Editing Alfred Meyer

{{short description|German Nazi official (1891–1945)}}
{{about|the Nazi Party official|the German writer|Alfred Meyer (writer)|German admiral born Alfred Meyer|Alfred Meyer-Waldeck}}
{{Infobox officeholder
 | name               = Alfred Meyer
 | image              = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1991-0712-500, Alfred Meyer.jpg
 | image_size         = 
 | image_upright      = 
 | smallimage         = <!--If this is specified, "image" should not be.-->
 | alt                = 
 | caption            = Meyer in 1941
 | order              = 
 | office             = Deputy ''[[Reichsminister]]'' [[Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories|for the Occupied Eastern Territories]]
 | term_start         = 17 July 1941
 | term_end           = 11 April 1945
 | leader             = [[Alfred Rosenberg]]
 | office2            = ''[[Oberpräsident]]'' of the [[Province of Westphalia]]
 | term_start2        = 4 November 1938
 | term_end2          = 11 April 1945
 | predecessor2       = [[Ferdinand von Lüninck]]
 | successor2         = ''Position abolished''
 | office3            = [[Minister of State]] of the [[Free State of Lippe]]
 | term_start3        = 1 February 1936
 | term_end3          = 11 April 1945
 | predecessor3       = [[Hans-Joachim Riecke]]
 | successor3         = [[Heinrich Drake]]
  | office4           = ''[[Reichsstatthalter]]'' of the [[Free State of Lippe]]
 | term_start4        = 16 May 1933
 | term_end4          = 11 April 1945
 | office5            = ''Reichsstatthalter'' of the [[Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe]]
 | term_start5        = 16 May 1933 
 | term_end5          = 11 April 1945
 | office6            = ''[[Gauleiter]]'' of the [[Gau Westfalen-Nord|Gau of North Westphalia]]
 | term_start6        = 31 January 1931
 | term_end6          = 11 April 1945
 | birth_name         = Gustav Alfred Julius Meyer
 | birth_date         = {{Birth date|df=yes|1891|10|5}}
 | birth_place        = [[Göttingen]], [[Province of Hanover]], [[Kingdom of Prussia]], [[German Empire]]
 | death_date         = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1945|4|11|1891|10|5}}
 | death_place        = [[Hessisch Oldendorf]], [[Province of Westphalia]],<br />[[Free State of Prussia]], [[Nazi Germany]]
 | death_cause        = [[Suicide]]
 | resting_place      = 
 | resting_place_coordinates = 
 | party              = [[Nazi Party]]
 | spouse             = 
 | children           = 
 | parents            =  <!-- overrides mother and father parameters -->
 | education          = Jurisprudence and political science, Ph.D.
 | alma_mater         = [[Lausanne University]]<br />[[University of Bonn]]<br />[[University of Würzburg]]
 | profession         = Legal consultant
 | known_for          = [[Wannsee Conference]] participant
 | awards             = [[Golden Party Badge]]
 | signature          = 
 | signature_alt      = 
<!--Military service-->
 | nickname           = 
 | allegiance         = {{flag|German Empire}}
 | branch             = [[Imperial German Army]]
 | serviceyears       = 1912–1920
 | rank               = ''[[Hauptmann]]''
 | unit               = 68th (6th Rhenish) Infantry Regiment<br />363rd Infantry Regiment
 | commands           = 
 | battles            = [[World War I]]
 | mawards            = [[Iron Cross]], 1st and 2nd class<br />[[War Merit Cross]], 1st and 2nd class with Swords<br />[[Wound Badge]]
 | footnotes          = 
}}

'''Gustav Alfred Julius Meyer''' (5 October 1891 &ndash; 11 April 1945) was a [[Nazi Party]] official and politician. He joined the Nazi Party in 1928 and was the ''[[Gauleiter]]'' of [[Gau Westphalia-North|North Westphalia]] from 1931 to 1945, the ''[[Oberpräsident]]'' of the [[Province of Westphalia]] from 1938 to 1945 and the ''[[Reichsstatthalter]]'' of [[Free State of Lippe|Lippe]] and [[Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe|Schaumburg-Lippe]] from 1933 to 1945. In 1941 he became the Permanent Deputy to the ''[[Reichsminister]]'' of the [[Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories]]. He represented the ministry with [[Georg Leibbrandt]] in the January 1942 [[Wannsee Conference]], at which the genocidal [[Final Solution to the Jewish Question]] was planned. Near the [[end of World War II in Europe]], Meyer committed suicide in April 1945.

