Erna Scheffler
Encyclopedia
Erna Scheffler, born Friedental and later Haßlacher (born 21 September 1893 in Wroclaw
, died 22 May 1983 in London
) was a German senior judge.
and Wroclaw
and gained her baccalaureate in 1911 in Racibórz
. She studied for a semester at Heidelberg University and then switched from medicine to law in Wroclaw, Munich
and Berlin
. In December 1914 she finished her studies with a doctorate from Wroclaw. Women were not yet permitted to take the state legal exams, so she initially worked in social welfare and then as an assistant at a law practice. She married for the first time in 1916, and lived in Belgium until 1918, where her husband worked as a lawyer in the German civil administration. After the First World War, she found employment with the Bund Deutscher Architekten ( "Association of German Architects") and various law firms.
Women were allowed to take the law exams in 1921, and Scheffler became a clerk in 1922. Between then and 1925, when she graduated as a full lawyer, she divorced her first husband. From late 1925 to 1928 she was a lawyer in certain Berlin districts before moving to the Assenburg Sorin Court in 1930. From 1932 she was a permanent relief worker at the District Court.
Verwaltungsgericht ( "Administrative Court"). On the German "Judges' Day" in 1950, she gave an address about equality between men and women, and was thus recommended as a Federal Judge. In September 1951 she was the only woman in the German Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe
, serving as a judge there until 1963. Thereafter, she was an expert for the Interior Committee of the German Bundestag
. She died in 1983 at her daughter's house in London.
Wroclaw
Wrocław , situated on the River Oder , is the main city of southwestern Poland.Wrocław was the historical capital of Silesia and is today the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. Over the centuries, the city has been part of either Poland, Bohemia, Austria, Prussia, or Germany, but since 1945...
, died 22 May 1983 in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
) was a German senior judge.
Education and early career
She attended the girls' schools in LegnicaLegnica
Legnica is a town in south-western Poland, in Silesia, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the plain of Legnica, riverside: Kaczawa and Czarna Woda. Between 1 June 1975 and 31 December 1998 Legnica was the capital of the Legnica Voivodeship. It is currently the seat of the county...
and Wroclaw
Wroclaw
Wrocław , situated on the River Oder , is the main city of southwestern Poland.Wrocław was the historical capital of Silesia and is today the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. Over the centuries, the city has been part of either Poland, Bohemia, Austria, Prussia, or Germany, but since 1945...
and gained her baccalaureate in 1911 in Racibórz
Racibórz
Racibórz is a town in southern Poland with 60,218 inhabitants situated in the Silesian Voivodeship , previously in Katowice Voivodeship...
. She studied for a semester at Heidelberg University and then switched from medicine to law in Wroclaw, 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...
and 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...
. In December 1914 she finished her studies with a doctorate from Wroclaw. Women were not yet permitted to take the state legal exams, so she initially worked in social welfare and then as an assistant at a law practice. She married for the first time in 1916, and lived in Belgium until 1918, where her husband worked as a lawyer in the German civil administration. After the First World War, she found employment with the Bund Deutscher Architekten ( "Association of German Architects") and various law firms.
Women were allowed to take the law exams in 1921, and Scheffler became a clerk in 1922. Between then and 1925, when she graduated as a full lawyer, she divorced her first husband. From late 1925 to 1928 she was a lawyer in certain Berlin districts before moving to the Assenburg Sorin Court in 1930. From 1932 she was a permanent relief worker at the District Court.
Nazi Germany
In November 1933, she was found to be "non-Aryan" and received an employment ban that was backdated to 1 March 1933. She received only a small pension. Her second marriage, to George Scheffler, was denied in 1934 because she was Halbjüdin ( "half-Jewish"). She worked as an accountant in a friend's business and distributed food during the war. From January 1945 until the end of the war, she hid in a Gartenhäuschen ( "little garden house") outside Berlin.After the war
Immediately after the war she married George Scheffler and returned in May 1945, first as Regional Councillor and later as Regional Director of the Landgericht Berlin ( "Regional Court of Berlin") in the Justice Service. After the 1948 currency reform, she became a Councillor in the DüsseldorfDüsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
Verwaltungsgericht ( "Administrative Court"). On the German "Judges' Day" in 1950, she gave an address about equality between men and women, and was thus recommended as a Federal Judge. In September 1951 she was the only woman in the German Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
, serving as a judge there until 1963. Thereafter, she was an expert for the Interior Committee of the German Bundestag
Bundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
. She died in 1983 at her daughter's house in London.
Sources
This article was translated from its equivalent in the German Wikipedia on 18 July 2009.- Erhard Lange HM: Dr. Erna Scheffler, born Friedenthal (1893-1983). A Breslauerin - first Judge of the Federal Constitutional Court. In: Yearbook of the Silesian Friedrich-Wilhelms-University of Wroclaw. Volume 42-44, 2001-2003, p. 521-576.
- Till van Rahden: Democracy and paternal authority. The Karlsruhe deciding ruling in the political culture of the early Federal Republic. In: Contemporary Historical Research. Volume 2, 2005, p. 160-179.
- Christian Waldhoff: Erna Scheffler - first Judge of the Federal Constitutional Court. In: Yearbook of the public justice of today. Neue Folge, Band 56, 2008, p. 261-268. ISSN 0075-2517