THE CREATION OF MODERN GERMANY'S FEDERAL CONSTITUTION

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THE CREATION OF MODERN GERMANY'S FEDERAL CONSTITUTION
An historically important group of printed documents with holograph corrections and additions which served as one of the drafting documents of what would become the constitution of today's modern Germany, namely the Grundgesetz fur die Bundesrepublik Deutschland (‘Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany', i.e. the West German Constitution). Included is: (i.) 38pp. printed 4to. copy of the Entwurf des Grundgesetzes (‘Draft of the Basic Law') in the version of the second reading of the Parliamentary Council, published by the Bonn University printers as Parliamentary Council paper number 883, May 6, 1949, in German, and consisting of 146 numbered articles forming the proposed West German constitution, containing a series of pencil additions and corrections (most in German, although, curiously, a few in English too) to the margins, in the hand of diplomat and politician RUDOLF NADOLNY (see below), made alongside articles 21, 22, 37, 38, 54, 82, 132, 136, 137 and 144; (ii.) printed 4to. copy of the Grundgesetz fur die Bundesrepublik Deutschland (‘Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany') as passed by the Parliamentary Council in Bonn, 38pp. 4to., May 8, 1949, published by the Bonn University printers, in German, consisting of 146 numbered articles forming the definitive West German Constitution and, importantly, reflecting in many places the amendments as noted in the preceding draft copy. The introduction reads, in small part: '...Aware of their responsibility before God and mankind, inspired by the will to maintain their national and state unity and to serve world peace as an equal member in a united Europe, the German people...to give state life a new order for a transitional period, passed this Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany by virtue of its constituent power….'; (iii) printed copy of the first edition of the Federal Law Gazette, 20pp. 4to., May 23, 1949, published by the Bonn University printers, in German, presenting the 146 numbered articles of the West German Constitution, signed by KONRAD ADENAUER (1876-1967), First Chancellor of post-World War II Germany, in bold fountain pen ink the conclusion; (iv) a folio presentation album containing thirty original unsigned photographs (most approximately 9 x 7 in., a few smaller) documenting the work of the Parliamentary Council in preparing and approving the West German Constitution at Bonn in 1949, the images depicting the members of the committee working together at tables in a large hall, various members of the press seated at tables, a press conference, parliamentary councilors engaged in discussion, committee members casting their votes in a secret ballot, the counting of the votes, and the announcement of the result by Konrad Adenauer, and the closing session showing Adenauer delivering his proclamation of the constitution on 23rd May 1949. The majority of the photographs are by Hehmke-Winterer of Dusseldorf and bear the blind embossed credit stamp, and the majority of the pages have brief printed German captions and tissue guards. One of the final pages, featuring a photograph of Adenauer standing at a lectern, is signed (‘Adenauer') by the soon-to-be elected Chancellor in the margin, and on the facing page appears a printed 8vo. menu card for a dinner at the La Redoute restaurant in Bad Godesberg, Bonn, on 24th May 1949, signed by four individuals including Adenauer, and dated 24th May 1949 in his hand. The menu has been affixed to the page with clear tape across each of the signatures. A printed label is pasted to the inside cover indicating that the album was presented by the State Government of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in May 1949, and bears two unidentified signatures; (v.) an original mimeograph typed copy of Adenauer's speech given on the occasion of the proclamation of the West German constitution in Bonn on 23rd May 1949, 6pp. 4to., in German, in part: '...I ask you, in view of the importance of the work that we have just completed, after the minutes of excitement, to look together for a few moments now, so that we can take stock of what has happened and where we are. First of all, I would like you to be able to state, so that the public outside does not get the wrong impression, that of the thirteen representatives of Bavaria in the Parliamentary Council, seven have approved the constitution, i.e. the majority. And I think one can hope that there will also be a majority in the Bavarian state parliament when this Basic Law is presented to the state parliaments in the near future...It's probably true and I don't think any of those who justified their no-vote will deny it – for us Germans this is the first happy day since 1933. We want to start counting from then on and not just from the collapse. Difficult as the years of collapse were, the years 1933-1945, which saw us in terrible bondage, must not be erased from our memories. The time that lies behind us was difficult and we are only slowly beginning to take a look and take a step towards a better future. Let me begin by thanking the foreign ministers of the three Western powers...