Alexander Lion
Encyclopedia
Alexander Franz Anton Lion (15 December 1870 - 2 February 1962) was the co-founder of the German Scout Movement.
, the second son of six children in a Jewish banker's family. His parents were the merchant and banker Max Lion and Cäcilia Loeser. Between 1876 and 1880 he was privately tutored at home, after which he went to high school. At the age of 16, Lion left the Jewish community, and was later baptized a Catholic.
On 5 August 1889, Lion was awarded a bronze medal of the Order of Orange-Nassau
after saving the life of a drowning boy.
He learnt French at high school and took additional private lessons to learn English. After leaving school he studied medicine at University in Würzburg
, Berlin and Kiel
.
At Easter 1893 Lion signed up as a volunteer in the Bavarian army. Between 1904 and 1906 he served as a surgeon during the Herero and Namaqua Genocide
in German South-West Africa
. While serving in South-West Africa he met the man with whom he would later go on to found the German branch of the Scout Movement, Maximilian Bayer
.
entitled "Scouting as a Sport". This brought the founder of the Scout Movement, Robert Baden-Powell, to his attention, and later, in August that year, he began corresponding with Baden-Powell. Shortly after Lion wrote his first article about Scouting in the magazine "Ärztliche Rundschau".
During a month long study tour of England in 1909, he spent three days in London with Baden-Powell. Following this meeting he set up the German Scout movement, writing the book "Das Pfadfinderbuch", (the Scouting book)., with Maximilian Bayer.
In January 1909 "Jugendsport in Wald und Feld", a club to promote Scouting in Germany, was founded. Lion and Bayer were among the founding members.In 1912 "Das Pfadfinderbuch", was published in its 3rd edition as "Jungdeutschlands Pfadfinderbuch", which was a stronger German adaptation of Scouting for Boys
than the two first editions. In 1911, the German federal Scouting organisation was set up, with Lion as a founding member.
The following year, Bayer, Lion and von Seckendorff helped Elise von Hopffgarten to write Pfadfinderbuch für junge Mädchen (the scouting book for young girls). Free of patriotic language and slogans, they wanted to make young women more independent.
Bayer, Lion and von Seckendorff were subject to attack from General von Jacobi, who accused them of, amongst other things, lacking in support for their country, King and religion. Jacobi created an anti-Semitic cartoon lampooning Lion, playing on Lion's Jewish birth, changing "Jungensport in Feld und Wald" (youth sports in field and forest) to "Judensport in Wald und Feld" (Jews' sports in forest and field), and calling Scouting supporter General Baschwitz a "vain Jewish man".
. Serving in Lens
, he rescued wounded and dying soldiers from the battlefield. For this work he received the Bavarian Merit Cross.
At the end of 1915, Lion was requested to help the German troops stationed in the Ottoman Empire
. There he met Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz
, who was a big supporter of the Scouting movement in Germany and Lion and Bayer. From April 1916 Lion was a doctor for the First Turkish Expedition Corps. However, in August of that year, Lion fell ill with dysentery. Later that year, in October, he was awarded the Turkish Iron Crescent for his work. A month later, he returned from the front line to Munich
, where his family now lived.
In 1917 he returned to the Turkish front, later moving to the Romanian front, serving at Bukovina
with the Royal Bavarian Cavalry Division. After the ceasefire on the Romanian front, he once again went to France, serving at Reims
and Somme
. Again he put himself at great personal risk to rescue the wounded, winning him the Iron Cross
, Class I and the Bavarian Military Merit Cross
class III with swords. At the end of the war he was serving with the 39th Reserve Division in Vosges
.
Epp, taking part in the dismantling of the Bavarian Soviet Republic
. The last military rank he hold was that of a Generaloberarzt a.D.
After being demobbed from the army
in 1921, Lion worked as a doctor at the spa resort of Oberhof
. He was also chief of the German Red Cross
in Gotha
. From 1923 to 1926 he was an active member of the German Democratic Party.
The introduction of the Nuremberg Laws
in 1935 saw Lion classified as a Jew and have his civil rights suspended.
In 1936 Alexander Lion became Honorary Scoutmaster of the Österreichischer Pfadfinderbund,which was the Austrian interdenominational member organization of World Scouting
since 1922.
Even during the Third Reich, Lion remained in contact with his friends in the Scouts in other countries. When Austria was annexed by Germany at Anschluss
, the Gestapo
found incriminating documents, sparking a wave of arrests among Scouts. On 2 November 1938, Lion was arrested by the Gestapo and subjected to lengthy interrogations. On 19 November, he was moved to the Gestapo's headquarters. There he was put on trial, but, thanks to a skillful defence, he was sentenced to only 10 months for treason.
