Albert Vögler
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| Albert Vögler | |
| Born | Albert Vögler 8 February 1877 Essen |
|---|---|
| Died | 14 April 1945 (aged 68) Herdecke |
| Occupation | Industrialist, politician |
| Employers | Dortmunder Steel Works, Deutsch-Luxemburgische Bergwerks- und Hütten-AG mining company, Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG |
| Political party | Democratic People's Party (Germany) (member, co-founder) NSDAP (contributed funds) |
| Board member of | Dortmunder Chamber of Commerce, Rheinisch Westfäli coal syndicate |
Albert Vögler (8 February 1877 - 14 April 1945) was a German politician, industrialist and entrepreneur. He was an important executive in the munitions industry during the Second World War.
Vögler was born to Karl and Berta Vögler in Essen. He studied mechanics and engineering at high school before graduating from the university of Karlsruhe in 1901 with a degree in mechanical engineering[1]. Between 1901 and 1910 he worked as a senior engineer at the Dortmunder Steel Works, and then became a member of the executive committee in the Deutsch-Luxemburgische Bergwerks- und Hütten-AG mining company. Upon the death of the founder, Hugo Stinnes, Vögler became manager. In 1918, he worked alongside Gustav Stresemann, was involved in the founding of the German People's Party (DVP) in the Weimar Republic, criticised the policies of Joseph Wirth and signed agreements with France in accordance with Germany's submission to the French occupation of the Ruhr in 1923, a year later he left the DVP.
Between 1925 and 1927 he is a member of the Dortmunder Chamber of Commerce and president of the Rheinisch Westfäli coal syndicate,[1] and in 1926 he created Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG and was its chairman until 1935. In 1927 he also became an honourable board member of his old university in Karlsruhe. As a business man, Vögler would have feared the rise of communism in Germany, and records of dontations from Vögler to the NSDAP from as early as 1931 exist, Vögler having met Adolf Hitler on September 11 of that year, and from 1932 Vögler openly funds the Nazi party.
On the 20 February 1933, Hitler having become chancellor on January 30, in a meeting with Hitler and Hermann Göring, Vögler and other industrialists are presented with the Nazi Party's political plans, and donate a total of three million marks[1]. From 1940 onwards, Vögler was heavily involved with the manufacture of munitions, and serves in increasingly important positions under Albert Speer in the Ruhr industrial heartland from 1942 until 1944, and was president of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute (later Max Planck Society) from 1941 onwards. On April 14, 1945, in order to avoid capture by the US Army, Vögler committed suicide in Haus Ende, Herdecke.
