Carl von Ossietzky
| Carl von Ossietzky | |
|---|---|
Photograph of Carl von Ossietzky taken in 1915
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| Born |
3 October 1889 Hamburg, German Empire |
| Died |
4 May 1938 (aged 48) Berlin, Nazi Germany |
| Occupation | German journalist, political activist |
| Spouse(s) | Maud Lichfield-Wood (British) |
| Children | Rosalinde von Ossietzky-Palm |
| Awards | Nobel Peace Prize (1935) |
Carl von Ossietzky (3 October 1889 – 4 May 1938) was a German pacifist and the recipient of the 1935 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in exposing the clandestine German re-armament. He was convicted of high treason and espionage in 1931 after publishing details of Germany's violation of the Treaty of Versailles by rebuilding an air force, the predecessor of the Luftwaffe, and training pilots in the Soviet Union. In 1990, his daughter, Rosalinde von Ossietzky-Palm, called for a resumption of proceedings, but the verdict was upheld by the Federal Court of Justice in 1992.
Ossietzky was born in Hamburg, the son of Carl Ignatius von Ossietzky (1848–1891), a Protestant from Upper Silesia, and Rosalie (née Pratzka), a devout Catholic who wanted her son to enter Holy Orders, and become a priest or monk. His father worked as a stenographer in the office of a lawyer and senator, but died when Carl was two years old. Ossietzky was baptized as a Roman Catholic in Hamburg on 10 November 1889, and confirmed in the Lutheran Hauptkirche St Michaelis on 23 March 1904.
The "von" in Ossietzky's name, which would generally suggest noble ancestry, is of unknown origin. Ossietzky himself explained, perhaps half in jest, that it derived from an ancestor's service in a Polish lancer cavalry regiment; the Elector of Brandenburg was unable to pay his two regiments of lancers at one point due to an empty war chest so he instead conferred nobility upon the entirety of the two regiments.
Despite his failure to finish Realschule (a form of German secondary school), Ossietzky succeeded in embarking on a career in journalism, with the topics of his articles ranging from theatre criticism to feminism and the problems of early motorization. He later said that his opposition to German militarism during the final years of the German Empire under Wilhelm II led him, as early as 1913, to become a pacifist.
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