Sunday, June 17, 1934

Didn't go to church or Sunday school today. In the evening Ollie came over. Played pinochle.

Lieutenant-Colonel Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen zu Köningen
(29 October 1879 – 2 May 1969)

The Marburg Speech (German: Marburger Rede) was an address given by German vice chancellor Franz von Papen at the University of Marburg on June 17, 1934. It is said to be the last speech made publicly, and on a high level, in Germany against Nazism.


Papen, encouraged by President Paul von Hindenburg, spoke out publicly about the excesses of the Nazi regime, whose ascent to power, 17 months earlier when Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany, had been assisted measurably by Papen. In his speech von Papen called for an end of the Nazi terror and the clamoring for a "second revolution" by the Sturmabteilung (SA – the Nazi Party storm troopers), and a return to dignity and freedom. He also stated: "The government [must be] mindful of the old maxim 'only weaklings suffer no criticism'".

The speech made Hitler furious, and propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels attempted to suppress it. Angered by the blocking of publication of his speech, Papen insisted he had spoken on behalf of Hindenburg, threatened to submit his resignation from Hitler's cabinet, and promised to inform Hindenburg of the suppression of his speech.


Papen resigned as vice chancellor;  he would later serve as a diplomat until 1944, and played no further political role.