. However, he was then denounced by a supporter of the Nazi Party, but the Mayor personally secured his safety.
Lion's brother, Richard, and his wife, Beatrice, both died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
.
Lion's sister, Rosa, died in Vught concentration camp 02.05.1943.
, using his position to build up the Federation of German Scouts, and in October 1948 he was appointed the honorary president of the organisation.
He became the driving force in the reconstruction of the Scouting movement, first in Bavaria, but later across the whole of Germany. With his involvement, the first Scout camp of the post-war period war held near Munich between 8 and 10 June 1946. In the same year, the Bavaria Federation of German Scouting was founded, with Lion as its honorary president. In July and August of the same year, a Scout camp was organised at the Chiemsee
lake with groups attending from Munich
, Cologne
and Hesse
. In 1948 he took part in an international Scout meeting in Mittenwald
.
On 16 October 1946, Lion gave a lecture regarding the Scouting Movement on Radio Munich, giving the movement widespread publicity. In the same year he was officially recognised as a victim of persecution by the Nazi regime. Between 1946 and 1948 Lion was a member of the denazification
court in Bad Aibling
.
He became honorary president of the new founded Bund Deutscher Pfadfinder.
In August 1951 he took part in the 7th World Scout Jamboree
at Bad Ischl
, Austria
.
Lion died on 3 February 1962.
He is buried in the cemetery in Fischach
.
Early life
Lion was born in BerlinBerlin
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...
, the second son of six children in a Jewish banker's family. His parents were the merchant and banker Max Lion and Cäcilia Loeser. Between 1876 and 1880 he was privately tutored at home, after which he went to high school. At the age of 16, Lion left the Jewish community, and was later baptized a Catholic.
On 5 August 1889, Lion was awarded a bronze medal of the Order of Orange-Nassau
Order of Orange-Nassau
The Order of Orange-Nassau is a military and civil order of the Netherlands which was created on 4 April 1892 by the Queen regent Emma of the Netherlands, acting on behalf of her under-age daughter Queen Wilhelmina. The Order is a chivalry order open to "everyone who have earned special merits for...
after saving the life of a drowning boy.
He learnt French at high school and took additional private lessons to learn English. After leaving school he studied medicine at University in Würzburg
Würzburg
Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....
, Berlin and Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
.
At Easter 1893 Lion signed up as a volunteer in the Bavarian army. Between 1904 and 1906 he served as a surgeon during the Herero and Namaqua Genocide
Herero and Namaqua Genocide
The Herero and Namaqua Genocide is considered to have been the first genocide of the 20th century. It took place between 1904 and 1907 in German South-West Africa , during the scramble for Africa...
in German South-West Africa
German South-West Africa
German South West Africa was a colony of Germany from 1884 until 1915, when it was taken over by South Africa and administered as South West Africa, finally becoming Namibia in 1990...
. While serving in South-West Africa he met the man with whom he would later go on to found the German branch of the Scout Movement, Maximilian Bayer
Maximilian Bayer
Maximilian Bayer was the founder of Scouting in Germany, along with Alexander Lion. During World War I, he built the 27th Royal Prussian Jäger Battalion, later the core of the Finnish army.-Life:...
.
Founding of the German Scout Movement
In March 1908 Lion read an article in The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
entitled "Scouting as a Sport". This brought the founder of the Scout Movement, Robert Baden-Powell, to his attention, and later, in August that year, he began corresponding with Baden-Powell. Shortly after Lion wrote his first article about Scouting in the magazine "Ärztliche Rundschau".
During a month long study tour of England in 1909, he spent three days in London with Baden-Powell. Following this meeting he set up the German Scout movement, writing the book "Das Pfadfinderbuch", (the Scouting book)., with Maximilian Bayer.
In January 1909 "Jugendsport in Wald und Feld", a club to promote Scouting in Germany, was founded. Lion and Bayer were among the founding members.In 1912 "Das Pfadfinderbuch", was published in its 3rd edition as "Jungdeutschlands Pfadfinderbuch", which was a stronger German adaptation of Scouting for Boys
Scouting for Boys
Scouting for Boys: A Handbook for Instruction in Good Citizenship is the first book on the Scout Movement, published in 1908. It was written and illustrated by Robert Baden-Powell, its founder...
than the two first editions. In 1911, the German federal Scouting organisation was set up, with Lion as a founding member.
The following year, Bayer, Lion and von Seckendorff helped Elise von Hopffgarten to write Pfadfinderbuch für junge Mädchen (the scouting book for young girls). Free of patriotic language and slogans, they wanted to make young women more independent.
