Albrecht von Graefe (politician)
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Mecklenburg (1920–1924)
Albrecht von Graefe | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Reichstag (Weimar Republic) | |
| In office 1920–1928 | |
| Constituency | National list (1924–1928) Mecklenburg (1920–1924) |
| (German Empire) | |
| In office 1912–1918 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 January 1868 |
| Died | 18 January 1933 (aged 65) |
| Party | German Conservative Party, German National People's Party, German Völkisch Freedom Party, National Socialist Freedom Movement |
| Relations | Karl Ferdinand von Graefe (grandfather) |
| Parent | Albrecht von Graefe |
| Occupation | Landowner and army officer |
| Known for | Politician |
Albrecht von Graefe (1 January 1868 – 18 April 1933) was a German landowner and far-right politician active both during the German Empire and the Weimar Republic. Although never a member of the Nazi Party he was an early associate of Adolf Hitler and for a while appeared a credible rival for the leadership of the overall Völkisch movement.
The son of the celebrated ophthalmologist Albrecht von Graefe, and thus grandson of the surgeon Karl Ferdinand von Graefe, he enlisted in the German Imperial Army as an officer in 1887.[1] After his military service von Graefe entered politics and served as a deputy in the Reichstag for the German Conservative Party from 1912 to 1918.[1]
Rise to prominence
Von Graefe returned to the Reichstag in 1920 as member of the German National People's Party (DNVP).[1] A close associate of Reinhold Wulle, von Graefe was on the far right of the DNVP and as early as 1920 the pair had held negotiations with Adolf Hitler.[2] Between 1919 and 1920 von Graefe personally had come to prominence following the publication of a series of open letters in the German press in which his racialist and anti-Semitic views were attacked by the prominent liberal Gustav Stresemann.[3]
In 1922 von Graefe, Wulle and Wilhelm Henning split from the DNVP to set up their own Völkisch party the German Völkisch Freedom Party (DVFP).[2] The move came after Henning had written an article about Walther Rathenau that was so full of vitriol that Chancellor Joseph Wirth called on his DNVP coalition partners to purge themselves of their extremist members.[4] Despite splitting from the DNVP von Graefe remained a member of the Reichstag and held his seat until 1928.[1]
