Hans Adam Dorten
Hans Adam Dorten | |
---|---|
Germany | |
Died | April 1963 |
Occupation(s) | Lawyer Politician Rhenish separatist |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Portret_van_Hans_Adam_Dorten%281888-1963%29%2C_separatist_en_voorstander_van_een_Rhijn-republiek_onder%2C_SFA005001497.jpg/220px-Portret_van_Hans_Adam_Dorten%281888-1963%29%2C_separatist_en_voorstander_van_een_Rhijn-republiek_onder%2C_SFA005001497.jpg)
Hans Adam Dorten (10 February 1880 – April 1963) was a
The period was a confused one during which political objectives were not always firmly fixed, nor clearly set out, but it is understood that Dorten's preference was for a Rhineland separated from "protestant" Prussia, and economically more closely aligned with France. At the end of 1923, a final attempt to establish an independent Rhenish state having failed, he escaped to Nice in France: here he resumed his legal career and worked on his memoirs.[2]
Life
Early years
Hans Adam Dorten was born in Endenich and attended primary and secondary schools in nearby Bonn. [3] His father was the wealthy owner of a porcelain manufacturing company. On leaving school he went on to study Law at Heidelberg, Munich and Bonn, also receiving a Doctorate in Law in 1907 from Leipzig University. He had already, in August 1902, taken his "Civil Service Oath", and he also worked for a period at the District Prosecutor's Office in Düsseldorf. He then took a job at the district court in Waldbröl where, in 1912, he was appointed a junior judge.[3]
The early progression of his legal career was also broken by a period of military service, undertaken with the Second Field Artillery Regiment No.23, based in Koblenz.
Ellis Island records disclose that on 22 December 1912 Dorten disembarked from the (recently refurbished and renamed) trans-atlantic cruise liner "Victoria Luise" on a visit to the United States, accompanied by his wife.[4] He was recorded as a "non-immigrant", intending to visit Cleveland and San Francisco.[4][5]
First World War
Dorten was appointed State prosecutor in
. Dorten's future career path was changed on 3 August 1914 when he was conscripted into the army.During the war he served in the 54th "Commando" Corps, ending up as a junior officer (Hauptmann).[3] He was honoured with the Iron Cross Medal, Class I and then Class II.
In 1918, he was put under military arrest for "violent criticism" of the Kaiser. The end of the war allowed him to avoid a court martial
On 2 December 1918 he was released from the army, and until July 1919 he spent his accumulated months of leave entitlement.
A switch to politics in the aftermath of war
Early in 1919 the Dortens relocated to
Dorten continued to convene meetings of properly authorized officials and representatives in the Rhineland to try and obtain legitimacy and agreement from the towns and rural districts for the support of his objectives. His efforts met with some limited success in the southern part of the Rhineland. Not withstanding several setbacks, Dorten was able to find politically likeminded allies, including Dr. Franz Geueke, the publisher of the Rheinische Volkszeitung,
Proclamation of the Rhenish Republic in Wiesbaden
The Rhenish Republic was proclaimed in Wiesbaden on 1 June 1919, with Hans Adam Dorten as its "president". After a week, it was impossible to deny that the "Putsch" had failed, in the face of large-scale popular protests, and opposition from all the municipal councils and other relevant organisations in the region. Dorten had expected backing from the French occupation forces, but they took a position of strict neutrality. The founders of the Rhenish Republic were unable to pursue their project in the face of combined opposition from the people and the municipalities.
A warrant was issued by the Leipzig based Supreme Court for Dorten's arrest, on a charge of treason; but the warrant could not be executed in the Rhineland due to the occupation.
Separatist agitation after the failed "Putsch"
Dorten did not give up. 26 August 1923 found him in Mönchengladbach, attempting to address a rally. The separatists were attacked by "nationalists loyal to the Berlin government", and Dorten had to pretend to be an American journalist in order to escape the mob.[11]
There was another attempt to establish a Rhenish Republic in October 1923, and Dorten again played a leading role.[1] Together with Josef Matthes he set up a "provisional government of the Rhenish Republic" in Koblenz. Following differences, the next month he proclaimed a government for the southern part of the Rhineland in Bad Ems. This insurrection also failed because widespread popular opposition, and because of a falling off in support from the French military authorities.[7]
French exile
Following his latest failure to establish a Rhenish Republic, on the night of 31 December 1923/1 January 1924 Hans Adam Dorten made his way to France, settling at Nice in the south-east of the country. In 1927 he resumed work as a lawyer, and in 1928 he took French citizenship.
His memoires were finished in 1937 under the title "La Tragédie Rhénane".[12] The volume was published only in 1945, to be followed by a German language translation in 1979.
References
- ^ a b "Adam Dorten ... fr. Separatistenführer im Rheinland". Internationales Biographisches Archiv 17/1952. Munzinger-Archiv GmbH, Ravensburg. 14 April 1952. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
- ^ "Rhein-Gold: Nach Adam Dorten". Der Spiegel. Der Spiegel (online). 10 April 1948. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
- ^ a b c "Dorten, Hans (Jean) Adam". Historische Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, München. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
- ^ a b Ellis Island - FREE Port of New York Passenger Records Search: Ellis Island Ship Database (Einsicht der Originalkopie nur für registrierte Benutzer)
- ^ Required by the Ellis Island immigration officers to supply the name of a friend or next of kin, Dorten wrote "friend: von Herling, Berlin, Salzburgerstr. 16"
- ^ New York Times.
- ^ a b c d Janine Ponty, Université de Paris XIII. (1954). "L'Opinion Catholique Rhenane Devant le Séparatisme en 1923". Revue d'histoire moderne et contemporaine (1954) (in French). la Société d'Histoire moderne, Paris & Bibliothèque nationale de France (Gallica). Retrieved 6 July 2015.
- ^ ISBN 978-0349113692.
- ^ "Franz Geueke". Joachim Stein iA Mauspfeil, Hamburg. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
- ISBN 978-1780763460. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
- Lewiston Evening Journal. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
- ^ Jean Adam Dorten (1945). La tragédie rhénane. Robert Laffont.