Hermann Dohna-Finckenstein Explained

Hermann Dohna-Finckenstein
Order:Prussian State Councilor
Term Start:December 1933
Term End:13 December 1942
Order2:Deputy District Administrator
Rosenberg District
Term Start2:1927
Term End2:1937
Birthname:Hermann zu Dohna-Schlobitten
Birth Date:10 October 1894
Birth Place:Allenstein, East Prussia, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death Date:13 December 1942 (age 48)
Death Place:Finckenstein Palace, Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia, Nazi Germany
Father:Carl Burggraf und Graf zu Dohna-Schlobitten
Mother:Elsa, Gräfin von der Schulenburg-Tressow
Party:Nazi Party
Nationality:German
Alma Mater:University of Bonn
Profession:Estate owner
Allegiance:
Branch:Imperial German Army
Schutzstaffel
Serviceyears:1914–1918
1931–1942
Rank:Leutnant der reserves
SS-Obersturmbannführer
Unit:2nd (1st Brandenburg) Dragoon Regiment
Battles:World War I
Mawards:Iron Cross, 2nd class

Hermann Werner Rodrigo Heinrich Friedrich Donatus Burggraf und Graf zu Dohna-Finckenstein (10 October 1894 – 13 December 1942) was a German estate owner, politician and SS-Obersturmbannführer.

Early life and education

Dohna-Finckenstein was born into an old noble family in Allenstein (today, Olsztyn). His father Carl was a landowner and Landrat (District Administrator). Hermann attended the Gymnasium of Braunsberg (today, Braniewo), Potsdam and Rastenburg (today, Kętrzyn). During the First World War, he served in the Imperial German Army as a Leutnant of reserves in the 2nd (1st Brandenburg) Dragoon Regiment.[1] He left the military after the war's end, having been awarded the Iron Cross, 2nd class.[2] Like his father and younger brother, he attended Bonn University and was a member of the Corps Borussia Bonn student corps.[3]

Estate owner, politician and SS officer

Upon the death of his childless uncle, Alfred Dohna-Schlobitten (1852–1929), Dohna-Finckenstein inherited the Finckenstein Palace and its estate, which he managed during the difficult time following the agricultural crisis of the late 1920s and during the economic crisis of the early 1930s. From 1927 to 1937 he served as a local government official, the Kreisdeputierter (Deputy District Administrator) of the Rosenberg district in West Prussia.[4]

On 1 November 1931, Dohna-Finckenstein joined the Nazi Party (membership number 808,228) and the SS (SS number 102,880). On 10 March 1934, he was commissioned an SS-Sturmführer in SS-Standarte 64, based in Marienwerder (today, Kwidzyn) West Prussia. On 20 April 1935 he was promoted to SS-Obersturmführer, on 16 June 1935 to SS-Hauptsturmführer and on 12 September 1937 to SS-Sturmbannführer in SS Abschnitt XXII, headquartered in Allenstein.[2] His final promotion was to SS-Obersturmbannführer.[1]

At the end of 1933, Prussian Minister-president Hermann Göring appointed Dohna-Finckenstein to the Prussian State Council, and he remained a member until his death. In 1934 he became a Prussian Provincial Councilor for the Province of East Prussia and later headed the department for forestry of the Danzig–West Prussian State Farmers' Association. He also served as a member of the board of directors of a sugar factory in Riesenburg (today, Prabuty) and as a member of the Danzig advisory board of Deutsche Bank. He died at Finckenstein Palace on 13 December 1942.[5]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Lilla, Joachim . Der Preußische Staatsrat 1921–1933: Ein biographisches Handbuch . Droste Verlag . Düsseldorf . 2005 . 198 . 978-3-770-05271-4.
  2. Web site: SS Seniority List, 1 December 1937 . 19 October 2023 . 62–63, No.1222.
  3. https://digitale-sammlungen.ulb.uni-bonn.de/content/pageview/741424 Biografisches Corpsalbum der Borussia zu Bonn, 1821–1928, p. 275, No. 951
  4. http://www.aefl.de/ordld/Finckenstein_neu/finckenstein6/finckenstein_6.htm Christa Mühleisen:Finckenstein Castle in the former Rosenberg district in West Prussia, Part 6, Napoleon and the Period up to 1945
  5. Book: Lilla, Joachim . Der Preußische Staatsrat 1921–1933: Ein biographisches Handbuch . Droste Verlag . Düsseldorf . 2005 . 198, 297 . 978-3-770-05271-4.