Reichserbhofgesetz

The Reichserbhofgesetz (Eng: land heritage law or the State Hereditary Farm Law of 1933) was a Nazi law to implement principles of blood and soil, stating that its aim was to: "preserve the farming community as the blood-source of the German people" (Das Bauerntum als Blutquelle des deutschen Volkes erhalten).[1] As peasants appeared in Nazi ideology as a source of economics and racial stability, the law was implemented to protect them from the forces of modernization.[2]

Description

Conditions

Walther Darré speaking at a Reichsnährstand assembly under the slogan 'Blut und Boden' (blood and soil) in Goslar, 1937

Any farm of at least one Ackernahrung, area of land large enough to support a family and evaluated from 7.5 to 125 hectares (19–309 acres), was declared hereditary as an Erbhof, to pass from father to son, and could not be mortgaged or alienated, and only these farmers were entitled to call themselves Bauern or "farmer peasant", a term the Nazis attempted to refurbish from a neutral or even pejorative to a positive term.[3][4]

A Greater Aryan certificate was required to receive its benefits, similar to the requirements for becoming a member of the Nazi Party (NSDAP).

Farms too small could became Erbhof by combination while larger farms would have to be subdivided.[1][5]

Transmission

Regional custom was only allowed to decide whether the eldest or the youngest son was to be the heir. In areas where no particular custom prevailed, the youngest son was to be the heir.[1][6][7][8] Still, the eldest son inherited the farm in most cases during the Third Reich. Priority was given to the patriline, so that if there were no sons, the brothers and brothers' sons of the deceased peasant had precedence over the peasant's own daughters.[9]

Only about 35% of all farming units were covered by it, and East Elbian landed estates were not affected.[4][5]

Richard Walther Darré, in accordance with his strong "blood and soil" beliefs, did much to promote it as the Reich Minister of Food and Agriculture and Reichsbauernführer.

Suppression

In Allied-occupied Germany, after much debate about whether this law should be repealed for its Nazi roots or if this law should be kept for now, after excising its most odious clauses, to protect the German food supply, on 1947 the Allied Control Council decided to repeal it and to regulate the transfer of forests and farms. On the occasion, other entailments were also repealed.[10][11][12]

References

Galbraith, J. K. (1939-05-01). "Hereditary Land in the Third Reich". The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 53 (3): 465–476. doi:10.2307/1884418. ISSN 0033-5533. JSTOR 1884418.
"GHDI - Document". germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
Stackelberg, Roderick (2002-01-22). Hitler's Germany: Origins, Interpretations, Legacies. Routledge. p. 127. ISBN 978-1-134-63529-0.
Richard Grunberger, The 12-Year Reich, pp 156-7, ISBN 0-03-076435-1
David Schoenbaum, Hitler's Social Revolution: Class and Status in Nazi Germany, 1933-1939, p 164 Garden City, NY Doubleday, 1966.
"404 - Seite nicht gefunden (www.verfassungen.ch)". www.verfassungen.de. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
Daniela Münkel, Nationalsozialistische Agrarpolitik und Bauernalltag p.116
Eckert, Jörn (2003). Der praktische Nutzen der Rechtsgeschichte: Hans Hattenhauer zum 8. September 2001 (in German). C.F. Müller GmbH. ISBN 978-3-8114-5132-2.
Schinnerer, Erich (1938). German Law and Legislation.
LOEWENSTEIN, KARL (1948-01-01). "LAW AND THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS IN OCCUPIED GERMANY: I". Yale Law Journal. 57 (5). ISSN 0044-0094.
Szanajda, Andrew (2007). The Restoration of Justice in Postwar Hesse, 1945-1949. Lexington Books. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-7391-1870-2.
Law No. 45 of Feb. 20, 1947 on "Repeal of Legislation on Hereditary Farms andEnactment of Other Provisions Regulating Agricultural Forest Lands," OG/CC, No.14 at 256 (May 31, 1947)

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[:0-1] Galbraith, J. K. (1939-05-01). "Hereditary Land in the Third Reich". The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 53 (3): 465–476. doi:10.2307/1884418. ISSN 0033-5533. JSTOR 1884418.

[2] "GHDI - Document". germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org. Retrieved 2020-01-03.

[3] Stackelberg, Roderick (2002-01-22). Hitler's Germany: Origins, Interpretations, Legacies. Routledge. p. 127. ISBN 978-1-134-63529-0.

[:1-4] Richard Grunberger, The 12-Year Reich, pp 156-7, ISBN 0-03-076435-1

[Schoenbaum164-5] David Schoenbaum, Hitler's Social Revolution: Class and Status in Nazi Germany, 1933-1939, p 164 Garden City, NY Doubleday, 1966.

[6] "404 - Seite nicht gefunden (www.verfassungen.ch)". www.verfassungen.de. Retrieved 2020-01-03.

[7] Daniela Münkel, Nationalsozialistische Agrarpolitik und Bauernalltag p.116

[8] Eckert, Jörn (2003). Der praktische Nutzen der Rechtsgeschichte: Hans Hattenhauer zum 8. September 2001 (in German). C.F. Müller GmbH. ISBN 978-3-8114-5132-2.

[9] Schinnerer, Erich (1938). German Law and Legislation.

[10] LOEWENSTEIN, KARL (1948-01-01). "LAW AND THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS IN OCCUPIED GERMANY: I". Yale Law Journal. 57 (5). ISSN 0044-0094.

[11] Szanajda, Andrew (2007). The Restoration of Justice in Postwar Hesse, 1945-1949. Lexington Books. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-7391-1870-2.

[12] Law No. 45 of Feb. 20, 1947 on "Repeal of Legislation on Hereditary Farms andEnactment of Other Provisions Regulating Agricultural Forest Lands," OG/CC, No.14 at 256 (May 31, 1947)