Bayer, Lion and von Seckendorff were subject to attack from General von Jacobi, who accused them of, amongst other things, lacking in support for their country, King and religion. Jacobi created an anti-Semitic cartoon lampooning Lion, playing on Lion's Jewish birth, changing "Jungensport in Feld und Wald" (youth sports in field and forest) to "Judensport in Wald und Feld" (Jews' sports in forest and field), and calling Scouting supporter General Baschwitz a "vain Jewish man".
First World War
On the outbreak of the First World War, Lion became head physician at a field hospital, and worked to treat the wounded on the front lines, work for which he received the Prussian Iron Cross Class II. On 14 October 1915 he became the head physician for the 2nd Royal Bavarian Division2nd Royal Bavarian Division
The 2nd Royal Bavarian Division was a unit of the Royal Bavarian Army which served alongside the Prussian Army as part of the Imperial German Army. The division was formed on November 27, 1815 as the Infantry Division of the Munich General Command...
. Serving in Lens
Lens, Pas-de-Calais
Lens is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It is one of France's large Picarde cities along with Lille, Valenciennes, Amiens, Roubaix, Tourcoing, Arras, and Douai.-Metropolitan area:...
, he rescued wounded and dying soldiers from the battlefield. For this work he received the Bavarian Merit Cross.
At the end of 1915, Lion was requested to help the German troops stationed in the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. There he met Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz
Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz
Wilhelm Leopold Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz also known as Goltz Pasha, was a Prussian Field Marshal and military writer.-Military career:...
, who was a big supporter of the Scouting movement in Germany and Lion and Bayer. From April 1916 Lion was a doctor for the First Turkish Expedition Corps. However, in August of that year, Lion fell ill with dysentery. Later that year, in October, he was awarded the Turkish Iron Crescent for his work. A month later, he returned from the front line to Munich
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...
, where his family now lived.
In 1917 he returned to the Turkish front, later moving to the Romanian front, serving at Bukovina
Bukovina
Bukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains.-Name:The name Bukovina came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation from the Principality of Moldavia to the possessions of the Habsburg Monarchy, which became...
with the Royal Bavarian Cavalry Division. After the ceasefire on the Romanian front, he once again went to France, serving at Reims
Reims
Reims , a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lies east-northeast of Paris. Founded by the Gauls, it became a major city during the period of the Roman Empire....
and Somme
Somme
Somme is a department of France, located in the north of the country and named after the Somme river. It is part of the Picardy region of France....
. Again he put himself at great personal risk to rescue the wounded, winning him the Iron Cross
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
, Class I and the Bavarian Military Merit Cross
Military Merit Cross (Bavaria)
The Bavarian Military Merit Cross was that kingdom's main decoration for bravery and military merit for enlisted soldiers...
class III with swords. At the end of the war he was serving with the 39th Reserve Division in Vosges
Vosges
Vosges is a French department, named after the local mountain range. It contains the hometown of Joan of Arc, Domrémy.-History:The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on February 9, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was made of territories that had been...
.
The Inter-War Period
After the war, Lion joined a volunteer division, FreikorpsFreikorps
Freikorps are German volunteer military or paramilitary units. The term was originally applied to voluntary armies formed in German lands from the middle of the 18th century onwards. Between World War I and World War II the term was also used for the paramilitary organizations that arose during...
Epp, taking part in the dismantling of the Bavarian Soviet Republic
Bavarian Soviet Republic
The Bavarian Soviet Republic, also known as the Munich Soviet Republic was, as part of the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the short-lived attempt to establish a socialist state in form of a council republic in the Free State of Bavaria. It sought independence from the also recently proclaimed...
. The last military rank he hold was that of a Generaloberarzt a.D.
After being demobbed from the army
Reichswehr
The Reichswehr formed the military organisation of Germany from 1919 until 1935, when it was renamed the Wehrmacht ....
in 1921, Lion worked as a doctor at the spa resort of Oberhof
Oberhof, Germany
Oberhof is a town in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district of Thuringia, Germany. It is a winter sports center and health resort. It is visited by tenfold as many tourists every year...
. He was also chief of the German Red Cross
German Red Cross
The German Red Cross , or the DRK, is the national Red Cross Society in Germany.With over 4.5 million members, it is the third largest Red Cross society in the world. The German Red Cross offers a wide range of services within and outside Germany...
in Gotha
Gotha (district)
Gotha is a Kreis in the middle of Thuringia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Unstrut-Hainich, Sömmerda, the district-free city Erfurt, Ilm-Kreis, Schmalkalden-Meiningen and the Wartburgkreis.-History:...
. From 1923 to 1926 he was an active member of the German Democratic Party.
