THE HISTORY MANAGEMENT OF THE EAST-ELBIAN NOBILITY AFTER 1945 Paul Christopher Johannes Schönberger St Catharine’s College October 2017 This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Paul Christopher Johannes Schönberger The History Management of the East-Elbian Nobility After 1945 Abstract This thesis undertakes a critical analysis of the history management of the East-Elbian nobility. Its central hypothesis is that noble families throughout the second half of the twentieth century deliberately sought to steer and control the public commemoration of their caste. These efforts were a concerted assault on widely held views about the place of the nobility in recent history, and specifically, about their culpability in the disasters that brought about war, defeat and moral shame to Germany. The first phase of noble history management concerned an expressed ‘resistance against Hitler’ alignment and self-distancing from the regime. The second phase of history management strategically employed autobiographical and family chronicles to construct an image of a modest and industrious elite, deeply rooted in the ancient traditions and virtues of an apolitical East- Elbian estate society. This dissertation argues that the process of history management continued after German reunification in 1989-1990, when many former refugee families returned to their old estates in East Elbia. i For my parents ii Acknowledgements The final draft of an academic text is a lonesome endeavour; its genesis, however, is the work of many. During the course of this thesis, I have amassed more intellectual debts than I can ever repay. First and foremost, this applies to the ceaseless support of my supervisor Sir Christopher Clark. In countless meetings he helped me to structure my thoughts, sharpen my arguments, eradicate inconsistencies and rigorously contain my proclivity for prose. My two examiners Professor Frank Müller and Professor Brendan Simms not only reviewed my thesis but also provided me with invaluable comments and suggestions. Dr. Marion Stein, Dr. Christoph Franke and Gottfried Graf Finck von Finckenstein from the Adelsarchiv in Marburg willingly opened their collections to me as well as allowed me to pick their brains on the subtleties of noble memory. Prinz Georg Friedrich von Preussen gave me access to his family archive. Michaela Blankart, Dr. Ulrich Feldhahn and Stefan Schimmel from the Generalverwaltung des vormals regierenden Preussischen Königshauses provided me with valuable support and advice. Thanks are also due to my close friends in Cambridge, London and Berlin who served as crucial advisors, tireless motivators and constructive critics: Josephine von Perfall, Franz de Waal, Henry Palmer, Jakob Stawiarz, Stanislaus von Thurn und Taxis, Luise Volwahsen, Teresa von Wittgenstein, Sebastian Lapinski, Belinda Cheney and Katya Eckert. Amongst those friends Dr. Jan-Otto Jandl played a particularly special role, with a commitment to iii supporting the completion of my work akin to that of a deputy supervisor. I owe him a great deal. I am fortunate in having wonderful siblings who all helped me throughout the journey. I am especially indebted to my parents to whom this thesis is dedicated. Their encouragement, guidance and undying support have allowed me to pursue a degree at Cambridge and weather the storms along the way. I am eternally grateful to them. iv Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 State of Research ...................................................................................................... 4 Methodology ........................................................................................................ 11 Structure ............................................................................................................... 20 Terms and Problems ........................................................................................... 21 The Establishment of 20 July 1944 in Public Memory .................................... 25 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 25 The Regime’s Reaction to the Coup .................................................................. 26 Allied Popular Reaction to the Coup ............................................................... 32 First Literary Accounts ....................................................................................... 36 Early Pressure Groups ........................................................................................ 50 20 July 1944 in Court ........................................................................................... 56 The Government’s Role in Commemoration .................................................. 67 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 75 The ‘Ennoblement’ of the Military Resistance ................................................. 77 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 77 Convergence and Estrangement: the Nazis’ Ambiguous Relationship with the Nobility .......................................................................................................... 77 Post-war Perceptions: Nobility and Nazis as Two Sides of One Coin ........ 84 The Adelsblatt: the Thoughts of a Bewildered Caste ..................................... 92 The Minting of a New Coin: Nobility and Resistance ................................... 95 From Marwitz to Stauffenberg: How President Heuss Established a Link between Resistance and Nobility .................................................................... 106 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 110 Strategies of Rehabilitation: Autobiography as Transfiguration ............... 112 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 112 Post World War I ............................................................................................... 116 From Collapse to Resurgence ...................................................................... 116 A Stab in the Back: Drafting the Image of Infallible Noble Leadership 120 Self-Critical Views ......................................................................................... 126 Post World War II .............................................................................................. 129 The Apologia of the 1945-Generation ........................................................ 129 Noble Participation in the Historical Division of the US Army ............. 136 v The Struggle for the Commemoration of East Elbia ................................ 139 The Failure of the Expellee Associations ................................................... 140 Land of Desire: the Literary Resurrection of East Elbia in Noble Memoirs .......................................................................................................................... 147 Redrafting the Popular Image of the East-Elbian Nobility ..................... 157 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 171 The Cultivation of Memory ............................................................................... 181 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 181 The Evolution of the Family Chronicle .......................................................... 185 National Socialism: a Footnote of Noble History ......................................... 193 Selective Remembrance .................................................................................... 208 Delegitimising the Post-War Settlement in the East .................................... 215 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 230 Return to East Elbia .............................................................................................. 235 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 235 The Problem of Restitution .............................................................................. 237 The Reestablishment of the Patrimonial System .......................................... 244 A New Phase of History Management .......................................................... 252 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 268 A Case Study: The Hohenzollern ...................................................................... 271 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 271 Hohenzollern History Management in the Twentieth Century ................. 273 The Restitution Process after German Reunification ................................... 283 Did the Crown Prince Provide the National Socialist Movement with Substantial Assistance? ..................................................................................... 288 Appraisal Professor Christopher Clark ...................................................... 288 Appraisal Dr