Heinrich Schnee
German politician (1871–1949) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
German politician (1871–1949) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Heinrich Albert Schnee (Albert Hermann Heinrich Schnee; 4 February 1871 – 23 June 1949) was a German lawyer, colonial civil servant, politician, writer, and association official. He served as the last Governor of German East Africa.
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Heinrich Albert Schnee | |
|---|---|
| |
| Governor of German East Africa | |
| In office 1912–1918 | |
| Preceded by | Albrecht von Rechenberg |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 4 February 1871 Neuhaldensleben, German Empire |
| Died | 23 June 1949 (aged 78) Berlin, West Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Profession | diplomat, public servant, politician, author |
Schnee was born in Neuhaldensleben, the son of the district court Councillor Hermann Schnee (1829–1901) and his wife Emily (née Scheibe). He attended high school in Nordhausen, and studied law in Heidelberg (as a member of the Corps Rhenania Heidelberg), Kiel, and Berlin (Dr. jur., 1893).
In 1897, he began working in the Federal Foreign Office, and in 1898 he became a judge and the Deputy Governor of German New Guinea. In 1900, he became a District Officer and Deputy Governor of German Samoa. When in New York, Schnee, in 1901 married Ada Adeline Woodhill (1873-1969), a New Zealand actress of English and Irish extraction.
After 1904 he again served as a Legation Councillor in the Colonial Department of the Foreign Office in Germany. In 1905 he became Colonial Advisory Councilor of the embassy in London, in 1906 Lecturing Councillor, and in 1907 Dirigent. From 1911 onwards he was Ministerial Director and head of the political and administrative division in the Imperial Colonial Office in Berlin.[1]
From 1912 to 1918 Schnee served as the last Governor of German East Africa. His tenure was marked by the outbreak of the First World War. As Governor he held supreme military command. However, he soon disagreed with the commander of the Schutztruppe, General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, on defensive strategy. Ultimately von Lettow-Vorbeck prevailed with his guerrilla tactics and increasingly assumed control of operations. Schnee, besides his administrative responsibilities, also had to reconcile his family, and according to Wilhelm Methner, who served under the governorship of Schnee as First Secretary, "the wife of the governor, who was English by birth, suffered the bitter fate of seeing the sons of her fatherland and of her adoptive country in battle against each other. This brave and upright woman had to bear with much hostility".[2] On 2 March 1919, Schnee and Lettow-Vorbeck led the returning fighters from East Africa through the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
After the First World War, Schnee was a member of the parliament (Reichstag). He represented the German People's Party, from which he resigned in 1932. There were some press speculations in 1932 about Schnee becoming Chancellor. From 1933 to 1945 he again held a Reichstag seat, now for the Nazi Party. An active colonial policy outside Europe, as understood by Schnee, the reason for his continued involvement in politics, was not among the new rulers' interests.
Schnee was also internationally known as a leading representative of German colonial interests and was repeatedly invited to lectures in the United States and other European countries. He was appointed to the League of Nations' Manchuria Commission (the Lytton Commission) which negotiated with China and Japan regarding their military conflict over influence in Manchuria and reported to the League of Nations.[3]
In 1926, Schnee became the president of the Federation of Germans abroad, a position he held till 1933. From 1930 to 1936 he served as the (last) President of the German Colonial Society (DKG) which then was supplanted by the Reichskolonialbund (RKB). After the Second World War, the Allies considered Schnee incriminated because he had held a Nazi Party Reichstag seat, and he could not continue his work. He died in 1949 in a car accident in Berlin and was buried in a cemetery near the highway.
Heinrich Schnee is one of the figures in German colonial revisionism.[4] Through publication of books and essays, as a politician, and as a federation official and lecturer, he tried to give the "colonial question" national importance and to promote the recovery of the former colonial territories. With the Gleichschaltung of the colonial associations in 1936 it became clear that his influence was gone. Schnee was not considered for a position in the RKB and he did not join the new association.
