HAInews 2023/02Commemorations and Birthdays
Legal expert with a sense of freedom: 120th birthday of Hesse's Attorney General Fritz Bauer
The prosecutor of the Nuremberg Trials, Robert Kempner, described Hesse's Attorney General Fritz Bauer as the "greatest ambassador the FRG has had". Bauer, a former law student at Heidelberg University who was influenced by the writings of Gustav Radbruch, was the driving force behind the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials in the 1960s and played an important role in coming to terms with Nazi crimes. 16 July 2023 marked the 120th anniversary of the birth of the legal expert who was strongly opposed for his socio-political commitment in the post-war period and only later found broad recognition for his work.
Prominent lawyer and Heidelberg alumnus Eberhard Kempf celebrates 80th birthday
The German history of the past 50 years is reflected in many court cases in which the lawyer Eberhard Kempf took part: The Heidelberg alumnus represented, among others, the then Deutsche Bank boss Josef Ackermann in the Mannesmann trial, the FDP politician Jürgen Möllemann in the party donation affair or the building contractor and billionaire bankrupt Jürgen Schneider. His clients also included the RAF lawyer Klaus Croissant and the ex-terrorist Hans-Joachim Klein. In addition, he represented the Nebenklage as the lawyer of the parents in the trial of the kidnapping and murder of the Frankfurt banker's son Jakob von Metzler. Eberhard Kempf turned 80 on 23 July 2023.
40th anniversary of the death of alumna Anna Seghers – icon of exile literature
When she studied at Heidelberg University in the 1920s, her name was still Netty Reiling – under the name Anna Seghers, to which she is said to have been inspired by contacts during her student days, she achieved world fame as a writer. 1 June 2023 marked the 40th anniversary of the death of Anna Seghers, an icon of German exile literature.