== Early life ==
Meyer was born in [[Göttingen]], the son of a Prussian civil servant who was stationed there for his official duties. The middle-class family was originally from [[Essen]]. He was educated at the [[Gymnasium (school)|Gymnasium]] in [[Soest, Germany|Soest]], graduating in 1911.<ref name="priamus">[http://www.historisches-centrum.de/index.php?id=285 Heinz-Jürgen Priamus: ''Dr. Alfred Meyer (1891-1945)'' Biography at Historisches Centrum Hagen]</ref> 

A conservative and a monarchist, Meyer aspired to become a Prussian military officer. However, upon graduation, he entered the [[University of Lausanne]] to study law. After one term in Lausanne, he unexpectedly received an appointment as a ''[[Fahnenjunker]]'' (cadet officer) with the 68th (6th Rhenish) Infantry Regiment in [[Koblenz]] in 1912. He passed his officer exam and was commissioned as a ''[[Leutnant]]'' on 16 June 1913.{{sfn|Priamus|2017|p=267}} During [[World War I]] he fought with Infantry Regiment 363 on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]], earning the [[Iron Cross]] first and second class and the [[Wound Badge]].<ref name="priamus"/> Promoted to ''[[Oberleutnant]]'' in June 1916, he was wounded and captured by the French in April 1917.<ref name="priamus"/> This experience, according to Meyer, was especially traumatic and left him with a hatred against France.<ref name="priamus"/> Released from captivity in March 1920, the downsized ''[[Reichswehr]]'' had no use for him and he left the army in October with the rank of ''[[Hauptmann]]''.<ref name="priamus"/>

After the war, Meyer studied jurisprudence and political science at the Universities of [[University of Bonn|Bonn]] and [[University of Würzburg|Würzburg]].<ref name="priamus"/> He graduated with a [[PhD]] in 1922 and joined the legal department of a [[Gelsenkirchen]] mining firm.<ref name="priamus"/> In 1924, he joined the local [[Freemasonry|Masonic]] lodge.<ref name="priamus"/> Meyer was also the chairman of the local ''[[Kyffhäuserbund]]'' unit.<ref name="priamus"/> He married Dorothee Capell in 1925 and had five daughters with her.<ref name="priamus"/>

== Career in Nazi Germany ==
The [[Nazi Party]] was still extremely weak in Westphalia during the late 1920s, and had only about three hundred members in the city of Gelsenkirchen during this period.<ref name="priamus"/> On 1 April 1928, Meyer joined the Party (membership number 28,738). As an early Party member, he would later be awarded the [[Golden Party Badge]]. Later that year, he rose to the position of ''[[Ortsgruppenleiter]]'' (Local Group Leader) and, on 1 October 1929, he was promoted to ''[[Bezirksleiter]]'' (District Leader) of the Emscher-Lippe district within Westphalia. In November 1929, he was also elected as the only Nazi party representative to the Gelsenkirchen city council where he remained until January 1931.{{sfn|Miller|Schulz|2017|pp=290-291}}

