Erich Lüth (1 February 1902 – 1 April 1989) was a German writer and film director who was born in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Career

Lüth began his career in 1923 as an intern in the editorial staff of the Hamburger Ullstein Verlag Berlin his education. Subsequently, he was editor of the '' Hamburger Anzeiger'' and chairman of the Hamburg Young Democrats. In 1928 he was the DDP member of the

Hamburg Parliament The Hamburg Parliament (; literally “Hamburgish Citizenry” or, more poetically, “Hamburgish Burgess (title), Burgessry”) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the German state of Hamburg according to the constitution of Hamburg. ...

. In addition, Lüth was a member of the

German Peace Society The German Peace Society ( (DFG)) was founded in 1892 in Berlin. In 1900 it moved its headquarters to Stuttgart. It still exists and is known as the ''Deutsche Friedensgesellschaft - Vereinigte KriegsdienstgegnerInnen'' (DFG-VK; German Peace Socie ...

and was active in his party's pacifist wing and fell within the Young Democrats and the DDP on the basis of a call for military service in 1929. In spring 1930 Lüth left the DDP and in the same year joined the inaugural Radical Democratic Party (RDP). From 1933 to 1935 Lüth managed a trade association. In 1943, Lüth was drafted as a soldier and was captured, becoming a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

in Italy. During his imprisonment, he was editor of the POW camp newspaper, "Lagerpost von Ghedi" until his release in 1946. He joined 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 ...

and became Director of the National Press Office in Hamburg until 1953 and then again from 1957 until his retirement in 1964. From 1953 to 1957, Lüth was head of the Press Division of the German Theatre Association. He was founder and chairman of the

Press club A press club is an organization for journalists and others who are professionally engaged in the production and dissemination of news. A press club whose membership is defined by the press of a given country may be known as a National Press Club ...

in Hamburg, and co-founded the " Society of Friends of Franco-German intellectual relations "and also the initiator of the Peace with Israel, which merged with the Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation in autumn 1952. Luth is the author of numerous books on

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and participated in peace talks between

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

and Israel in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

and

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

. In 1984 he was awarded the Mayor Stolten Medal by the Hamburg Senate.

Veit Harlan

His name is known today mainly in connection with a legal case from 1950, whose background Lüth's boycott against the film ''Immortal Beloved'', based on the novel ''Aquis submersus'' by

Theodor Storm Hans Theodor Woldsen Storm (; 14 September 18174 July 1888), commonly known as Theodor Storm, was a German-Frisian writer and poet. He is considered to be one of the most important figures of German realism. Life Storm was born in the small t ...

. In 1951,

Veit Harlan Veit Harlan (22 September 1899 – 13 April 1964) was a German film director and actor. Harlan reached the high point of his career as a director in the Nazi era; most notably his antisemitic film '' Jud Süß'' (1940) makes him controversial. W ...

sued for an injunction against Lüth for publicly calling for a boycott of ''Unsterbliche Geliebte''(''Immortal Beloved''). The District Court in Hamburg granted Harlan's suit and ordered that Lüth forbear from making such public appeals. However, the lower court decision was ultimately overturned in 1958 by the

Federal Constitutional Court 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-W ...

because it infringed on Lüth's right to

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

. This was a landmark decision because it clarified the importance of the constitutional civil rights in disputes between individuals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luth, Erich 1902 births 1989 deaths Writers from Hamburg German Democratic Party politicians Radical Democratic Party (Germany) politicians Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians German Peace Society members