Albrecht Haushofer
Encyclopedia
Albrecht Georg Haushofer (7 January 1903, Munich
- 23 April 1945 Berlin
) was a German
geographer
, diplomat
and author
.
Albrecht Haushofer's father was the retired General and geographer
Karl Haushofer
(1869- 1946). His mother Martha (born Mayer-Doss) (1877 - 1946). Albrecht had one brother, Heinz.
Albrecht studied geography
and history
at Munich University. He graduated in 1924 with his thesis "Paß- Staaten in den Alpen", Erich von Drygalski
(1865 - 1949) was his supervisor. Haushofer then worked as an assistant for Albrecht Penck
.
A fellow student in geopolitics
was Rudolf Hess
, a very early follower of Adolf Hitler
and later the Führer's
deputy. Karl Haushofer was a frequent visitor to Landsberg Prison
, where Hitler and Hess were jailed after the failed 1923 Beer Hall Putsch
and Mein Kampf
was written.
Albrecht Haushofer was made secretary general of the Gesellschaft für Erdkunde, the geographical society and the editor of its periodical. He held this position from 1928 to 1938. Haushofer traveled the world in his official capacity, lecturing and gaining a wide experience of international affairs.
He started teaching geopolitics
at the German Institute for Politics (Deutsche Hochschule für Politik
) in 1933, which had lost many of its teachers with the Nazi ascent to power. He was made professor at the Berlin University department for foreign studies (Auslandsstudien), when it incorporated the old DHfP in 1940. He also was an advisor at the Dienststelle Ribbentrop from 1934 to 1938 (when Ribbentrop was made foreign minister his old bureau was disbanded). Haushofer then until 1941 sometimes worked at the propaganda department of the foreign ministry (Informationsabteilung des Auswärtigen Amtes).
Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Haushofer was involved in Hess' attempts to negotiate peace with the French and British, acting as an intermediary. It has been speculated that he may have encouraged Hess's flight to Scotland
. Haushofer's fortune changed. Under suspicion to have helped Hess he was put in prison for some weeks and then kept under Gestapo surveillance. High-ranking members of the Nazi party looked disapprovingly upon his half-jewish mother.
Haushofer met with people from the conservative Kreisau Circle
opposition and the Red Orchestra group, whose Berlin leader Arvid Harnack
also taught at the DHfP. He came to agree that the only way to prevent complete military and political disaster was to remove Hitler. After the failed 1944 bomb plot
. Haushofer went into hiding, but was arrested at a farm in Bavaria
in December, 1944.
Incarcerated in Berlin
-Moabit
prison, he wrote his "Moabit Sonnets," published in 1946. Albrecht Haushofer and other inmates like Klaus Bonhoeffer
and Rüdiger Schleicher
were shot in the neck by SS
troopers on nearby Invalidenstraße
in the night of 22/23 April 1945, as Red Army
troops entered Berlin. His body was discovered by his brother Heinz on 12 May 1945.
One of the sonnets, titled Schuld or "Guilt" was on his person at the time of his execution. It reads as follows:
|-
|Schuld||Guilt
|-
|||
|-
|...schuldig bin ich||I am guilty,
|-
|Anders als Ihr denkt.||But not in the way you think.
|-
|Ich musste früher meine Pflicht erkennen;||I should have earlier recognized my duty;
|-
|Ich musste schärfer Unheil Unheil nennen;||I should have more sharply called evil evil;
|-
|Mein Urteil habe ich zu lang gelenkt...||I reined in my judgment too long.
|-
|Ich habe gewarnt,||I did warn,
|-
|Aber nicht genug, und klar;||But not enough, and clear;
|-
|Und heute weiß ich, was ich schuldig war.||And today I know what I was guilty of.
|}
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
- 23 April 1945 Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
) was a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
geographer
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
, diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
.
Albrecht Haushofer's father was the retired General and geographer
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
Karl Haushofer
Karl Haushofer
Karl Ernst Haushofer was a German general, geographer and geopolitician. Through his student Rudolf Hess, Haushofer's ideas may have influenced the development of Adolf Hitler's expansionist strategies, although Haushofer denied direct influence on the Nazi regime.-Biography:Haushofer belonged to...
(1869- 1946). His mother Martha (born Mayer-Doss) (1877 - 1946). Albrecht had one brother, Heinz.
Albrecht studied geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
and history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
at Munich University. He graduated in 1924 with his thesis "Paß- Staaten in den Alpen", Erich von Drygalski
Erich von Drygalski
Erich Dagobert von Drygalski was a German geographer, geophysicist and polar scientist, born in Königsberg, Province of Prussia....
(1865 - 1949) was his supervisor. Haushofer then worked as an assistant for Albrecht Penck
Albrecht Penck
Albrecht Penck , was a German geographer and geologist and the father of Walther Penck.Born in Reudnitz near Leipzig, Penck became a university professor in Vienna from 1885 to 1906, and in Berlin from 1906 to 1927. There he was also the director of the Institute and Museum for Oceanography by 1918...
.
A fellow student in geopolitics
Geopolitics
Geopolitics, from Greek Γη and Πολιτική in broad terms, is a theory that describes the relation between politics and territory whether on local or international scale....
was Rudolf Hess
Rudolf Hess
Rudolf Walter Richard Hess was a prominent Nazi politician who was Adolf Hitler's deputy in the Nazi Party during the 1930s and early 1940s...
, a very early follower of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and later the Führer's
Führer
Führer , alternatively spelled Fuehrer in both English and German when the umlaut is not available, is a German title meaning leader or guide now most associated with Adolf Hitler, who modelled it on Benito Mussolini's title il Duce, as well as with Georg von Schönerer, whose followers also...
deputy. Karl Haushofer was a frequent visitor to Landsberg Prison
Landsberg Prison
Landsberg Prison is a penal facility located in the town of Landsberg am Lech in the southwest of the German state of Bavaria, about west of Munich and south of Augsburg....
