Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk

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Johann Ludwig ("Lutz") Graf Schwerin von Krosigk
Chancellor of Germany
In office May 1 – May 23, 1945
Preceded by	Joseph Goebbels
Succeeded by	Allied military occupation 1945-1949 Konrad Adenauer (West Germany) Otto Grotewohl (East Germany) (as Chairman of the Council of State (GDR))
Born	August 22, 1887
Died	March 4, 1977
Political party	None

Johann Ludwig (Lutz) Graf Schwerin von Krosigk, (August 22, 1887 – March 4, 1977) was a German politician.

Contents 1 Early Life 2 Nazi Years 2.1 Pre-World War II 2.2 World War II 3 After World War II 4 Works 5 External link

[edit] Early Life

Born Johann Ludwig von Krosigk in Rathmannsdorf, in the Kingdom of Saxony, of a father from an old noble family of Anhalt and a mother who was a daughter of a Count ("Graf") von Schwerin, he studied law and political science in Halle, in Lausanne and at Oxford University. During World War I, he served in the German Army, finally as a First Lieutenant, and was awarded the Iron Cross. In 1918, Krosigk married Baroness Ehrengard von Plettenberg, with whom he had four sons and five daughters. In 1925, he was adopted by a Count von Schwerin and thereafter was known as Johann Ludwig, Graf Schwerin von Krosigk.

[edit] Nazi Years

[edit] Pre-World War II

A non-partisan conservative, Schwerin von Krosigk was appointed Minister of Finance by Franz von Papen in 1932, and continued in that office at the request of President Paul von Hindenburg under Kurt von Schleicher and throughout the period of Nazi Party rule. Several members of his family took part in assassination attempts against Adolf Hitler. Schwerin von Krosigk was rarely seen in public appearances and Hitler did not have regular Cabinet meetings.

[edit] World War II

On May 1, 1945, Schwerin von Krosigk was appointed Chancellor of Germany (Reichskanzler) of the Acting Government by President (Reichspräsident) Karl Dönitz. The rapidly advancing Allied forces limited the jurisdiction of the new German government to an area around Flensburg near the Danish border, where Dönitz's headquarters were located, along with Mürwik. Accordingly this administration was referred to as the Flensburg government. Dönitz and Schwerin von Krosigk attempted to negotiate an armistice with the Western allies while continuing to resist the Soviet Army. But their government was not recognised by the Allies and was dissolved when its members were captured by British forces on May 23, 1945, at Flensburg.

Schwerin von Krosigk was tried at Nuremberg along with other leading members of the Nazi Government. Found guilty in the Ministries Trial, Schwerin von Krosigk was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment but was released during an amnesty in 1951.

[edit] After World War II

In later years Schwerin von Krosigk wrote several books on economic policy, as well as two versions of his memoirs. He was the first to refer to an "Iron Curtain" coming down across Europe, a phrase which he had picked up from an article by Joseph Goebbels ('Das Jahr 2000,' Das Reich, February 25, 1945, pp. 1-2) and was later used by Winston Churchill in a speech that made the phrase famous. Schwerin von Krosigk died in Essen, Germany, aged 89.

[edit] Works

• Es geschah in Deutschland, 1951
• Die große Zeit des Feuers - Der Weg der deutschen Industrie, 3 volumes, 1959
• Alles auf Wagnis - der Kaufmann gestern, heute und morgen, 1963
• Persönliche Erinnerungen, memoirs, 3 volumes, 1974
• Staatsbankrott (Studie über die deutsche Finanzpolitik von 1920 bis 1945), 1975
• Memoiren (short version of Persönliche Erinnerungen), 1977

[edit] External link

• Biography (Deutsches Historisches Museum Berlin)

Political offices
Preceded by Hermann R. Dietrich	Minister of Finance 1932–1945	Succeeded by Fritz Schäffer
Preceded by Joseph Goebbels	Chancellor of Germany (Head of government) May 1–23, 1945	Succeeded by Allied military occupation 1945-1949 Konrad Adenauer (West Germany) Otto Grotewohl (East Germany)
Preceded by Arthur Seyß-Inquart	Minister of Foreign Affairs May 1–23, 1945	Succeeded by Konrad Adenauer

v • d • e Chancellors of Germany

German Empire (1871–1918): Otto von Bismarck | Leo von Caprivi | Prince Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst | Bernhard von Bülow | Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg | Georg Michaelis | Georg von Hertling | Prince Maximilian of Baden •  Weimar Republic (1919–1933): Friedrich Ebert | Philipp Scheidemann | Gustav Bauer | Hermann Müller | Konstantin Fehrenbach | Joseph Wirth | Wilhelm Cuno | Gustav Stresemann | Wilhelm Marx | Hans Luther | Wilhelm Marx | Hermann Müller | Heinrich Brüning | Franz von Papen | Kurt von Schleicher •  Nazi Germany (1933–1945): Adolf Hitler | Joseph Goebbels | Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk •  Federal Republic of Germany (since 1949): Konrad Adenauer | Ludwig Erhard | Kurt Georg Kiesinger | Willy Brandt | Helmut Schmidt | Helmut Kohl | Gerhard Schröder | Angela Merkel

v • d • e The Schwerin von Krosigk Cabinet – 2 May 1945 to 23 May 1945
Graf Schwerin von Krosigk (Chief Minister, independent) | Wilhelm Stuckart (NSDAP) | Albert Speer (NSDAP) | Franz Seldte (NSDAP) | Otto Georg Thierack (NSDAP) | Grand Admiral Dönitz (independent) (In his capacity as Reichskriegsminister) | Julius Heinrich Dorpmüller (NSDAP) | Herbert Backe (NSDAP)