Herbert Kraus
Encyclopedia
Herbert Kraus was a German professor of public international law. He was the first director of the Institute of International Law at the University of Göttingen. Due to his criticism of nazism
he was forced to retire between 1937 and 1945.
. He studied law from 1904 to 1908 in Heidelberg, Leipzig and Berlin. In 1908 he completed his Ph.D. and completed his 2nd State Law Exam (German Bar Admission) in Saxony in 1911.
During a subsequent stay at Columbia University
and Harvard University
he completed his habilitation
on “The Monroe Doctrine
and its relations with American Diplomacy and Public International Law” (”Die Monroedoktrin und ihre Beziehung zur Amerikanischen Diplomatie und zum Völkerrecht“) . He spent the winter term 1913/1914 in Paris at the Sorbonne
and received his habilitation
in summer 1914 from the University of Leipzig
.
During World War 1 Kraus served in the German civil administration in Belgium. Between 1917 and 1919 he worked in the division for legal affairs of the German Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt). He took part in the negotiations of the Treaty of Brest-Litowsk and the Treaty of Versailles
.
in Leipzig. 1920 he became Professor
extraordinarius and 1923 Professor ordinarius at the University of Königsberg
where he taught constitutional law and international law. In summer 1927 he taught at the Hague Academy of International Law
(again in 1934).
As one of the first German professors he was invited to teach at summer schools in Chicago and Philadelphia.
1928 he was called to the chair for general international law at the University of Göttingen. In 1930 he founded the Institute of International Law at the University of Göttingen where he was the Ph.D.-supervisor of Adam von Trott zu Solz
, involved in the July 20 Plot
.
, Kraus had to face hostilities by Nazi authorities. He published his criticism of the Nazi foreign policy in 1934 in a work titled “The crisis of inter-state thought“ („Die Krise des zwischenstaatlichen Denkens“). In this work he argued in favor of a certain binding minimal moral standards. Though he criticized the Treaty of Versailles, he also called Adolf Hitler
a „fool“.
In several subsequent articles he also criticized Carl Schmitt
´s understanding of international law.
After 4 years of hostilities Kraus was removed from all offices in 1937, forced to retire and banned from publishing.
Kraus moved to Dresden where he undertook 1937-1938 some work commissioned by Columbia University. Subsequently he worked on a textbook of international law and a book on Georg Friedrich von Martens
but the drafts of these works were destroyed in the dresden bombing in February 1945.
However, he did not return to Göttingen before 1947 because he was defense counsel of the former president of the Reichsbank Hjalmar Schacht
at the Nuremberg Trials
.
Back in Göttingen he worked on rebuilding the Institute of International Law and matters concerning the status of the former eastern territories of Germany under international law. He was chairman of the advisory group of the Federal German Government on the Treaty of Paris (1951)
.
Kraus retired in 1953. In 1964 he was awarded the Federal Great Cross of Merit with Star of the Bundesverdienstkreuz
. He died in Göttingen
in 1965.
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
he was forced to retire between 1937 and 1945.
Early life and education (1884-1928)
Herbert Kraus was born in RostockRostock
Rostock -Early history:In the 11th century Polabian Slavs founded a settlement at the Warnow river called Roztoc ; the name Rostock is derived from that designation. The Danish king Valdemar I set the town aflame in 1161.Afterwards the place was settled by German traders...
. He studied law from 1904 to 1908 in Heidelberg, Leipzig and Berlin. In 1908 he completed his Ph.D. and completed his 2nd State Law Exam (German Bar Admission) in Saxony in 1911.
During a subsequent stay at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
and Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
he completed his habilitation
Habilitation
Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...
on “The Monroe Doctrine
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine is a policy of the United States introduced on December 2, 1823. It stated that further efforts by European nations to colonize land or interfere with states in North or South America would be viewed as acts of aggression requiring U.S. intervention...
and its relations with American Diplomacy and Public International Law” (”Die Monroedoktrin und ihre Beziehung zur Amerikanischen Diplomatie und zum Völkerrecht“) . He spent the winter term 1913/1914 in Paris at the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
and received his habilitation
Habilitation
Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...
in summer 1914 from the University of Leipzig
University of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
.
During World War 1 Kraus served in the German civil administration in Belgium. Between 1917 and 1919 he worked in the division for legal affairs of the German Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt). He took part in the negotiations of the Treaty of Brest-Litowsk and the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
.
Academic career (1928-1937)
In 1919 he was PrivatdozentPrivatdozent
Privatdozent or Private lecturer is a title conferred in some European university systems, especially in German-speaking countries, for someone who pursues an academic career and holds all formal qualifications to become a tenured university professor...
in Leipzig. 1920 he became Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
extraordinarius and 1923 Professor ordinarius at the University of Königsberg
University of Königsberg
The University of Königsberg was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as second Protestant academy by Duke Albert of Prussia, and was commonly known as the Albertina....
where he taught constitutional law and international law. In summer 1927 he taught at the Hague Academy of International Law
Hague Academy of International Law
The Hague Academy of International Law is a center for high-level education in both public and private international law housed in the Peace Palace in The Hague, The Netherlands...
