Johann Viktor Bredt

Johann Viktor Bredt (2 March 1879 – 1 December 1940) was a German jurist and politician. He served as Minister of Justice of the Weimar Republic in 1930/1.

Johann Viktor Bredt
Bredt in 1930
Reich Minister of Justice
In office 30 March 1930 – 5 December 1930
Chancellor	Heinrich Brüning
Preceded by	Theodor von Guérard
Succeeded by	Curt Joël (acting)
Member of the Reichstag
In office 27 May 1924 – 4 June 1932
Constituency	National list (1924–1928) Düsseldorf-Ost (1928–1932)
Personal details
Born	(1879-03-02)2 March 1879 Barmen, Germany
Died	1 December 1940(1940-12-01) (aged 61) Marburg, Germany
Political party	Economic Party

Biography

Bredt was born in Barmen, on 2 March 1879, the only son of Viktor Richard Bredt (1849–1881), an industrialist, and his wife, Henriette (née Koll).^[1][2]

He worked at the Barmer Bankverein in 1897/8 before studying jurisprudence and economics at Tübingen, Göttingen and Bonn. In 1901, he was awarded a doctorate (Dr. jur.) and in 1904 a Dr. phil.. In 1909, he became a professor at Marburg. Bredt worked in the civil service in 1903-09 and in 1910 was appointed to a professorship for jurisprudence at Marburg university.^[1]

Johann married twice: in 1902 Ada Bredt (divorced in 1912) at Barmen and in 1931 Olga Bredt (at Marburg).^[1]

Political career

From 1911 to 1918, and from 1921 to 1924, Bredt was a member of the lower chamber of the Landtag of Prussia, first for the Free Conservative Party in the Kingdom of Prussia, then in the Free State of Prussia. From 1924 to 1932, he was the parliamentary leader of the Reich Party of the German Middle Class (which he had co-founded) in the Reichstag. He also held various honorary and political positions on a local (Marburg) and regional (Hesse-Nassau) level.^[1]

In 1926, Bredt was an expert witness for the parliamentary committee on the causes of the German collapse in 1918. In 1930 and 1931, he served as Minister of Justice in the first cabinet of Heinrich Brüning. Bredt also played a key role in the German reformed church. In 1925, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in theology Dr. theol. h. c. by the University of Bonn.^[1]

Bredt died 1 December 1940, aged 61, in Marburg.^[1]

Works

• Die Trennung von Kirche und Staat, 1919
• Die Rechte des Summus Episcopus, 1919
• Neues evangelisches Kirchenrecht für Preußen, 3 volumes, 1921–27
• Der Geist der deutschen Reichsverfassung, 1924
• Der deutsche Reichstag im Weltkrieg, 1926
• Die belgische Neutralität und der Schlieffensche Feldzugsplan, 1929
• Geschichte der Familie Bredt, 1937
• Haus Bredt-Rübel, 1937
• Die Verfassung der reformierten Kirche in Cleve-Jülich-Berg-Mark, 1938.