The introduction of the Nuremberg Laws
Nuremberg Laws
The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 were antisemitic laws in Nazi Germany introduced at the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party. After the takeover of power in 1933 by Hitler, Nazism became an official ideology incorporating scientific racism and antisemitism...
in 1935 saw Lion classified as a Jew and have his civil rights suspended.
In 1936 Alexander Lion became Honorary Scoutmaster of the Österreichischer Pfadfinderbund,which was the Austrian interdenominational member organization of World Scouting
World Organization of the Scout Movement
The World Organization of the Scout Movement is the Non-governmental international organization which governs most national Scout Organizations, with 31 million members. WOSM was established in 1920, and has its headquarters at Geneva, Switzerland...
since 1922.
Even during the Third Reich, Lion remained in contact with his friends in the Scouts in other countries. When Austria was annexed by Germany at Anschluss
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
, the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
found incriminating documents, sparking a wave of arrests among Scouts. On 2 November 1938, Lion was arrested by the Gestapo and subjected to lengthy interrogations. On 19 November, he was moved to the Gestapo's headquarters. There he was put on trial, but, thanks to a skillful defence, he was sentenced to only 10 months for treason.
The Second World War
Until 1942, Lion lived in KolbermoorKolbermoor
Kolbermoor is a town in the district of Rosenheim, in Bavaria, Germany.It is situated 5 km west of Rosenheim.It is the birthplace of football players Paul Breitner and Bastian Schweinsteiger....
. However, he was then denounced by a supporter of the Nazi Party, but the Mayor personally secured his safety.
Lion's brother, Richard, and his wife, Beatrice, both died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
Bergen-Belsen was a Nazi concentration camp in Lower Saxony in northwestern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle...
.
Lion's sister, Rosa, died in Vught concentration camp 02.05.1943.
After the Second World War
Immediately after the end of the war, Lion became the head of the Youth Office in Bad AiblingBad Aibling
Bad Aibling is a spa town and former district seat in Bavaria on the river Mangfall, located some 35 miles southeast of Munich. It is a health resort .-History:...
, using his position to build up the Federation of German Scouts, and in October 1948 he was appointed the honorary president of the organisation.
He became the driving force in the reconstruction of the Scouting movement, first in Bavaria, but later across the whole of Germany. With his involvement, the first Scout camp of the post-war period war held near Munich between 8 and 10 June 1946. In the same year, the Bavaria Federation of German Scouting was founded, with Lion as its honorary president. In July and August of the same year, a Scout camp was organised at the Chiemsee
Chiemsee
Chiemsee is a freshwater lake in Bavaria, Germany, between Rosenheim, Germany, and Salzburg, Austria. It is often called the Bavarian Sea. The rivers Tiroler Achen and Prien flow into the lake; the river Alz, out of it...
lake with groups attending from Munich
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...
, Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
and Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
. In 1948 he took part in an international Scout meeting in Mittenwald
Mittenwald
Mittenwald is a German municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria.-Geography:Mittenwald is located approx. 16 kilometers to the south-east of Garmisch-Partenkirchen...
.
On 16 October 1946, Lion gave a lecture regarding the Scouting Movement on Radio Munich, giving the movement widespread publicity. In the same year he was officially recognised as a victim of persecution by the Nazi regime. Between 1946 and 1948 Lion was a member of the denazification
Denazification
Denazification was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of any remnants of the National Socialist ideology. It was carried out specifically by removing those involved from positions of influence and by disbanding or rendering...
court in Bad Aibling
Bad Aibling
Bad Aibling is a spa town and former district seat in Bavaria on the river Mangfall, located some 35 miles southeast of Munich. It is a health resort .-History:...
.
He became honorary president of the new founded Bund Deutscher Pfadfinder.
In August 1951 he took part in the 7th World Scout Jamboree
7th World Scout Jamboree
The 7th World Scout Jamboree was held August 3 to 12, 1951 and was hosted by Austria at Bad Ischl. The attendance was 12,884 from 61 different parts of the world, with 675 German Scouts given a warm welcome as official participants in a World Jamboree for the first time...
at Bad Ischl
Bad Ischl
Bad Ischl is a spa town in Austria. It lies in the southern part of Upper Austria, at the Traun River in the centre of the Salzkammergut region. The town consists of the Katastralgemeinden Ahorn, Bad Ischl, Haiden, Jainzen, Kaltenbach, Lauffen, Lindau, Pfandl, Perneck, Reiterndorf and Rettenbach...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
.
Lion died on 3 February 1962.
He is buried in the cemetery in Fischach
Fischach
Fischach is a municipality in the district of Augsburg in Bavaria in Germany.-Geography:Fischach is situated in the "Naturpark Westliche Wälder" south of Augsburg...
.