Magnus Alexander Maximilian Freiherr von Braun (7 February 1878 – 29 August 1972) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

( DNVP) whose career spanned the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

.Magnus Freiherr von Braun, ''Von Ostpreußen bis Texas. Erlebnisse und zeitgeschichtliche Betrachtungen eines Ostdeutschen''. Stollhamm 1955 (also published as: ''Weg durch vier Zeitepochen. Vom ostpreußischen Gutsleben der Väter bis zur Weltraumforschung des Sohnes in America''. Limburg, 1965 He served as the Federal Minister of Nutrition and Agriculture from 1 June 1932 to 28 January 1933. He was the father of pioneering rocket scientist

Wernher von Braun Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( ; ; 23 March 191216 June 1977) was a German–American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and '' Allgemeine SS'', the leading figure in the development of ...

Biography

Magnus von Braun was born at his family's manor of Neucken, an estate the von Brauns had owned since 1803, near Preussisch Eylau (present-day Dubki in

Bagrationovsky District Bagrationovsky District () is an administrative district (raion), one of the administrative divisions of Kaliningrad Oblast, fifteen in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia.Law #463 As a subdivisions of Russia#Municipal divisions, municipal division, it is i ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

) in

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

to Maximilian von Braun (1833 – 1918) and Eleonore (née von Gostkowski; 1842 – 1928).worldroots.com
He studied law at the universities of

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

and

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 ...

and joined the

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n civil service in 1905, at first at the Department of Trade and Commerce in

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 ...

. Von Braun was from an old noble family and bore the title of

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , ) and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in ...

(equivalent to Baron and translated as such in English). Between 1911 and 1915, he was the district chief executive (Landrat) of the Kreis Wirsitz (

Province of Posen The Province of Posen (; ) was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1848 to 1920, occupying most of the historical Greater Poland. The province was established following the Greater Poland Uprising (1848), Poznań Uprisi ...

). He returned to Berlin in 1915 after being given an office with the

Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relatin ...

. In September 1917, Braun became the first chief press officer for the

Reich Chancellery The Reich Chancellery () was the traditional name of the office of the Chancellor of Germany (then called ''Reichskanzler'') in the period of the German Reich from 1878 to 1945. The Chancellery's seat, selected and prepared since 1875, was the fo ...

and later the head of the political department of the

military administration Military administration identifies both the techniques and systems used by military departments, agencies, and armed services involved in managing the armed forces. It describes the processes that take place within military organisations outs ...

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

. He became the ''Stadthauptmann'' (head of the administration) for the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

town of

Daugavpils Daugavpils (see also other names) is a state city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city derives its name. The parts of the city to the north of the river belong to the historical Latvian region ...

in 1918. Following the conclusion of

, Braun was appointed Commissarial Police President of

Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...

(now

Szczecin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

) in 1919. Braun then worked again at the Department of Interior and became the President of the Governorate of Gumbinnen. He was dismissed from the civil service after the

Kapp Putsch The Kapp Putsch (), also known as the Kapp–Lüttwitz Putsch (), was an abortive coup d'état against the German national government in Berlin on 13 March 1920. Named after its leaders Wolfgang Kapp and Walther von Lüttwitz, its goal was to ...

in 1920 for his role in the coup. Braun returned to his family's manor in East Prussia and was active in several agricultural organisations like the Raiffeisen cooperative. In 1930, he became the Vice President of the ''Reichsverband der Landwirtschaftlichen Genossenschaften'' (Association of Agricultural Cooperatives). On 1 June 1932, he was appointed

Weimar Germany The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

's Minister of Nutrition and Agriculture and Reichskommissar for Eastern Aid (Osthilfe) in the cabinet of Chancellor

Franz von Papen Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen, (; 29 October 18792 May 1969) was a German politician, diplomat, Prussian nobleman and army officer. A national conservative, he served as Chancellor of Germany in 1932, and then as Vice-Chancell ...

, a position he kept under Chancellor

Kurt von Schleicher Kurt Ferdinand Friedrich Hermann von Schleicher (; 7 April 1882 – 30 June 1934) was a German military officer and the penultimate Chancellor of Germany#First German Republic (Weimar Republic, 1919–1933), chancellor of Germany during the Weim ...

until 28 January 1933. After the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

came to power on 30 January 1933, Braun moved to his manor in

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

, which 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 ...

became part of

and Braun was expelled to Western Germany in 1946. Braun followed his son Wernher to the United States in 1947, but returned to Germany in 1952, where he died in 1972 at

Oberaudorf Oberaudorf () is a municipality in the district of Rosenheim (district), Rosenheim in Bavaria, Germany. It lies on the river Inn (river), Inn. Oberaudorf is the birthplace of Maria Ratzinger (née Peintner), the mother of German Pope Benedict XVI ...

. Braun married Emmy von Quistorp (1886–1959) on 12 July 1910. They had three sons: * Sigismund von Braun (1911–1998), diplomat *

(1912–1977), rocket scientist *

Magnus von Braun Magnus "Mac" Freiherr von Braun (10 May 1919 – 21 June 2003) was a German chemical engineer, Luftwaffe aviator, rocket scientist and business executive. In his 20s, he worked on Nazi Germany’s guided missile development and production at the ...

(1919–2003), industrial manager

References

External links

Genealogy wiki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Braun (senior), Magnus von 1878 births 1972 deaths People from Bagrationovsky District People from the Province of Prussia German barons German National People's Party politicians Government ministers of Germany Prussian politicians Wernher von Braun University of Göttingen alumni University of Königsberg alumni