, where Hitler and Hess were jailed after the failed 1923 Beer Hall Putsch
Beer Hall Putsch
The Beer Hall Putsch was a failed attempt at revolution that occurred between the evening of 8 November and the early afternoon of 9 November 1923, when Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler, Generalquartiermeister Erich Ludendorff, and other heads of the Kampfbund unsuccessfully tried to seize power...
and Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf is a book written by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. It combines elements of autobiography with an exposition of Hitler's political ideology. Volume 1 of Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and Volume 2 in 1926...
was written.
Albrecht Haushofer was made secretary general of the Gesellschaft für Erdkunde, the geographical society and the editor of its periodical. He held this position from 1928 to 1938. Haushofer traveled the world in his official capacity, lecturing and gaining a wide experience of international affairs.
He started teaching geopolitics
Geopolitics
Geopolitics, from Greek Γη and Πολιτική in broad terms, is a theory that describes the relation between politics and territory whether on local or international scale....
at the German Institute for Politics (Deutsche Hochschule für Politik
Deutsche Hochschule für Politik
The Deutsche Hochschule für Politik , or German Academy for Politics, was a private academy in Berlin, founded in October 1920. It was integrated into the Faculty for Foreign Studies of the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in 1940, was re-founded in 1948 and turned into the Otto-Suhr-Institut of the...
) in 1933, which had lost many of its teachers with the Nazi ascent to power. He was made professor at the Berlin University department for foreign studies (Auslandsstudien), when it incorporated the old DHfP in 1940. He also was an advisor at the Dienststelle Ribbentrop from 1934 to 1938 (when Ribbentrop was made foreign minister his old bureau was disbanded). Haushofer then until 1941 sometimes worked at the propaganda department of the foreign ministry (Informationsabteilung des Auswärtigen Amtes).
Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Haushofer was involved in Hess' attempts to negotiate peace with the French and British, acting as an intermediary. It has been speculated that he may have encouraged Hess's flight to Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. Haushofer's fortune changed. Under suspicion to have helped Hess he was put in prison for some weeks and then kept under Gestapo surveillance. High-ranking members of the Nazi party looked disapprovingly upon his half-jewish mother.
Haushofer met with people from the conservative Kreisau Circle
Kreisau Circle
The Kreisau Circle was the name the Nazi Gestapo gave to a group of German dissidents centered on the Kreisau estate of Helmuth James Graf von Moltke. The Kreisauer Kreis is celebrated as one of the instances of German opposition to the Nazi regime...
opposition and the Red Orchestra group, whose Berlin leader Arvid Harnack
Arvid Harnack
Arvid Harnack was a German jurist, economist, and resistance fighter in Nazi Germany.- Early years :...
also taught at the DHfP. He came to agree that the only way to prevent complete military and political disaster was to remove Hitler. After the failed 1944 bomb plot
July 20 Plot
On 20 July 1944, an attempt was made to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Führer of the Third Reich, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia. The plot was the culmination of the efforts of several groups in the German Resistance to overthrow the Nazi-led German government...
. Haushofer went into hiding, but was arrested at a farm in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
in December, 1944.
Incarcerated in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
-Moabit
Moabit
Moabit is an inner city locality of Berlin. Since Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it belongs to the newly regrouped governmental borough of Mitte. Previously, from 1920 to 2001, it belonged to the borough of Tiergarten. Moabit's borders are defined by three watercourses, the Spree, the...
prison, he wrote his "Moabit Sonnets," published in 1946. Albrecht Haushofer and other inmates like Klaus Bonhoeffer
Klaus Bonhoeffer
Klaus Bonhoeffer was a German jurist and resistance fighter against the Nazi régime who was executed after the July 1944 plot to kill Hitler....
and Rüdiger Schleicher
Rüdiger Schleicher
Rüdiger Schleicher was a German resistance fighter against the Nazi régime.Born in Stuttgart, Schleicher was married to Ursula Bonhoeffer , Karl Bonhoeffer's daughter and Dietrich and Klaus Bonhoeffer's sister...
were shot in the neck by SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
troopers on nearby Invalidenstraße
Invalidenstraße
The Invalidenstraße is a street in Berlin, Germany. It runs east to west for through the districts of Mitte and Moabit. The street originally connected three important railway stations in the northern city centre: the Stettiner Bahnhof , the Hamburger Bahnhof and the Lehrter Bahnhof, the...
in the night of 22/23 April 1945, as Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
troops entered Berlin. His body was discovered by his brother Heinz on 12 May 1945.
One of the sonnets, titled Schuld or "Guilt" was on his person at the time of his execution. It reads as follows:
-
-
- {| style="width:80%;"
-
|-
|Schuld||Guilt
|-
|||
|-
|...schuldig bin ich||I am guilty,
|-
|Anders als Ihr denkt.||But not in the way you think.
|-
|Ich musste früher meine Pflicht erkennen;||I should have earlier recognized my duty;
|-
|Ich musste schärfer Unheil Unheil nennen;||I should have more sharply called evil evil;
|-
|Mein Urteil habe ich zu lang gelenkt...||I reined in my judgment too long.
|-
|Ich habe gewarnt,||I did warn,
|-
|Aber nicht genug, und klar;||But not enough, and clear;
|-
|Und heute weiß ich, was ich schuldig war.||And today I know what I was guilty of.
|}
External links
- Biography (in German), website of the Deutsches Historisches MuseumDeutsches Historisches MuseumThe German Historical Museum , DHM for short, is a museum in Berlin devoted to German history and defines itself as a place of enlightenment and understanding of the shared history of Germans and Europeans....