NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Hanns Kerrl

Hanns Kerrl (December 11, 1887 - December 12, 1941) was a German Nazi politician. His most prominent position, from July 1935, was that of Reichsminister of Church Affairs. He was also President of the Reichstag and head of the Zweckverband Reichsparteitag Nürnberg and in that capacity edited a number of Nuremberg rally yearbooks. December 11 is the 345th day (346th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1887 is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar). ... December 12 is the 346th day (347th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Look up Nazi in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A politician is an individual involved in politics. ... 1935 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The term Reichstag ( listen?) [É¹aÉªÃ§tak] (in English: Imperial Diet) is a composition of German Reich (Empire) and tag (which does not mean day here, but is a derivate of the verb tagen, which means to meet or assemble). ... Nuremberg coat of arms Location of Nuremberg Nuremberg (German: NÃ¼rnberg) is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. ... The Nuremberg Rally (officially, Reichsparteitag, literally imperial party congress) was the annual rally of the National Socialist German Workers Party in the years 1923 to 1938 in Germany. ...

Kerrl was born into a Protestant family in Fallersleben; his father was a headmaster. Hanns Kerrl joined the NSDAP in 1923 and soon afterwards went into regional politics. Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... Fallersleben is a district in the City of Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, with about 12,000 inhabitants (2004). ... The Nazi swastika The National Socialist German Workers Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei), better known as the NSDAP or the Nazi Party was a political party that was led to power in Germany by Adolf Hitler in 1933. ... 1923 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

On June 17, 1934 he became Reichsminister without Portfolio. In the following year, on July 16, 1935, he was appointed Reichsminister für die kirchlichen Angelegenheiten (Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs), to head a newly created ministry. On the one hand, Kerrl was supposed to mediate between those Nazi leaders who hated religion (for example Heinrich Himmler) and the churches themselves and stress the religious aspect of the Nazi ideology. On the other hand, in tune with the policy of Gleichschaltung, it was Kerrl's job to subjugate the churches -- subject the various denominations and their leaders and subordinate them to the greater goals decided by the Führer. June 17 is the 168th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (169th in leap years), with 197 days remaining. ... 1934 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... July 16 is the 197th day (198th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 168 days remaining. ... 1935 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Himmler (October 7, 1900 â€“ May 23, 1945) was the commander of the German Schutzstaffel (SS) and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany. ... The German word Gleichschaltung listen? (literally synchronising, synchronization) is used in a political sense to describe the process by which the Nazi regime successively established a system of totalitarian control over the individual, and tight coordination over all aspects of society and commerce. ... FÃ¼hrer listen? (often written Fuehrer or Fuhrer in English when umlauts are not used) is a proper noun meaning leader or guide in the German language. ...

Gregory Munro (Australian Catholic University, Brisbane) states that "Kerrl was the only Minister with an explicit commitment to reach a synthesis between Nazism and Christianity. Much to the ire of leading Nazis, Kerrl maintained that Christianity provided an essential foundation for Nazi ideology and that the two forces had to be reconciled. In the short term, at least, it appears that Hitler hoped to recover the initiative in the Church Struggle by returning to the official NSDAP policy of neutrality. The available documents suggest that Hitler temporized between two approaches to the question of the Churches. On the one hand, the predominant radical elements in the Party wanted to reduce clerical influence in German society as quickly as possible -- and by force if necessary. On the other hand, Hitler clearly had much to gain from any possible peaceful settlement whereby the Churches would give at least implicit recognition to the supremacy of Nazi ideology in the public realm and restrict themselves solely to their internal affairs. The term National Socialism has been used in self-description by a number of different political groups and ideologies, some of which have no connection with the Nazis; see National socialism (disambiguation). ... Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament writings of his early followers. ... Adolf Hitler? (April 20, 1889â€“April 30, 1945) was the Chancellor of Germany from 1933, and FÃ¼hrer und Reichskanzler (Leader and Chancellor) of Germany from 1934, to his death. ...

"In 1935 Kerrl scored some initial successes in reconciling the differing parties in the Church Struggle. However, by the second half of 1936, his position was clearly undermined by NSDAP hostility, and by the refusal of the churches to work with a government body which they regarded as a captive or stooge of the Nazi Party. Hitler gradually adopted a more uncompromising and intolerant stance, probably under the growing influence of ideologues such as Bormann, Rosenberg and Himmler, who were loathe to entertain any idea of the new Germany having a Christian foundation even in a token form." (Munro, Gregory: "The Reich Church Ministry in Nazi Germany 1935-1938", paper given at the Australian Conference of European Historians, July 1997). Martin Bormann Martin Bormann (June 17, 1900 â€“ May 2, 1945), a prominent German National Socialist official, became head of the Party Chancellery (Parteikanzlei) and Private Secretary to Adolf Hitler. ... Alfred Rosenberg in 1933 Alfred Rosenberg (January 12, 1893â€“October 16, 1946) was an early and intellectually influential member of the Nazi party, who later held several important posts in the Nazi government. ...

Increasingly marginalized by Hitler, who did not even grant him a personal conversation, Kerrl became desperate and embittered. A completely powerless minister, he died in office on December 12, 1941. Hitler did not appoint a successor. December 12 is the 346th day (347th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Further reading