Fritz Neumayer (29 July 1884 – 12 April 1973) was a German politician. He was Federal Minister of Building from 1952 to 1953, and Federal Minister of Justice from 1953 to 1956.

Early life

Neumayer was born at

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; ) is a town in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, 666 kilometers (414 m ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Both his father and his grandfather were lawyers and liberal members of parliament. Neumayer studied law at

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

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 ...

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

and

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. After his graduation in 1911, he practiced law in his native city of Kaiserslautern until 1945, except for the time of military service.Dittberner (2005), p. 389

Political career

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Neumayer joined the newly founded liberal party of the western occupation zones, the Free Democratic Party (FDP). Also in 1945, he became president of the state court in Kaiserslautern. He was elected to the advisory state board of the newly founded state of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

in 1946, and to the respective state parliament in 1947. When Rhineland-Palatinate became a constituent state of the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

in 1949, Neumayer was elected to the federal parliament, where his primary concern was ensuring the independence of judges from the state. After the death of the liberal minister for building, Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth, in 1952, Neumayer led the ministry until the

1953 West German federal election Federal elections were held in West Germany on 6 September 1953 to elect the members of the second Bundestag. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) emerged as the largest party. This was the last election before Saarland joined West Germany in ...

. After the election, he became Federal Minister of Justice, and worked primarily on reforming the

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 ...

. He furthered judicial

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...

with a law of early 1954, though "according to the natural order""...nach der natürlichen Ordnung". Fritz Neumayer as cited in Bänsch (1985), p.427 granting a husband the right to issue binding decisions for his spouse if the wellbeing of the family was not endangered.Bänsch (1985), p.427 Neumayer also furthered an extension to the

amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

of 1949, resulting in the amnesty law of 17 July 1954.Schröm (2002), p.86Frei (1996), pp.102-103 In Neumayer's words, the law was to "rule off crimes committed directly or collaterally in the context of the conditions of a chaotic time period"."...einen Schlußstrich unter die Straftaten ziehen, die in unmittelbarem und mittelbarem Zusammenhang mit den Verhältnissen einer chaotischen Zeit begangen worden sind." Fritz Neumayer, as cited in Schröm (2002), p.86 and Frei (1996), p.102 Amnestied were people convicted of crimes up to

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

, but not

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

, committed between 1 October 1944 and 31 July 1945 in the assumption of a legitimacy of their action, especially by following orders,Freudiger (2002), p.22 or out of an emergency. The law also provided for the clearance of several such crimes in the official registries.Freudiger (2002), p.23Frei (1996), p.126 In 1956, Neumayer together with all other liberal federal ministers left the FDP to join the newly founded Freie Volkspartei (FVP). In the same year, West German chancellor

Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman and politician who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of th ...

dismissed him from his office, giving his high age as the reason.

Later life

Neumayer, who was married with four children, spent the later part of his life in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. He was Honorary Chairman of the supervisory board of the Pfaff AG. He died on April 12, 1973, in Munich, and was buried in Kaiserslautern.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neumayer, Fritz 1884 births 1973 deaths People from Kaiserslautern People from the Palatinate (region) German Protestants Members of the Bundestag for the Free Democratic Party (Germany) Free People's Party (Germany) politicians German Party (1947) politicians Justice ministers of Germany Members of the Bundestag 1949–1953 Members of the Bundestag 1953–1957 Members of the Bundestag for Rhineland-Palatinate Members of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate Jurists from Rhineland-Palatinate Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany