Exam. In 1923, he completed a doctoral dissertation under the supervision of the renowned legal scholar Hugo Sinzheimer. After working as a lawyer for a short time, he was made a justice of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...

state in 1927. From 1927 to 1928, he worked as a research assistant for the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut for foreign public law. At the Institute, he was a colleague of Hermann Heller. In 1929, Schmid completed his

Habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

with a thesis on the jurisprudence of the

Permanent Court of International Justice The Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, existed from 1922 to 1946. It was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1920 (although the idea of an international court was several cent ...

. From 1930 to 1940 he worked as a

Privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...

at the University of Tübingen. He was refused

tenure Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program disco ...

by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Naz ...

on political grounds. In 1940 he was made legal counsel of the 'Oberfeldkommandantur' of the German occupation forces in

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the No ...

(France). In 1946, he was granted tenure as professor of public law at Tübingen, and in 1953, he relinquished the position for a chair in Political Science at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. Apart from pursuing an academic career, Schmid translated works of

Niccolò Machiavelli Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli ( , , ; 3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527), occasionally rendered in English as Nicholas Machiavel ( , ; see below), was an Italian diplomat, author, philosopher and historian who lived during the Renaissance. ...

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticism inherited fro ...

and

André Malraux Georges André Malraux ( , ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (Man's Fate) (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed by P ...

. His personal archive was placed in the care of the German in Bonn. He worried about

Martin Sandberger Martin Sandberger (17 August 1911 – 30 March 2010) was a German SS functionary during the Nazi era and a convicted Holocaust perpetrator. He commanded Sonderkommando 1a of Einsatzgruppe A, as well as the Sicherheitspolizei and SD in E ...

's conditions in

Landsberg prison Landsberg Prison is a penal facility in the town of Landsberg am Lech in the southwest of the German state of Bavaria, about west-southwest of Munich and south of Augsburg. It is best known as the prison where Adolf Hitler was held in 1924, ...

and spoke out in favor of a commutation. He was awarded the Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellec ...

('). He was also awarded the prestigious

Hanseatic Goethe Prize The Hanseatic Goethe Prize (German: ''Hansischer Goethe-Preis'') was a German literary and artistic award, given biennially from 1949 to 2005 to a figure of European stature. The prize money was €25,000. On the occasion of Goethe's 200th birthda ...

. Schmid died in

Bad Honnef Bad Honnef () is a spa town in Germany near Bonn in the Rhein-Sieg district, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the border of the neighbouring state Rhineland-Palatinate. To the north it lies on the slopes of the Drachenfels (“Dragon's Ro ...

on 11 December 1979 at the age of 83.

SPD

After the war, Schmid joined the SPD and was one of the founders of the reconstituted SPD in Württemberg. He acted as chairman of the SPD in

Württemberg-Hohenzollern Württemberg-Hohenzollern (french: Wurtemberg-Hohenzollern ) was a West German state created in 1945 as part of the French post-World War II occupation zone. Its capital was Tübingen. In 1952, it was merged into the newly founded state of Ba ...

from 1946 to 1950 and was member of the SPD board from 1947 to 1970. He was also a member of the Presidium of the SPD from 1958 to 1970 and acted as a catalyst for party reform, being one of the main authors of the Godesberg Program, which jettisoned most remnants of Marxist doctrine. From 1961 to 1965 he was part of

Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and served as the chancellor of West Ger ...

's shadow cabinet as shadow foreign minister.

Parliamentary activity

In 1947, Schmid was elected as representative in the

Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in no ...

. He was a member of the Landtag until the state ceased to exist upon the creation of the state

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

on 17 May 1952. From 1948 to 1949, Schmid was a member of the

Parlamentarischer Rat The ''Parlamentarischer Rat'' ( German for "Parliamentary Council") was the West German constituent assembly in Bonn that drafted and adopted the constitution of West Germany, the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, promulgated on 23 ...

, acting as leader of the SPD faction and chair of the Chief Committee, playing a pivotal role in the drawing up of the German Basic Law. Arguably, Schmid's most distinctive contribution to the German constitutional system was the "

Constructive Vote of No Confidence The constructive vote of no confidence (german: konstruktives Misstrauensvotum, es, moción de censura constructiva) is a variation on the motion of no confidence that allows a parliament to withdraw confidence from a head of government only if t ...

" which stated that a Chancellor can be removed from office by only the Federal Diet upon the Diet's election of another Chancellor. This type of vote of no confidence is constructive because it prevents the Federal Government from being paralyzed by recurring votes of no confidence as occurred in the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

. From 1949 to 1972, he was a member of the Federal Diet. He was active in a variety of Diet committees, the most notable of which was the Foreign Affairs Committee. He also served as vice-president of the Federal Diet from 1949 to 1966 and again from 1969 to 1972. He also served as vice-president of the SPD-faction in the Diet. During his entire membership of the Diet he represented the Mannheim I electoral district.

