Solf Circle

The Solf Circle (German: Solf-Kreis) was an informal gathering of German intellectuals involved in the resistance against Nazi Germany. Most members were arrested and executed after attending a tea party in Berlin on 10 September 1943 at the residence of Elisabeth von Thadden. The group's downfall also ultimately led to the demise of the Abwehr in February 1944.

Background

Hanna Solf was the widow of Dr. Wilhelm Solf, who served as Imperial Colonial Secretary before the outbreak of World War I and ambassador to Japan under the Weimar Republic and, like her husband, was a political moderate and anti-Nazi. After her husband's death in 1936 she had presided over a circle of anti-Nazi intellectuals in her salon in Berlin, reminiscent of the SeSiSo Club, together with her daughter, the Countess So'oa'emalelagi "Lagi" von Ballestrem-Solf. They included career officers from the Foreign Office, industrialists and writers, and they would meet regularly to discuss the war and relief for the Jews and political enemies of the regime; Solf and her daughter were responsible for hiding many Jews and providing them with documents for them to emigrate safely. They also had links with other anti-Nazi groups like the Kreisau Circle.

The tea party and betrayal of the Solf Circle

On 10 September 1943 the Solf Circle met at a birthday party given by Elisabeth von Thadden, the Protestant headmistress of a famous girls' school in Wieblingen, near Heidelberg. Among the guests were:

Otto Kiep, a high official from the Foreign Office, who was once dismissed from his position as Consul General in New York City for attending a public luncheon in honor of Albert Einstein, but was able to get himself reinstated in the diplomatic service;

the Countess Hannah von Bredow, the granddaughter of Otto von Bismarck;

Count Albrecht von Bernstorff, the nephew of Count Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff, the German ambassador to the United States during World War I;

Father Friedrich Erxleben, a well-known Jesuit priest;

Nikolaus von Halem, a merchant; hanged for conspiracy to kill Hitler;

Legation adviser Richard Kuenzer;

State Secretary Arthur Zarden and his daughter Irmgard.