Günter von Drenkmann
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
November 9, 1910
President of the Berlin district court ("Kammergericht")
Günter von Drenkmann | |
|---|---|
| Born | George Richard Ernst Günter von Drenkmann November 9, 1910 |
| Died | November 10, 1974 (aged 64) |
| Alma mater | Tübingen Munich Berlin |
| Occupations | Lawyer President of the Berlin district court ("Kammergericht") |
| Known for | the circumstances of his murder |
| Spouse(s) | 1. Lilo Morgenroth (1918- 2. Christel ______ (1922-2011) |
| Children | Peter von Drenkmann (and others) |
| Parent(s) | Edwin von Drenkmann (1864-1944) Helen Drory (1874-1968) |
Günter von Drenkmann (November 9, 1910 - November 10, 1974) was a German lawyer. In 1967, he was appointed president of the Berlin district court ("Kammergericht"). The post was one that his grandfather had held between 1890 and 1904. He was killed by "2 June Movement" militants during a kidnapping attempt.[1][2]
Provenance and connections
George Richard Ernst Günter von Drenkmann was born in Berlin.[3] He came from a well-connected family. The "Drenckmanns" had become "von Drenckmanns" when his grandfather was ennobled in 1901.[4] His father, Edwin von Drenkmann (1864-1944) had been a senior Prussian financial official ("Geheime Oberfinanzrat"). His mother, born Helen Drory (1874-1968), was the granddaughter of Leonard Drory (1800-1866), an entrepreneur from Colchester, England, and his wife.[5]
One of Günter von Drenkmann's sons, Peter von Drenkmann, later also served as president of the Berlin district court ("Kammergericht"), between 1999 and 2005.[6]
Early years
Günter von Drenkmann studied Jurisprudence at Tübingen, Munich and Berlin. His education was predicated on the expectation that he should follow the family tradition and become a judge. However, at the start of 1933 the Nazis took power and lost no time in transforming Germany into a one-party dictatorship. Von Drenckmann repeatedly refused to join any Nazi-connected organisation, so was unable to become a judge.[1] Instead he worked on legal matters in industry and for the chamber of commerce.[2][1]
In the later 1930s, together with his friend Francis Wolff he was a member of "Hot Club Berlin". This was a circle of friends who got together in private to listen to banned jazz music. They also established contact with one or two jazz musicians such as Herb Flemming.[6][7] In 1939 Wolff, who was Jewish, emigrated to New York to escape Nazi oppression. There he built a career as a successful record company executive.[1][8] Von Drenkmann stayed in Germany.
In April 1939 he married Lilo Morgenroth.[9]
Middle years
May 1945 marked the end of the war and the end of the Nazi regime. Drenkmann was among relatively few lawyers who had stayed independent of the Nazi Party. By temperament he was a liberal Social Democrat, and in 1945 (if not earlier) he became a member of the Social Democratic Party ("Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands" / SPD).[1]
His career as a judge began in 1947 with appointment as a judge for civil matters at the Berlin district court ("Kammergericht"). True to his family tradition, a succession of promotions quickly followed. In 1967 he was selected as president of the Berlin district court ("Kammergericht").[1]