(again in 1934).
As one of the first German professors he was invited to teach at summer schools in Chicago and Philadelphia.
1928 he was called to the chair for general international law at the University of Göttingen. In 1930 he founded the Institute of International Law at the University of Göttingen where he was the Ph.D.-supervisor of Adam von Trott zu Solz
Adam von Trott zu Solz
Adam von Trott zu Solz was a German lawyer and diplomat who was involved in the conservative opposition to the Nazi regime, and who played a central part in the 20 July Plot...
, involved in the July 20 Plot
July 20 Plot
On 20 July 1944, an attempt was made to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Führer of the Third Reich, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia. The plot was the culmination of the efforts of several groups in the German Resistance to overthrow the Nazi-led German government...
.
Forced retirement (1937-1945)
After the Nazis seized power, the so called MachtergreifungMachtergreifung
Machtergreifung is a German word meaning "seizure of power". It is normally used specifically to refer to the Nazi takeover of power in the democratic Weimar Republic on 30 January 1933, the day Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, turning it into the Nazi German dictatorship.-Term:The...
, Kraus had to face hostilities by Nazi authorities. He published his criticism of the Nazi foreign policy in 1934 in a work titled “The crisis of inter-state thought“ („Die Krise des zwischenstaatlichen Denkens“). In this work he argued in favor of a certain binding minimal moral standards. Though he criticized the Treaty of Versailles, he also called Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
a „fool“.
In several subsequent articles he also criticized Carl Schmitt
Carl Schmitt
Carl Schmitt was a German jurist, philosopher, political theorist, and professor of law.Schmitt published several essays, influential in the 20th century and beyond, on the mentalities that surround the effective wielding of political power...
´s understanding of international law.
After 4 years of hostilities Kraus was removed from all offices in 1937, forced to retire and banned from publishing.
Kraus moved to Dresden where he undertook 1937-1938 some work commissioned by Columbia University. Subsequently he worked on a textbook of international law and a book on Georg Friedrich von Martens
Georg Friedrich von Martens
Georg Friedrich von Martens was a German jurist and diplomat. Educated at the universities of Göttingen, Regensburg and Vienna, he became professor of jurisprudence at Göttingen in 1783 and was ennobled in 1789...
but the drafts of these works were destroyed in the dresden bombing in February 1945.
Post-war period (1945-1965)
1945 Kraus was reinstated as professor in Göttingen.However, he did not return to Göttingen before 1947 because he was defense counsel of the former president of the Reichsbank Hjalmar Schacht
Hjalmar Schacht
Dr. Hjalmar Horace Greeley Schacht was a German economist, banker, liberal politician, and co-founder of the German Democratic Party. He served as the Currency Commissioner and President of the Reichsbank under the Weimar Republic...
at the Nuremberg Trials
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
.
Back in Göttingen he worked on rebuilding the Institute of International Law and matters concerning the status of the former eastern territories of Germany under international law. He was chairman of the advisory group of the Federal German Government on the Treaty of Paris (1951)
Treaty of Paris (1951)
The Treaty of Paris was signed on 18 April 1951 between France, West Germany, Italy and the three Benelux countries , establishing the European Coal and Steel Community , which subsequently became part of the European Union...
.
Kraus retired in 1953. In 1964 he was awarded the Federal Great Cross of Merit with Star of the Bundesverdienstkreuz
Bundesverdienstkreuz
The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is the only general state decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has existed since 7 September 1951, and between 3,000 and 5,200 awards are given every year across all classes...
. He died in Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
in 1965.
Private life
Herbert Kraus was married to the American sculptor Katharina Hobson-Kraus (born 1889). She left Germany in 1935 and they divorced in 1939.Works (extract)
- Die Monroedoktrin und ihre Beziehung zur Amerikanischen Diplomatie und zum Völkerrecht, Berlin, 1913.
- Interesse und zwischenstaatliche Ordnung, NZIR, Bd. 49, 1934, S. 22-65.
- Carl Schmitt, Nationalsozialismus und Völkerrecht, NZIR, Bd. 50, 1935, S. 151-161.
- Internationale Gegenwartsfragen – Völkerrecht, Staatsethik, internationale Politik, Würzburg, 1963.
Literature
- Dietrich Rauschning, Herbert Kraus (1884-1965), in: Die Albertus-Magnus-Universität zu Königsberg und ihre Professoren (Hrsg: Dietrich Rauschning, Donata v. Nereé), Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1994, S. 371-382.
- Frank Halfmann: Eine „Pflanzstätte bester nationalsozialistischer Rechtsgelehrter“: Die juristische Abteilung der Rechts- und Staatswissenschaftlichen Fakultät, in: Die Universität Göttingen unter dem Nationalsozialismus (Hrsg.: Heinrich Becker u.a.), München u.a.: K.G. Saur, 1987
External links
- History, Institute of International Law, University of Göttingen: http://inteurlaw.uni-goettingen.de/inteurlaw/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=1