Hitler Cabinet

Hitler Cabinet

cabinet of Germany
1933–1945
Date formed 30 January 1933
Date dissolved 30 April 1945
People and organisations
Head of state Paul von Hindenburg (until 2 August 1934)
Adolf Hitler (1934-1945)
Head of government Adolf Hitler
Deputy head of government Franz von Papen (30 January 1933 – 7 August 1934)
Member party Nazi Party
German National People's Party (dissolved on 27 June 1933)
Status in legislature Nazi led coalition government (to June 1933)
Nazi single-party government (after June 1933)
Opposition party Centre Party
Social Democratic Party of Germany
Communist Party
Opposition leader Otto Wels
History
Election(s) German federal election, November 1932
Legislature term(s) 7th legislature of the Reichstag
Predecessor Cabinet von Schleicher
Successor Cabinet Schwerin von Krosigk

The Hitler Cabinet de jure formed the government of Nazi Germany between 30 January 1933 and 30 April 1945 upon the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of the German Reich by president Paul von Hindenburg – contrived by the national conservative politician Franz von Papen, who reserved the office of the Vice-Chancellor for himself.[1] Originally Hitler's first cabinet was called "the Reich Cabinet of national salvation",[2] which was a coalition of Hitler's Nazi Party and the national conservative German National People's Party, it became an exclusively Nazi cabinet when the DNVP was intimidated into dissolving itself.

The Enabling Act of 1933, passed two months after Hitler took office, gave the cabinet the power to make laws without legislative consent for four years. In effect, this power was vested in Hitler, and for all intents and purposes it made Hitler a dictator. After the Enabling Act's passage, serious deliberations more or less ended at cabinet meetings. It met only sporadically after 1934, and last met in full on February 4, 1938. Nonetheless, it grew immensely in size on paper, due to the addition of the commanders of the armed services and several ministers without portfolio.

Composition

The Reich cabinet consisted of the following Ministers:

Office Incumbent In office Party
Chancellor Adolf Hitler 30 January 1933 –

30 April 1945

 NSDAP
Vice-Chancellor Franz von Papen 30 January 1933 –

7 August 1934

none (Centre until 1932)
Hermann Goering 10 February 1941 -

23 April 1945

 NSDAP
Minister of Foreign Affairs Konstantin von Neurath 30 January 1933 –

4 February 1938

 none (NSDAP from 1937)
Joachim von Ribbentrop 4 February 1938 –

30 April 1945

 NSDAP
Minister of the Interior Wilhelm Frick 30 January 1933 –

24 August 1943

 NSDAP
Heinrich Himmler 24 August 1943 –

29 April 1945

Minister of Finance Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk 30 January 1933 –

30 April 1945

 none (NSDAP from 1937)
Minister of Justice Franz Gürtner † 30 January 1933 –

29 January 1941

 DNVP (NSDAP from 1937)
Franz Schlegelberger (acting) 29 January 1941 –

24 August 1942

 NSDAP
Otto Georg Thierack 24 August 1942 –

30 April 1945

Minister of the Reichswehr (from 1935: Minister of War) Werner von Blomberg 30 January 1933 –

5 February 1938

 none
Wilhelm Keitel (as Chief of the OKW) 5 February 1938 –

30 April 1945

Minister for Economics Alfred Hugenberg 30 January 1933 –

29 June 1933

 DNVP
Kurt Schmitt 29 June 1933 –

3 August 1934

 NSDAP
Hjalmar Schacht 3 August 1934 –

26 November 1937

 none (NSDAP from 1937)
Hermann Göring 26 November 1937 –

15 January 1938

 NSDAP
Walther Funk 5 February 1938 –

30 April 1945

Minister for Food and Agriculture Alfred Hugenberg 30 January 1933 –

29 June 1933

 DNVP
Richard Walther Darré 29 June 1933 –

23 May 1942

 NSDAP
Herbert Backe 23 May 1942 –

30 April 1945

Minister for Labour Franz Seldte[3] 30 January 1933 –

30 April 1945

 NSDAP (from 30 April 1933)
Minister for Postal Affairs Paul Freiherr von Eltz-Rübenach 30 January 1933 –

2 February 1937

 none
Wilhelm Ohnesorge 2 February 1937 –

30 April 1945

 NSDAP
Minister for Transport Paul Freiherr von Eltz-Rübenach 30 January 1933 –

2 February 1937

 none
Julius Dorpmüller 2 February 1937 –

30 April 1945

 none (NSDAP from 1941)
Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda Joseph Goebbels 13 March 1933 –

30 April 1945

 NSDAP
Minister of Aviation Hermann Göring 27 April 1933 –

23 April 1945

 NSDAP
Minister for Science and Education Bernhard Rust 1 May 1934 –

30 April 1945

 NSDAP
Minister for Church Affairs Hanns Kerrl † 16 July 1935 –

15 December 1941

 NSDAP
Hermann Muhs (acting) 15 December 1941 –

30 April 1945

Minister for Armaments and Ammunition
(from 1943: for Armaments and War Production)		 Fritz Todt † 17 March 1940 –

8 February 1942

 NSDAP
Albert Speer 8 February 1942 –

30 April 1945

Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories Alfred Rosenberg 17 November 1941 –

30 April 1945

NSDAP
Minister of State for Bohemia and Moravia Karl Hermann Frank 20 August 1942 –

30 April 1945

 NSDAP
Ministers without portfolio
(from 1938: Reich Ministers)		 Hermann Göring 30 January 1933 –

27 April 1933

 NSDAP
Ernst Röhm (SA Chief) † 1 December 1933 –

1 July 1934

Rudolf Hess (Deputy Führer) 1 December 1933 –

10 May 1941

Hanns Kerrl 16 April 1934 –

16 July 1935

Hans Frank (Governor-General from 1939) 19 December 1934 –

30 April 1945

Hjalmar Schacht 26 November 1937 –

22 January 1943

Otto Meissner (Chief of Presidential Chancellery) 1 December 1937 –

30 April 1945

Hans Lammers (Chief of Reich Chancellery) 1 December 1937 –

30 April 1945

Arthur Seyss-Inquart 1 May 1939 –

30 April 1945

Martin Bormann (Chief of Nazi Party Chancellery) 12 May 1941 –

30 April 1945

Wilhelm Frick (Reich Protector) 24 August 1943 –

30 April 1945

Konstantin Hierl (Chief of the Reichsarbeitsdienst) 24 August 1943 -

30 April 1945

Changes

End of Cabinet

As the Third Reich government was disintegrating at the end of the Second World War and following Hitler's death on 30 April 1945, it was succeeded by the short-lived Cabinet Schwerin von Krosigk of the Flensburg government.

References

  1. ↑ Kershaw, Ian (2010). Hitler: A Biography. Norton. p. 253. ISBN 9780393075625.
  2. ↑ The Brown Plague: Travels in Late Weimar & Early Nazi Germany
  3. ↑ Stackelberg, Roderick (2002). Hitler's Germany: Origins, Interpretations, Legacies. Routledge. p. 109. ISBN 9780203005415.
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