Siegfried Alfred Rudolf Friedrich von Kardorff (4 February 1873 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 ...

− 12 October 1945 in Berlin) was a German

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 ...

Life

He was born the son of

Wilhelm von Kardorff Wilhelm von Kardorff (8 January 1828 in Neustrelitz – 21 July 1907) was a German landowner and politician who supported the Free Conservative Party. From the founding of the North German Confederation in 1867 until his death he was one of the m ...

and followed him in adopting a career in politics. Describing himself as a "left-wing Free Conservative", Kardoff was from 1910 to 1918 member of

Prussian House of Representatives The Prussian House of Representatives () was the lower chamber of the Landtag of Prussia (), the parliament of Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia from 1850 to 1918. Together with the upper house, the Prussian House of Lords, House of Lords (), it formed ...

. Kardorff helped found the

German National People's Party The German National People's Party (, DNVP) was a national-conservative and German monarchy, monarchist political party in Germany during the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the Nazi Party, it was the major nationalist party in Weimar German ...

. At one of its first public meetings in December 1918, Kardorff was the main speaker. He declared: "Our new party, in which friendly right-wing parties have united, has no past and rejects any responsibility for the past. We have a present and, if God will, a good future". Kardorff said that the party would uphold the monarchy, agriculture, the middle class and the church: "But we are not a party of

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

orthodoxy, rather we find recognition wherever living Christianity is found". Kardorff later joined the

German People's Party The German People's Party (German: , DVP) was a conservative-liberal political party during the Weimar Republic that was the successor to the National Liberal Party of the German Empire. Along with the left-liberal German Democratic Party (DDP), ...

and was a member of its "industrial right-wing" according to the historian Stephen G. Fritz. From 1920 to 1932 he was member of

German Reichstag The Reichstag (; ) is a historic legislative government building on Platz der Republik in Berlin that is the seat of the German Bundestag. It is also the meeting place of the Federal Convention, which elects the President of Germany. The Ne ...

. He also composed political biographies of

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...

and his father; the latter was praised by G. P. Gooch, Carlton J. H. Hayes and Sidney B. Fay.Sidney B. Fay, 'Reviewed Work: Wilhelm von Kardorff: Ein Nationaler Parliamentarier im Zeitalter Bismarcks und Wilhelms II, 1828-1907 by Siegfried von Kardorff', ''The Journal of Modern History'' Vol. 9, No. 4 (Dec., 1937), pp. 529-530.

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kardorff, Siegfried von 1873 births 1945 deaths Politicians from Berlin German biographers Members of the Reichstag 1920–1924 Members of the Prussian House of Representatives German National People's Party politicians German People's Party politicians Free Conservative Party politicians Members of the Reichstag 1924 Members of the Reichstag 1924–1928 Members of the Reichstag 1928–1930 Members of the Reichstag 1930–1932