[and] the military governors who, after all, looked after our interests with great care and benevolence not only in form but also in their inner conviction...now that economic consolidation has started, we have also made good progress in political consolidation. In my opinion, one should not always and exclusively look at the goal that has not yet been reached...' He concludes: ‘We have completed most of the work on the tasks that had been set for the Parliamentary Council, we have completed them, even if there was a discord here and there, but supported by a feeling of love and obligation to the German people. Ladies and gentlemen! We wish God to bless this people and this work for the blessing of Europe and the blessing of peace in the world!' RUDOLF NADOLNY (1873-1953) was a Prussian military intelligence officer under the German Foreign Office, and served as Hitler's Ambassador to the Soviet Union, 1933-34. In the postwar years, Nadolny was, by all accounts, a tool if not an agent of the Soviets, and these documents emanate from his estate. In the period before the drafting and approval of the constitution, Nadolny actively advocated closer ties between West Germany and the Soviet Union, and strongly resisted the formation of a federal government. Included in this grouping is a T.L.S. 'Nadolny', 1p. oblong 8vo., Rhondorf bei Honnef, Aug. 13, 1949, to Mr. [Gerard] Ball, in German. Nadolny writes to make a request of his correspondent, explaining that he had been visited the day before by two Englishmen and two Germans who inspected the whole of his house and surveyed the rooms with, he believes, the intention of confiscating it for use by the English authorities, and asking that he and his wife be allowed to stay in the apartment in consideration of their ages and that they had recently carried out some repairs at considerable expense; with a second T.L.S. by Nadolny, 1p. 4to., Rhondorf bei Honnef, Jan. 22, 1950, to Gerard Ball, in German. Nadolny states that it is a pity he has not seen his correspondent for so long, but is aware that he has been working deliriously, continuing ‘I should like to send a copy of the attached booklet (no longer present) which I offer to you, to the well known Mr. Sandys, Winston Churchill's son-in-law, but do not know his address. Could you tell me how to send it to him? The accompanying book will show how a peace with Germany could look according to the rules of national law. It has been written for the case that all four occupying forces together conclude such a peace. If, however, the Western Allies wanted to include Germany in a West-European combination, I thought that this could only be done on the basis of full equality'. Some very light overall age wear, a few minor stains and small tears, generally very good. In August 1945, the Potsdam Agreement was made between three of the Allies of World War II, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union, resulting in the military occupation and reconstruction of Germany. Subsequently the country was divided into four occupation zones: a French Zone in the far west, a British Zone in the northwest, an American Zone in the south, and a Soviet Zone in the East. Berlin was separately divided into four zones. Between 1946 and 1949, the three western pieces of the occupation zones began to merge while the Soviet zone became East Germany. In 1949 with the continuation and aggravation of the Cold War, the two German states that were originated in the Western Allied and the Soviet Zones became known internationally as West Germany and East Germany. Rudolf Nadolny's participation in the political negotiations at this time appear to have largely been carried out in secret. Having lived in the Soviet Zone and suspected of complicity with the Soviets, Nadolny was nevertheless a guest of honor at a secret conference of close friends and co-leaders in Adenauer's Christian Democratic Union, in an apparent attempt to placate the now very irritated Soviets whom many feared would invade West Germany in light of the political turmoil between those supporting the East versus the West. Nadolny informed the gathering that Germany's chief interest lay in an early withdrawal of all the occupation forces. In his view Germany, if then unified and ‘neutralized', could resume its former place in the European economy and play an important role as mediator between East and West. The Parliamentary Council, presided over by rival Adenauer, agreed that a basic law should be drafted which would act as a constitution. As early as August 1948 experts had produced a draft of this basic constitution. The Parliamentary Council added the essential details, with Nadolny's crucial - and necessary input. Nadolny's influence in the final form of the...