Bruno Heusinger
Bruno Heusinger | |
|---|---|
| 2nd President of the Federal Court of Justice | |
| In office 1 April 1960 – 31 March 1968 | |
| Preceded by | Hermann Weinkauff |
| Succeeded by | Robert Fischer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 2 March 1900 Holzminden, Duchy of Brunswick, German Empire |
| Died | 3 August 1987 (aged 87) Celle, Lower Saxony, West Germany |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Nazi Germany |
| Branch/service | Heer |
| Years of service | 1939-1945 |
| Rank | Major |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Bruno Heusinger (2 March 1900 – 3 August 1987) was a German jurist who served as the second President of the Federal Court of Justice, succeeding Hermann Weinkauff.
Biography
Heusinger's parents were Ludwig Heusinger (born 1862) and Charlotte Heusinger. He was the brother of Adolf Heusinger, Wehrmacht general and first General Inspector of the Bundeswehr. After his father was transferred to Helmstedt in 1911, Heusinger spent the following years there.
In 1917, during World War I, Heusinger received a Notabitur, a special secondary graduate diploma created for aspiring volunteers during the war years, after which he volunteered for the German Army. After the war’s conclusion, he studied History and Germanistics. In 1922, he received a doctorate in philosophy with a historical treatise. Afterwards, he received a formal education in the judicial field, which he completed unusually quickly. Just two years after receiving his doctorate, in 1924, Heusinger passed the Staatsexamen and was hired as a trainee at the High Court of Brunswick. In 1927, he was appointed a Gerichtsassessor in the city of Brunswick.
In 1929, Heusinger was appointed a District Judge (German: Landgerichtsrat), later in 1930 a Supreme District Judge (German: Oberlandsgerichtsrat) and subsequently on 1 June 1933 as president of the High Court of Brunswick. Shortly after being appointed, he was confronted with the Rieseberg murders, a series of murders carried out by the SS, after the investigating judge verbally reported the event to him, leading to Heusinger protesting the atrocity to the Minister of Justice of Brunswick, Friedrich Alpers. Additionally, he criticised the condition of detention sites set up by the Hilfspolizei, as well as the handling of “protective custody” in Brunswick, describing them as an “injustice committed before God and man”.[1] Yet, while he criticised these acts committed by the ascendant Nazi government, he was also presiding judge of the Punitive Senate of the High Court, which convicted the resistance fighter Hermann Bode of plotting to commit high treason.[2] After continual conflict between Heusinger and the Nazi authorities, he was dismissed as court president in 1934. In 1935, he was demoted to President of the Senate, after refusing to take the oath to Adolf Hitler obligatory for all civil servants. Despite this initial refusal, he later acquiesced to swearing the oath, following which he travelled to Hanover in order to swear it, yet while there, he was refused the administration of the oath by the local officials of the Nazi Party. Additionally, his application to join the party, which he had issued a year earlier, was rejected. After the beginning of World War II, he joined the Wehrmacht and was eventually promoted to major.
After the war, Heusinger again pursued a judicial career, again serving as President of the Brunswick High Court from 1948 to 1955. Afterwards, he succeeded Hodo von Hodenberg as President of the High Court of Celle. In 1957, he additionally was named President of the State Court of Lower Saxony. On 1 April 1960, Heusinger was named President of the Federal Court of Justice. During his tenure, he campaigned against cartel formation and influenced the interpretation of several laws regarding their banning. In 1962, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Göttingen.
On 31 March 1968, Heusinger retired from his position as President of the Federal Court of Justice. His successor was Robert Fischer. After retiring, he published several writings concerning the history of art and history of law. He died in 1987 in Celle.
Honours
- 1961: Grand Cross of the Lower Saxon Cross of Merit
- 1962: Honorary Doctorate of the University of Göttingen
- 1966: Honorary Senator of the University of Karlsruhe
- 1968: Federal Cross of Merit
Selective Works
- Servitium regis in der deutschen Kaiserzeit. Diss. Phil. Göttingen 1922
- Rechtsfindung und Rechtsfortbildung im Spiegel richterlicher Erfahrung. Köln 1975
Bibliography
- ↑ Rudolf Wassermann (1989). "Das Oberlandesgericht im ‚Dritten Reich' – Personalpolitik in der NS-Zeit" (PDF). Justiz im Wandel. Archived from the original (PDF; 302 kB) on 2006-05-07. Retrieved 2011-10-19. Auszug aus der Festschrift Justiz im Wandel, S. 7–8
- ↑ Harald Duin (2009-03-26), "Hermann Bode – der vergessene Widerstandskämpfer", Braunschweiger Zeitung (in German), Braunschweig, p. 19CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link)
This article "Bruno Heusinger" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Bruno Heusinger. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
