Walter Becher (1 October 1912 – 25 August 2005) was a German Bohemian

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 ...

, representative of the

All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights The All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights ( or GB/BHE) was a right-wing political party in West Germany, which acted as an advocacy group for the Germans who had fled and been expelled from Central and Eastern Europe during ...

(GB/BHE), All German Party () (GDP) and the

Christian Social Union of Bavaria The Christian Social Union in Bavaria (German language, German: , CSU) is a Christian democracy, Christian democratic and Conservatism in Germany, conservative List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. Having a regionali ...

. He was an associate of the pro-

Nazi 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 ...

politician

Konrad Henlein Konrad Ernst Eduard Henlein (6 May 1898 – 10 May 1945) was a Sudeten German politician in Czechoslovakia before World War II. After Germany invaded Czechoslovakia he became the and of Reichsgau Sudetenland under the occupation of Nazi Germa ...

. Later, he became a writer for the Nazi newspaper "Die Zeit" published in

Sudetenland The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and ) is a German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the border districts of Bohe ...

.Im alten Schritt und Tritt Walter Becher Lautsprecher der Sudetendeutschen Landsmannschaft / Von Dietrich Strothmann
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Early life

Becher was born on 1 October 1912 in

Karlsbad Karlsbad may refer to: *Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic (formerly known by its German name Karlsbad) *Karlsbad (Baden), Germany *Melluži Melluži is a residential area and neighbourhood in the city of Jūrmala, Latvia Latvia, officially the ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

. He came from a Karlsbad manufacturing family, which was established there by 1530. The family's most popular product was the "Karlsbader Becherbitter" (), which today is sold under the name "

Becherovka Becherovka (), formerly Karlsbader Becherbitter, is a herbal bitters, often drunk as a digestif. It is produced in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic by the Jan Becher company. The brand is owned by Pernod Ricard. It is made from a secret recipe ba ...

" produced by Jan Becher. After leaving school Becher studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and then worked as a

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

. While a student, he joined the "Deutsche Gildenschaft" student association. In 1938, he became the arts, science, and entertainment editor for the newspaper "Die Zeit" (). Die Zeit was controlled by the

NSDAP, precursor to 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 ...

. Starting in 1940 he fought as a soldier in the

Second World War 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 ...

. In 1942, he also became the 2nd editor for the military "Panzer-Propagandazug PK 697" () led by Kurt Joachim Fischer. Becher ended the war in an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

run

Prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

Post World War II

After his release from prison Becher was displaced from his home of Bohemia to

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

where he became active in a movement of exiled Bohemian Germans. In 1947, he participated in the founding of the "Gründung des Sudetendeutschen Rates" ). Between 1956 and 1958 he became the Chairman of the Witikobund, an association of Sudeten Germans. Becher initiated the "Komitee zum Schutz der Bürger gegen Diffamierung durch die Linkspresse" a group committed to protect citizens against defamation by left-wing press in 1959. He also was vice chairman, until 1968, and then until 1982, chairman, of the

Sudetendeutsche Landsmannschaft The Sudetendeutsche Landsmannschaft (; ) is an organization representing Sudeten German expellees and refugees from the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. Most of them were forcibly expelled and deported to western Allied occupation zones of Ger ...

(). Becher was awarded, in 1962, the

Bavarian Order of Merit The Bavarian Order of Merit () is the Order of Merit of the Free State of Bavaria. It is awarded by the Minister-President of Bavaria as a "recognition of outstanding contributions to the Free State of Bavaria and the Bavarian people". The or ...

. In 1983, he was awarded the European Charlemagne Prize of the Sudeten German Association for outstanding services to self-determination and international understanding. In 1969, East German film makers Walter Heynowski and Gerhard Scheumann shot a documentary about him called "Der Präsident im Exil" (). His son

Peter Becher Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

is chairman of the Adalbert Stifter -Vereins.

Political parties

Becher was initially a member of the national "Kameradschaftsbund, Bund für gesamtgesellschaftliche Bildung" () which followed the teachings of

Othmar Spann Othmar Spann (1 October 1878 – 8 July 1950) was a conservative Austrian philosopher, sociologist and economist. His radical anti-liberal and anti-socialist views, based on early 19th century Romantic ideas expressed by Adam Müller et al. ...

. In 1931, he became a member of the

Sudeten German Party The Sudeten German Party (, SdP, ) was created by Konrad Henlein under the name ''Sudetendeutsche Heimatfront'' ("Front of the Sudeten German Homeland") on 1 October 1933, some months after the First Czechoslovak Republic had outlawed the Germ ...

(SdP) of

. After annexation of Sudetenland by Germany he was accepted into the Nazi Party. After the Second World War he took part in the founding of the Deutsche Gemeinschaft party (DG). Shortly before the parliamentary elections in 1954 he switched parties to the BHE. In 1959 he tried, with the National Democratic Union (NDU), to establish a collective conservative movement but only the BHE, the Witikobund and some smaller organizations participated. With the merger of the BHE with the German party in 1961 he became a member of the All-German party. In the 1962 parliamentary election in Bavaria he lost. Negotiations with the

Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism. Current parties with that name include: *Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...

(FDP) for a cross-over to their party failed. In 1967 he joined the

(CSU).

Bundestag

In the state elections of 1950 Becher with the

League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights The All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights ( or GB/BHE) was a Right-wing politics, right-wing political party in West Germany, which acted as an advocacy group for the Germans who had Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–19 ...

(), a coalition of DG (6 seats) and BHE (20 seats) in the Bavarian state parliament and elected first deputy chairman of the DG coalition. From 1954 until his retirement from parliament in 1962 he was Chairman of the GB / BHE Group. Because of the coalitions of the GDP for the general election in 1965 with the CDU, CSU and SPD Becher was on the CSU list in the German Bundestag, where he served until 1980. In the

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 ...

he was a strict opponent of the Social-Liberal coalition.

Literature

* Richard Stöss: ''Deutsche Gemeinschaft'', Fußnote 21, in: derselbe ''Parteienhandbuch'', Westdeutscher Verlag, Dormagen 1986, Seite 887.
Mandat und Dynamit
in

Der Spiegel (, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

44/1964 vom 28. Oktober 1964.

References