Tier- und Naturschutz im Nationalsozialismus
Gesetzgebung, Ideologie und Praxis
Stefan Dirscherl, Stephan Meder
The Reich Animal Protection Act of Nazi Germany, passed on 24th November 1933, was the first animal protection law that was binding for the whole territory of the Reich, and contained detailed administrative rules. Even abroad, it was deemed to be highly advanced and exemplary; a substantially revision did not take place until the passing of the Animal Protection Act on 24th July 1972. The Reich Animal Protection Act had a clear political objective and was meant to give the regime a “humane touch” in the eyes of the general public, while at the same time denigrating Jews as animal tormentors and contrasting them with the “animal-loving Germans”. This volume is a comprehensive study not only of the development of animal protection legislation, but also legislation on nature conservation, animal slaughter, forestry and hunting, animal experimentation, the protection of birds and the treatment of dogs. It also addresses landscape architecture during the building of the Reich motorway network and in the German-occupied areas of Eastern Europe.