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(EN) Episode 49 - Weimar heads of government - Constantin Fehrenbach

(EN) Episode 49 - Weimar heads of government - Constantin Fehrenbach

History lost in time vor 8 Monaten

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31:23

"Only our sense of duty to the people and the fatherland has
brought us to this position! If somewhere the important man of
recognized name and reputation from a proven past is found,
believe me: there will be no happier hour for me than the one
when I can place the office entrusted to me into his hands."

This quote from page 14 of Bernd Braun's book about the
Chancellors, which I'll mention shortly, comes from Chancellor
Constantin Fehrenbach and is from his first statement as
Chancellor before the Reichstag. What must be going through a
person's mind when they comment on the office of head of
government with such words? When they say right away, upon taking
office, that they're already looking forward to being able to
hand over this burden?

As the episodes about his predecessors make clear — episodes 45,
41, and 37 — the office of Reich Chancellor in Weimar was always
a difficult and unpopular one. Those in office almost always
inherited terrible things from their predecessors and had little
room to maneuver. And they rarely remained in the hot seat of
head of government for long. Constantin Fehrenbach was the first
bourgeois head of government of the Weimar Republic. And this
episode is about him. His reign encompassed the aftermath of the
Kapp Putsch, the aftermath of the 1920 Reichstag elections, the
referendums in the East, the partial occupation of the Ruhr in
1921, and two reparations conferences. Quite a lot for less than
a year in office.

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