Adolf Arndt (12 March 1904 – 13 February 1974) was a German politician of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SPD) and former member of the German

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

Life

Born in

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

as the son of the

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

professor ''Gustav Adolf Arndt'', he moved to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

very early with his family. There, 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 year ...

at the Gymnasium Philippinum Marburg. Then, Arndt studied

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

and

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

and the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg () is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Prote ...

. After passing his second examination and

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

Marburg Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...

in 1927, he worked as a lawyer in the famous law firm of Prof. Dr. Max Alsberg. Since 1932, he worked as a judge, but retired in 1933, stating he did not want to join the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

. Thus, he joined the law firm of Fritz Schönberg in Berlin, helping (among others)

Wilhelm Leuschner Wilhelm Leuschner (15 June 1890, in Bayreuth, Bavaria – 29 September 1944, in Berlin- Plötzensee) was a trade unionist and Social Democratic politician. An early opponent of Nazism, he organized underground resistance in the labour movement. ...

and

Theodor Leipart Theodor Leipart (17 May 1867 – 23 March 1947) was a leading German trades unionist. Life Provenance and early years Theodor Leipart was born into a Protestant family, the seventh of his parents' twelve recorded children, in Neubrandenburg, ...

. After being classified as half Jewish, Arndt was forced to compulsory labour in the

Organisation Todt Organisation Todt (OT; ) was a Civil engineering, civil and military engineering organisation in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, named for its founder, Fritz Todt, an engineer and senior member of the Nazi Party. The organisation was responsible ...

. In August 1945, Arndt was approved as a lawyer and notary in

. In November 1945, he became Ministerialrat (Head of Division) of

Criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

at the

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

. Arndt was married to Ruth Arndt (1901–1989), born Helbing. His son is

Claus Arndt Claus (sometimes Clas) is both a given name and a German, Danish, and Dutch surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Claus von Amsberg, Prince Claus of the Netherlands, Jonkheer van Amsberg (1926–2002) * Claus-Casimir of Oran ...

, a member of the

from 1968–72 and 1974–76. Arndt died in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

. His estate is at the archive of social democracy of the

Friedrich Ebert Foundation The Friedrich Ebert Foundation (''German: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.; Abbreviation: FES'') is a German political party foundation associated with, but independent from, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Established in 1925 as t ...

Political career

Since 1945, Arndt was a member of the

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together wi ...

. In the 1950s, he was a member of the management and participated in creating the

Godesberg Program The Godesberg Program () of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) was ratified in 1959 at a convention in the town of Bad Godesberg near Bonn. It represented a fundamental change in the orientation and goals of the SPD, rejecting the aim ...

. In 1948 and 1949, he was a member of the economic council of the

Bizone The Bizone () or Bizonia was the combination of the American and the British occupation zones on 1 January 1947 during the occupation of Germany after World War II. With the addition of the French occupation zone on 1 August 1948J. Robert W ...

, chairing the board for law, clerk law and "DM-Eröffnungsbilanz" (statement of the financial conditions for the

Deutsche Mark The Deutsche Mark (; "German mark (currency), mark"), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later of unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it ...

). From 1949 to 1969, Arndt was a member of the

for the

. From 1949–61, he served as corporate attorney and secretary of the SPD faction. In addition to that, he served in 1951/52 as deputy managing director of the Bundestag board for Law and Constitutional law as well as deputy managing director of the Bundestag board for reviewing the federal administration (the so-called ''Platow-Ausschuss''). From 1953 to 1961, he chaired the research group "Rechtswesen" of the SPD faction. Arndt is most famous for his speech in the debate about statute-barred prosecution of Nazi crimes, in which he states that morally feels guilty about taking part in those crimes. In many cases, Arndt represented the SPD faction before the

Bundesverfassungsgericht The Federal Constitutional Court ( ; abbreviated: ) is the supreme constitutional court for the Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law () of Germany. Since its inception with the beginning of the post-Wor ...

. From 11 March 1963 to 31 March 1964 Arndt served as senator for science and arts in

Writings

* "Warum und wozu Wiedergutmachung?", in: ''Juristenzeitung'', 1956 * ''Die Persönlichkeit in der parlamentarischen Demokratie'', Berlin, 1958 * "Die Entmachtung des Bundestages", in: ''Die Neue Gesellschaft'', 1959 * "Die Nichtigkeit verfassungswidriger Gesetze", in: ''Die öffentliche Verwaltung'' * "Der Jurist im Parlament", in: ''Juristen-Jahrbuch'' 1960 * ''Das nicht erfüllte Grundgesetz'', Tübingen, 1960 * "Das zeitgerechte Parlamentsgebäude", in: ''Die Neue Gesellschaft'', 1962 * "Gesetzesrecht und Richterrecht", in: ''Neue Juristische Wochenschrift'', 1963 * "Reform der Parlamentarischen Untersuchungsausschüsse", in: ''Deutsche Richterzeitung'', 1964 * "Opposition", in: ''Die Neue Sammlung'', 1968

Literature about Arndt

Horst Ehmke Horst Paul August Ehmke (4 February 1927 – 12 March 2017) was a German lawyer, law professor and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He served as Federal Minister of Justice (1969), Chief of Staff at the German Chancellery and ...

, Carlo Schmid,

Hans Scharoun Bernhard Hans Henry Scharoun (; 20 September 1893 – 25 November 1972) was a German architect best known for designing the (home to the Berlin Philharmonic) and the Schminke House in Löbau, Saxony. He was an important exponent of Organic arc ...

(Ed.), ''Festschrift für Adolf Arndt zum 65. Geburtstag'', Frankfurt am Main, 1969. *

(Ed.): ''Adolf Arndt zum 90. Geburtstag., Dokumentation der Festakademie in der Katholischen Akademie Hamburg'', Kath. Akademie Hamburg und Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 1995

References

External links