Other public offices

In 1945 the French military authorities nominated Schmid to act as "President of the State Secretariat" for the Land Württemberg-Hohenzollern, which was located in the French Zone of Occupation. Simultaneously, Schmid was put in charge of the Land's educational and cultural policies until the first elections took place in 1947. From then to 1 May 1950, Schmid was Minister of Justice and acting President of the Württemberg-Hohenzollern. He represented Württemberg-Hohenzollern at the German Constitutional Convention were the Basic Law was ratified. Carlo Schmid stood for election for the office of Federal President (Bundespräsident) in 1959 but was defeated by the CDU candidate

Heinrich Lübke Karl Heinrich Lübke (; 14 October 1894 – 6 April 1972) was a German politician, who served as president of West Germany from 1959 to 1969. He suffered from deteriorating health towards the end of his career and is known for a series of emba ...

in the second round of voting. Schmid was Federal Minister for the Affairs of the Federal Council (Bundesrat) and States (Bundesländer) in the cabinet of Chancellor

Kurt Georg Kiesinger Kurt Georg Kiesinger (; 6 April 1904 – 9 March 1988) was a German politician who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1 December 1966 to 21 October 1969. Before he became Chancellor he served as Minister President of Baden-Württember ...

from 1966 to 1969. In this position, he represented the Federal Government in the Bundesrat. Schmid quit the cabinet on 21 October 1969 after the election of 6th Bundestag.

International politics

Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F045405-0021, Frankreich, Staatsbesuch Bundespräsident Scheel

Carlo Schmid, whose mother was from France and who spoke excellent French, was always eager for reconciliation between France and Germany. He was a member of the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up o ...

from 1950 to 1960 as well as from 1969 to 1973. He was President of the Assembly of the

Western European Union The Western European Union (WEU; french: Union de l'Europe occidentale, UEO; german: Westeuropäische Union, WEU) was the international organisation and military alliance that succeeded the Western Union (WU) after the 1954 amendment of the 1948 ...

, a regional defence organisation distinct from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

, from 1963 to 1966, after being vice-president of the Assembly since 1956.

Works

* "Regierung und Parlament", in: Hermann Wandersleb, ''Recht, Staat, Wirtschaft'', vol. 3, Düsseldorf 1951. * "Vier Jahre Erfahrungen mit dem Grundgesetz", in: ''Die Öffentliche Verwaltung,'' 1954, Issue 1, pp. 1–3. * "Die Opposition als Staatseinrichtung", in: ''Der Wähler,'' 1955, Issue 11, pp. 498–506. * "Der Abgeordnete zwischen Partei und Parlament", in: ''Die Neue Gesellschaft,'' 1959, Issue 6, pp. 439–444. * "Der Deutsche Bundestag in der Verfassungswirklichkeit", in: Friedrich Schäfer, ''Finanzwissenschaft und Finanzpolitik'', Festschrift für Erwin Schoettle, Tübingen 1964, pp. 269–284. * (mit Horst Ehmke und Hans Scharoun), ''Festschrift für Adolf Arndt zum 65. Geburtstag'', Frankfurt am Main 1969. * "Der Deutsche Bundestag. Ein Essay", in: ''Der Deutsche Bundestag. Portrait eines Parlaments'', Pfullingen 1974, pp. 12–17. * "Das Fundament unserer staatlichen Ordnung", in: ''Bekenntnis zur Demokratie'', Wiesbaden 1974, pp. 11–20. * "Demokratie - Die Chance, den Staat zu verwirklichen", in: ''Forum Heute'', Mannheim 1975, pp. 319–325. * ''Erinnerungen'' (Reminiscences), Bern 1979.

References

* Theodor Eschenburg,

Theodor Heuss Theodor Heuss (; 31 January 1884 – 12 December 1963) was a German liberal politician who served as the first president of West Germany from 1949 to 1959. His cordial nature – something of a contrast to the stern character of chancellor K ...

, Georg-August Zinn: ''Festgabe für Carlo Schmid zum 65. Geburtstag'', Tübingen 1962. * Petra Weber: ''Carlo Schmid (1896–1979). Eine Biographie''. München 1996 * Petra Weber: ''Carlo Schmid. Demokrat und Europäer''. Mannheim 1996 ("

Kleine Schriften ' is a German phrase ("short writings" or "minor works"; la, Opuscula) often used as a title for a collection of articles and essays written by a single scholar over the course of a career. "Collected Papers" is an English equivalent. These sho ...

des Stadtarchivs Mannheim Nr. 4") * Theo Pirker: ''Die verordnete Demokratie. Grundlagen und Erscheinungen der 'Restauration"'', Berlin (West) 1977, Olle und Wolter Verlag

External links

* http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/biografien/SchmidCarlo/ * http://www.spd.de/servlet/PB/menu/1009538/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20190810155243/http://derhistoriker.de/ ''Speech of Prof. Dr. Carlo Schmid before the Parlamentarischen Rat on 8 September 1949'' (In German) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmid, Carlo 1896 births People from Perpignan 1979 deaths German scholars of constitutional law Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Candidates for President of Germany Federal government ministers of Germany Members of Parlamentarischer Rat Ministers-President in Germany Members of the Landtag of Württemberg Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Western European Union people University of Tübingen alumni University of Tübingen faculty Goethe University Frankfurt faculty Translators of Charles Baudelaire French–German translators Italian–German translators German Army personnel of World War I Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg