| Johann Viktor Bredt | |
| Birth Date: | 2 March 1879 |
| Birth Place: | Barmen |
| Death Date: | 1 December 1940 (aged 61) |
| Death Place: | Marburg |
| Party: | Economic Party |
| Nationality: | German |
| Order1: | Reich Minister of Justice |
| Term Start1: | 30 March 1930 |
| Term End1: | 5 December 1930 |
| Chancellor1: | Heinrich Brüning |
| Predecessor1: | Theodor von Guérard |
| Successor1: | Curt Joël (acting) |
| Office2: | Member of the Reichstag |
| Term Start2: | 27 May 1924 |
| Term End2: | 4 June 1932 |
| Constituency2: | National list (1924–1928) Düsseldorf-Ost (1928–1932) |
Johann Viktor Bredt (2 March 1879 – 1 December 1940) was a German jurist and politician. He served as Minister of Justice of the Weimar Republic in 1930/1.
Bredt was born in Barmen on 2 March 1879 as the only son of Viktor Richard Bredt (1849–81), an industrialist, and his wife, Henriette née Koll.[1] [2]
He worked at the Barmer Bankverein in 1897/8 before studying jurisprudence and economics at Tübingen, Göttingen and Bonn. In 1901 he was awarded a doctorate (Dr. jur.) and in 1904 a Dr. phil.. In 1909 he became a professor at Marburg. Bredt worked in the civil service in 1903-09 and in 1910 was appointed to a professorship for jurisprudence at Marburg university.[1]
Johann married twice: in 1902 Ada Bredt (divorced in 1912) at Barmen and in 1931 Olga Bredt (at Marburg).[1]
In 1911–8, and again from 1921-4 Bredt was a member of the lower chamber of the Landtag of Prussia, first for the Free Conservative Party in the Kingdom of Prussia, then in the Free State of Prussia. From 1924 to 1932, he was the parliamentary leader of the Reich Party of the German Middle Class (which he had co-founded) in the Reichstag. He also held various honorary and political positions on a local (Marburg) and regional (Hesse-Nassau) level.[1]
In 1926, Bredt was an expert witness for the parliamentary committee on the causes of the German collapse in 1918. In 1930/1, he served as Minister of Justice in the first cabinet of Heinrich Brüning. Bredt also played a key role in the German reformed church. In 1925, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in theology Dr. theol. h. c. by the University of Bonn.[1]
Bredt died 1 December 1940 in Marburg.[1]