Gelöbnis treuester Gefolgschaft


The Gelöbnis treuester Gefolgschaft was a declaration by 88 German writers and poets of their loyalty to Adolf Hitler. It was printed in the Vossische Zeitung on 26 October 1933 and publicised by the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin. It was also published in other newspapers, such as the Frankfurter Zeitung, to widen public awareness of the confidence of the signed poets and writers in Hitler as the Chancellor of Germany.

Background

The declaration came towards the end of 1933, in the period of domestic turmoil in Germany following the Reichstag fire on 27 February 1933, the elections that returned Hitler to power on 5 March, and the passing of the Enabling Act on 23 March 1933 which allowed Hitler bypass the German legislature and pass laws at will. It came shortly after the editor law was passed on 4 October 1933, which sought to bring the press under government control, and the withdrawal of Germany from the League of Nations on 21 October 1933.
The editor law regulated journalism, and requiring journalists to be registered on an official list of the Reichspressekammer, under Joseph Goebbels' Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. To join the list, a journalist had to demonstrate one year's professional training, "political reliability", and Aryan descent. Newspaper editors were also regulated and subject to central control. Around 1,300 journalists lost their jobs when the editor law came into force on 1 January 1934.
German writer Hanns Martin Elster complained on 28 October 1933 that writers not listed could be mistakenly thought to lack loyalty to the Führer. However, some writers felt forced to sign to protect themselves or their publishers.
The declaration by German writers was echoed by similar declarations by 900 university and high school professors, and by other artists.

Signatories

The 88 signatories were:
  1. Friedrich Arenhövel
  2. Gottfried Benn
  3. Werner Beumelburg
  4. Rudolf G. Binding
  5. Walter Bloem
  6. Hans Friedrich Blunck
  7. Max Karl Böttcher
  8. Rolf Brandt
  9. Arnolt Bronnen
  10. Otto Brües
  11. Alfred Brust
  12. Carl Bulcke
  13. Hermann Claudius
  14. Hans Martin Cremer
  15. Marie Diers
  16. Peter Dörfler
  17. Max Dreyer
  18. Franz Dülberg
  19. Ferdinand Eckhardt
  20. Richard Euringer
  21. Ludwig Finckh
  22. Otto Flake
  23. Hans Franck
  24. Gustav Frenssen
  25. Heinrich von Gleichen
  27. Friedrich Griese
  28. Max Grube
  29. Johannes von Guenther
  30. Carl Haensel
  31. Max Halbe
  32. Ilse Hamel
  33. Agnes Harder
  34. Karl Heinl
  35. Hans Ludwig Held
  36. Friedrich W. Herzog
  37. Rudolf Herzog
  38. Paul Oskar Höcker
  39. Rudolf Huch
  40. Hans von Hülsen
  41. Bruno Herbert Jahn
  42. Hanns Johst
  43. Max Jungnickel
  44. Hans Knudsen
  45. Ruth Köhler-Irrgang
  46. Gustav Kohne
  47. Carl Lange
  48. Johannes von Leers
  49. Heinrich Lersch
  50. Heinrich Lilienfein
  51. Oskar Loerke
  52. Gerhard Menzel
  53. Herybert Menzel
  54. Alfred Richard Meyer, known as Munkepunke
  55. Agnes Miegel
  56. Walter von Molo
  58. Fritz Müller-Partenkirchen
  59. Börries von Münchhausen
  60. Eckart von Naso
  61. Helene von Nostitz-Wallwitz
  62. Josef Ponten
  63. Rudolf Presber
  64. Arthur Rehbein
  65. Ilse Reicke
  67. Franz Schauwecker
  68. Johannes Schlaf
  69. Anton Schnack
  70. Friedrich Schnack
  71. Richard Schneider-Edenkoben
  72. Wilhelm von Scholz
  73. Lothar Schreyer
  74. Gustav Schröer
  75. Wilhelm Schussen
  76. Ina Seidel
  77. Willy Seidel
  78. Heinrich Sohnrey
  79. Dietrich Speckmann
  80. Heinz Steguweit
  81. Lulu von Strauß und Torney
  82. Eduard Stucken
  83. Will Vesper
  84. Josef Magnus Wehner
  85. Leo Weismantel
  86. Bruno E. Werner
  87. Heinrich Zerkaulen
  88. Hans-Caspar von Zobeltitz