Damian Kratzenberg

Damian Kratzenberg
Damian Kratzenberg, chief of the Volksdeutsche Bewegung
Born	November 5, 1878 Clervaux, Luxembourg
Died	October 11, 1946 Luxembourg
Buried at	Luxembourg
Allegiance	Nazi Germany

Damian Kratzenberg (November 5, 1878, Clervaux – October 11, 1946, Luxembourg City) was a highschool teacher who became head of the Volksdeutsche Bewegung (Volksdeutsche Movement), a pro-Nazi political group, in Luxembourg during World War II. He was executed after the war for collaboration with the Nazis.

He was the son of the administrator of the castle of Clervaux, a German immigrant. After receiving his baccalaureate at the Diekirch gymnasium, from 1898 to 1902 he studied literature in Luxembourg, Lille, Paris and Berlin. Following this, he taught Greek and German in Diekirch, Echternach, and from 1927 at the Athénée de Luxembourg.^[1]

From 1927 to 1936, he was a member of the liberal party. From the mid-1930s, he became a supporter of Nazi Germany. From 1935 to 1940, he was the president of GEDELIT, the Luxemburger Gesellschaft für deutsche Literatur und Kunst (Society for German Literature and Art). In 1936, he received the Goethe-Medaille für Kunst und Wissenschaft.^[1]

He became head of the regional branch of the Volksdeutsche Bewegung in 1940, and was appointed head of the Athénée de Luxembourg in 1941.^[1]

Further reading

• Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 edited by Philip Rees, 1991, ISBN 0-13-089301-3

External links

• Luxemburg Collaborationist Forces in During World War II
• The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

References

1. Marson, Pierre. "Damian Kratzenberg". Dictionnaire des auteurs luxembourgeois. Centre national de littérature.