In September 1930, Meyer was elected to the ''[[Reichstag (Weimar Republic)|Reichstag]]'' from electoral constituency 17, [[Westphalia North (electoral district)|Westphalia North]], and on 31 January 1931, he was appointed the Nazi Party ''[[Gauleiter]]'' of the newly-formed [[Gau Westphalia-North]]. He also became the editor of the local Party newspaper, the ''Westfälische Landeszeitung Rot-Erde''. On 24 April 1932, he was elected to the Prussian ''[[Landtag]]'' and was returned to the ''Reichstag'' on 6 November 1932. Following the [[Nazi seizure of power]] in 1933, Meyer was appointed to the Westphalia Provincial ''Landtag'' on 12 March, becoming its president in April. On 10 April, he was made the province's [[plenipotentiary]] to the ''[[Reichsrat (Germany)|Reichsrat]]'', serving until its abolition on 14 February 1934. [[Adolf Hitler]] appointed him as the federal ''[[Reichsstatthalter]]'' (Reich Governor) of the German States of [[Free State of Lippe|Lippe]] and [[Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe|Schaumburg-Lippe]] on 16 May 1933. He was again returned to the ''Reichstag'' at the election of 12 November 1933, retaining his seat until the fall of the Nazi regime. On 1 August 1934, he was named to [[Hans Frank]]'s [[Academy for German Law]]. Additionally, he also became the ''Staatsminister'' (Minister of State) in charge of the state government of Lippe, succeeding [[Hans-Joachim Riecke]], effective 1 February 1936. He also was named a Minister of State in the Schaumburg-Lippe government of ''Landespräsident'' (State President) {{interlanguage link|Karl Dreier|de}}. Finally, on 4 November 1938 he was made ''[[Oberpräsident]]'' of the Prussian [[Province of Westphalia]], thus uniting under his control the highest party and governmental offices in his jurisdictions. In the Nazi [[paramilitary]] organization, the ''[[Sturmabteilung]]'', he was promoted to SA-''[[Gruppenführer]]'' on 20 April 1936 and to SA-''[[Obergruppenführer]]'' on 9 November 1938.{{sfn|Miller|Schulz|2017|pp=290-293}}

On 6 September 1939, Meyer was made ''[[Chef der Zivilverwaltung]]'' (Chief of Civil Administration) in the West. On 29 May 1940 he was appointed Acting [[Reich Defense Commissioner]] for [[Military District (Germany)|Military District]] VI during the absence in [[Reichskommissariat Norwegen|Norway]] of [[Josef Terboven]]. On 17 July 1941 he was named ''Ständiger Stellvertreter'' (permanent deputy)  to ''[[Reichsminister]]'' [[Alfred Rosenberg]] in the newly-established [[Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories]] (RMO).{{sfn|Miller|Schulz|2017|pp=294-296}} Meyer was responsible for the departments of politics, administration and economics. In his role in the East, he used workers that were mainly Jewish for slave labor assigned to a variety of works. 

=== Wannsee Conference participant ===
[[File:Wannsee Protokoll januar 1942.pdf|thumb|The meeting minutes of the [[Wannsee Conference]] showing "Gauleiter Dr. Meyer" at the top of the participant list.]]
On 20 January 1942, Meyer was Rosenberg's representative at the [[Wannsee Conference]], which was called to discuss the implementation of the [[Final Solution]]. The official minutes of the conference indicate that Myer and [[Josef Bühler]], the representative of the [[General Government]], both expressed the opinion that preparatory measures for the Final Solution should be carried out immediately in their respective jurisdictions. Nine days after the conference, Myer convened a meeting at the RMO office for representatives of several other ministries and the ''[[OKW|armed forces high command]]'' (OKW). The RMO representatives advocated broadening the definition of who was a Jew. They supported the position of SS-''[[Obergruppenführer]]'' [[Reinhard Heydrich]], who had chaired the Wannsee meeting, that ''[[Mischlinge]]'' of the first degree should be included. Myer wrote a letter on 16 July 1942 proposing that a request be addressed to Hitler urging that a decision be made on the ''Mischlinge'' question.{{sfn|Priamus|2017|pp=275-276}}

== Defeat and death ==
On 16 November 1942, Myer was made Reich Defense Commissioner for his ''Gau''. During the war, he was awarded the [[War Merit Cross]], 1st and 2nd class with Swords. On 25 September 1944, he became the commander of Nazi ''[[Volksturm]]'' militia forces in his ''Gau''. He made plans to construct a "Westphalia Wall" to serve as a defensive position but the Allied assault proved unstoppable, and Münster fell to the combined British and American forces on 3 April 1945. In mid-May 1945, a body, decomposed beyond recognition but later determined to be Meyer, was found in [[Hessisch Oldendorf]] by the River [[Weser]]. Next to the body was a pistol and a suicide note, in which the unrepentant Nazi wrote: "The last part of my ''Gau'' was lost today. We defended [[Rinteln]] and the Weser bravely. In the last free part of my ''Gau'' I take leave of the ''Führer'', to whom my most heartfelt wishes belong, [and] of Germany."{{sfn|Miller|Schulz|2017|pp=289, 296, 298}}

