Bruning, Heinrich b. November 26, 1895; Munster (Westfalen), Prussia d. March 30, 1970; Norwich,Vermont
German chancellor from 1930 to 1932 who was exiled to the United States after Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany.
Historians disagree greatly on the role he played in the downfall of the first German democracy between 1930 and 1933.
His tenure as chancellor in depression- ridden Germany has been interpreted in drastically different ways. Some historians consider it the last attempt to save the Weimar Republic, whereas others see it as the first step in the dissolution of the first German republic.After he had graduated from the Paulinum Gymnasium in Munster, Bruning entered law school at the University of Munich. After one semester he transferred to the University of Strasbourg to study philosophy, history, German literature and language, and political science. During his time in Straβburg, Bruning supported the cooperation between Protestants and Catholics and, influenced by the historian Martin Spahn, adopted a strongly proPrussian nationalist political position. From 1911 to 1913, Bruning studied in London and Manchester, where he was introduced to the British parliamentary system and Toryism. In 1914 he finished his dissertation on the economic and legal conditions of the English private railway companies with a discussion of the question of their nationalization. One year later, he was awarded a doctorate from the University of Bonn. Although he was considered unfit for active duty because of his nearsightedness, Bruning volunteered in 1914. During his three and a half years of service on the western front, he was wounded twice and received the Eisernes Kreuz (Iron Cross), second and first class.
Germany’s military defeat destroyed Bruning’s world. Since he had trusted in the abilities of the German High Command, defeat and revolution came as a great surprise to him. Disliking the new republican system, Bruning decided not to pursue an academic career but instead became active in the Catholic Center Party.
His involvement on behalf of former frontline soldiers provided a base for his successful political career. In early 1919 he received a post in the newly created Prussian Social Welfare Ministry. Bruning, together with Adam Stegerwald, organized the melding of all non-Socialist trade unions into the Christian National Trade Union. In 1921 he became the leader of this trade union organization and edited its newspaper, Der Deutsche (The German). During the French occupation of the Rhineland in 1923, Bruning organized the passive resistance of the German population. The experience of hyperinflation, which was accelerated by their passive resistance, traumatized him. In 1924 he was elected to the German parliament and quickly earned a reputation as expert on finance and tax issues. In December 1929, he was chosen as leader of the Center Party faction in parliament.On March 30, 1930, Reich President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Heinrich Bruning as chancellor of a cabinet that was
based on Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution. This marked a turning point in German history and a break with parliamentary custom. The new Bruning cabinet operated independently of the German parliament, relying entirely on the emergency powers of the president. Bruning used his extraordinary powers to introduce a draconian policy of deflation. Facing one of the greatest economic crises in German history, Bruning insisted on cutting spending and increasing taxation. To get rid of the reparation payments imposed on Germany in the Treaty of Versailles was his highest priority. By fulfilling the demands of the Allies to the letter, Bruning intended to show that Germany was incapable of meeting their demands. Accepting a much higher degree of unemployment and impoverishment of the German population than necessary, Bruning was not interested in policies to ameliorate crises, since economic betterment would have prevented him from convincing the United States, Great Britain, and France that Germany could no longer pay reparations.
Bruning’s policy led to a much deeper economic crisis and the disillusionment of large parts of the German populace with democracy. In his memoirs, published in 1970, Heinrich Bruning stated that his goal of abolishing Germany’s obligation to pay reparations was only the first step in his larger political program, which included a general reform of Germany’s constitution and the restoration of the Hohenzollern monarchy.The economic collapse in summer of 1931 and Bruning’s deflationary policy made him one of the most hated politicians in Germany. After he lost his support among German industrialists, and his plans for a customs union with Austria failed, Hindenburg began to search for a replacement for Bruning. After Bruning banned the paramilitary organizations of the Nazi movement, Sturmabateilung (SA, Stormtroopers) and Schutzstaffel (SS, Elite Nazi organization) on April 13, 1932, and after he clashed with Hindenburg over the issue of aid for eastern Prussian estate owners, General Kurt von Schleicher convinced Hindenburg to dismiss Bruning.
The efficacy of Heinrich Bruning’s chancellorship has been hotly debated among historians. For some it was the end of the Weimar Republic; for others it was the last attempt to preserve the republic. However, Bruning’s economic policy contributed to an enormous increase in support for the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (NSDAP). It was during his tenure that Adolf Hitler’s party became a mass party, which slowly but surely dominated German political life. Bruning’s attitude toward the Nazi movement was ambivalent and contradictory. Before 1933 he supported the idea of inviting the NSDAP into a coalition government. After Hitler was made chancellor at the end of January 1933, Bruning opposed the Enabling Act but voted in its favor on March 23, 1933. On May 6, 1933, he took over the leadership of the Center Party. Two months later, he was forced to dissolve his party in order to prevent its banning.
In May 1934 Bruning left Germany because he feared for his life. He arrived in the United States in 1937 via Holland and Switzerland. There he accepted a professorship in political science at Harvard University. He had to endure the criticism of leftwing emigres since Bruning had refused to speak out publicly against the Hitler dictatorship and since he did not participate in any exile organization. However, he unsuccessfully tried to warn European governments of the danger of German expansionism. Bruning accurately predicted the course of German aggression and warned the British government that appeasement would not satisfy Hitler. After the outbreak of World War II, Bruning, frightened by the discussion of retribution against Germany and especially the Morgenthau Plan, lobbied U.S. politicians in an attempt to convince them that reconstruction of Germany was needed. After the end of the war, Bruning traveled back to Germany twice, in 1948 and 1950. He was pleased to see the political unification of Catholics and nationalist Protestants in the newly established Christlich Demokratische Union (Christian Democratic Union) under the leadership of Konrad Adenauer in West Germany. He rejected the offer to run for a seat in the West German parliament. In 1951, he accepted a chair in political science at the University of Cologne. Between 1951 and 1955 he taught at the University of Cologne and at Harvard University. Bruning disagreed with Adenauer’s policy of integrating West Germany into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and objected to the incipient materialism of West Germans. After his retirement in 1955, Bruning decided to return to the United States. In 1957 he bought a small house in Norwich, Vermont, where he lived until his death.
Michael Rudloff
See also Great Depression; Intellectual Exile; Morgenthau Plan; Shuster, George Nauman; Treaty of Versailles
References and Further Reading
Mannes, Astrid Luise. Heinrich Bruning: Leben, Wirken, Schicksal. Munich: Olzog,1999.
Morsey, Rudolf. Bruning und Adenauer. Zwei deutsche Staatsmanner. Dusseldorf: Droste, 1972.
------. Zur Entstehung, Authentizitat und Kritik von Brunings “Memoiren 1918—1934. ” Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag, 1975.
Patch, William L. Heinrich Bruning and the Dissolution of the Weimar Republic. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1998.