Talk:President of Germany (Weimar Republic)

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[edit] awkward ordinals in the article be removed

From Talk:President of Germany [snip] Not to denigrate the Wikipedia, but I don't think other Wikipedia articles can be used properly as evidence of anything. I'd like to see a, well, book that talks about this issue, or that calls Dönitz Reichspräsident. john k 20:00, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Quit right ask for an original source:
In German [Adolf Hitler Politisches Testament] "ernenne ich als Führer der Nation folgende Mitglieder des neuen Kabinetts:
Reichspräsident: D ö n i t z
Reichskanzler: Dr. G o e b b e l s
Parteiminister: B o r m a n n
English translation of Adolf Hitler's Final Political Testament "I appoint the following members of the new Cabinet as leaders of the nation:
President of the Reich: DOENITZ
Chancellor of the Reich: DR. GOEBBELS
Party Minister: BORMANN"
--Philip Baird Shearer 20:21, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Okay, fair enough. I'd suggest that we remove the numeration entirely, since the question of whether Hitler was Reichspräsident, or merely held the powers of Reichspräsident, seems up in the air, and the ordinals don't really give us any additional information. john k 17:14, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Hitler was not Reichspräsident, sure he was head of state, but his title was "Führer (und Reichskanzler)" not "Reichspräsident (and Reichskanzler)".
I can not find a document for you which explains this on line, but I can prove it to you in a round about way. As you will be aware the German army oath of allegiance was changed so that Officers who took their oaths seriously were caught like flys on fly paper. This change took place on August 2, 1934 (the day Hitler became head of state). If Hitler had still been Reichspräsident (or if the office had still existed) then the Oath would have had to included it, because not to do so would have allowed the Officers a way around the wording of the oath. But it did not. It used the word Führer. The Army Enslaved --Philip Baird Shearer 20:05, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)

In terms of the enabling act - indeed, the Weimar Constitution was put out of operation. But it was done constitutionally - that is to say, Germany's constitution was still the Weimar Constitution. It just was suspended for an indefinite period of time. But I wasn't clear. In terms of Hitler as Reichspräsident, I wasn't saying that he was Reichspräsident, exactly. Just that he incorporated within himself all of Hindenburg's powers, meaning that the role of Führer in some sense incorporated the role of Reichspräsident. At any rate, all I'm asking now is that the awkward ordinals in the other article be removed - it just seems weird to say that Dönitz was the third Reichspräsident. john k 03:53, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I suggest that that is a something to be discussed on Talk:Reichspräsident. I am going to copy a couple of paragraphs to get us started Philip Baird Shearer 16:32, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Dönitz' Party?

The list put the party of Dönitz as none. However, I was under the impression he was a Nazi. Thus, I have been bold and changed it. ¿SFGiДnts! ☺ ☻ 23:39, 23 May 2007 (UTC)

You're wrong to do so. Like most German military officers, Dönitz was not a member of any political party, and in fact had never taken part in politics before Hitler named his as his successor. He may have shared some beliefs with the Nazis--I would argue that he was certainly fascist in his world view--but he wasn't a member of the NSDAP. Jsc1973 (talk) 20:45, 4 January 2008 (UTC)