== Fictional portrayals ==
Myer was portrayed by {{ill|Harald Dietl|de}} in the 1984 German film [[The Wannsee Conference (film)|''Die Wannseekonferenz'']], by [[Brian Pettifer]] in the 2001 [[BBC]]/[[Home Box Office|HBO]] film ''[[Conspiracy (2001 film)|Conspiracy]]'' and by [[Peter Jordan (actor)|Peter Jordan]] in the 2022 German film [[Die Wannseekonferenz (2022 film)|''Die Wannseekonferenz'']].

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
*[https://www.lwl.org/westfaelische-geschichte/portal/Internet/finde/langDatensatz.php?urlID=251&url_tabelle=tab_person&url_zaehler_blaettern=1 Alfred Myer entry] in the [https://www.lwl.org/westfaelische-geschichte/portal/Internet/das_portal/das_projekt/haupt.php?urlNeu=Ja ''Westfälische Geschichte'' internet portal]
*Höffkes, Karl (1986). Hitlers Politische Generale. Die Gauleiter des Dritten Reiches: ein biographisches Nachschlagewerk. Tübingen: Grabert-Verlag. {{ISBN|3-87847-163-7}}.
*{{cite book |last1= Miller |first1=   Michael D. |last2= Schulz |first2= Andreas |title= Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders of the Nazi Party and Their Deputies, 1925-1945 |volume= 2 (Georg Joel - Dr. Bernhard Rust) |publisher= R. James Bender Publishing |year= 2017 |isbn= 978-1-932-97032-6}}
*{{cite book |last=Priamus |first=Heinz-Jürgen |chapter=Alfred Myer, Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories:From German Monarchist to Nazi Desk Perpetrator  |editor-last1=Jasch |editor-first1=Hans-Christian |editor-last2=Kreutzmüller |editor-first2=Christoph |title=The Participants: The Men of the Wannsee Conference |publisher=Berghahn Books |location= |year=2017 |page= |isbn=978-1-785-33671-3}}

==External website==

*[https://www.ghwk.de/fileadmin/Redaktion/PDF/Konferenz/Teilnehmer/Alfred_Meyer_2.pdf Dr. Alfred Meyer (1891-1945)] in the [https://www.ghwk.de/de/ House of the Wannsee Conference Memorial and Education Site]
*{{ReichstagDB|129440450}}
*[https://prorevnews.wordpress.com/2014/06/30/minutes-of-the-wannsee-conference/ Minutes from the Wannsee Conference], archived by the Progressive Review

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Alfred}}
[[Category:1891 births]]
[[Category:1945 deaths]]
[[Category:1945 suicides]]
[[Category:Gauleiters]]
[[Category:German Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:German newspaper editors]]
[[Category:Holocaust perpetrators in Russia]]
[[Category:Members of the Academy for German Law]]
[[Category:Members of the Landtag of Prussia]]
[[Category:Members of the Reichstag 1930–1932]]
[[Category:Members of the Reichstag 1932–1933]]
[[Category:Members of the Reichstag 1933–1936]]
[[Category:Members of the Reichstag 1936–1938]]
[[Category:Members of the Reichstag 1938–1945]]
[[Category:Nazis who died by suicide in Nazi Germany]]
[[Category:Politicians from Göttingen]]
[[Category:Politicians from the Province of Hanover]]
[[Category:Provincial presidents of Westphalia]]
[[Category:Prussian Army personnel]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 2nd class]]
[[Category:Recipients of the War Merit Cross]]
[[Category:SA-Obergruppenführer]]
[[Category:University of Bonn alumni]]
[[Category:University of Lausanne alumni]]
[[Category:University of Würzburg alumni]]
[[Category:Volkssturm personnel]]
[[Category:Wannsee Conference attendees]]