Hans von Raumer | |
|---|---|
| Reich Minister of Economics | |
| In office 13 August 1923 – 6 October 1923 | |
| Chancellor | Gustav Stresemann |
| Preceded by | Johann Becker |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Koeth |
| Reich Minister of the Treasury | |
| In office 25 June 1920 – 10 May 1921 | |
| Chancellor | Constantin Fehrenbach |
| Preceded by | Gustav Bauer |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Koeth |
| Member of theReichstag | |
| In office 24 June 1920 – 18 July 1930 | |
| Constituency | Berlin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Hans Friedrich Wilhem Ernst von Raumer (1870-01-10)10 January 1870 |
| Died | 3 November 1965(1965-11-03) (aged 95) |
| Political party | German People's Party |
| Profession | Politician |
Hans Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst von Raumer (10 January 1870 – 3 November 1965) was a German politician of theGerman People's Party (DVP). He served as minister in two governments of theWeimar Republic and was also active as a representative of German industry.
Hans von Raumer was born on 10 January 1870 inDessau as the son of Friedrich von Raumer (1831-1911), a major in thePrussian Army and his wife Marie (née von Studnitz, 1843-1928). He had three brothers. Since his father was a war cripple, the family only had a modest income. Hans attended theGymnasium atHirschberg (Silesia) and atGörlitz and went on to theRitterakademie atLiegnitz. After 1890 he studied law and government atLausanne,Leipzig and Berlin, finishing with a Dr.iur.[1]
Raumer married Stephanie (1882-1949, daughter ofStephan Gans zu Putlitz [de]) at Belgrad in 1905. They had one son and two daughters.[1]
A civil servant since 1899 (Regierungsassessor), Raumer becameLandrat of the district Wittlage (Westfalen). He left public service in 1911 and became director ofHannoversche Kolonisations- und Moorverwertungsgesellschaft, an electricity plant atOsnabrück. From 1915 he was director of theBund der Elektrizitätsversorgungs-Unternehmungen Deutschlands (the association of German power-generating utilities) at Berlin. From late 1916 until March 1918 he served asKriegsreferent at theReichsschatzamt (Imperial Treasury). In this position, he drafted theKohlensteuergesetz (law on coal tax). In March 1918, Raumer along withWalther Rathenau andCarl Friedrich von Siemens created theZentralverband der Deutschen elektrotechnischen Industrie (association of German electrotechnical industry) at Berlin. As executive director until 1933, Raumer was very influential in setting the association's course.[1][2]
As the end ofWorld War I approached, Raumer worked to facilitate a frictionless transition from a war to a peacetime economy. To this end he invited representatives of industry (Siemens, Rathenau,Felix Deutsch [de],Anton von Rieppel [de]) and of the unions (Carl Legien,Gustav Bauer, August Schlieke,Theodor Leipart) to a meeting in October 1918. This resulted, one month later, in the creation of theZentralarbeitsgemeinschaft [de] (ZAG), which established the formal equality of employers and employees and fixed the length of the working day at eight hours. Raumer was a member of the board of the ZAG as well as of the board of theReichsverband der Deutschen Industrie [de].[1]
From 1920 to 1930, Raumer was a member of theReichstag for the right wing of the DVP. From June 1920 to May 1921, he wasReichsschatzminister (Treasury) in thecabinet of Constantin Fehrenbach. He focused on the question of war reparations - into his tenure fell theSpa Conference of July 1920, the interruption of negotiations by the Allies in January 1921 and the occupation ofDuisburg andDüsseldorf in March 1921.[1]
Raumer continued to serve as an advisor to the government on economic issues. Together withRudolf Hilferding he was a technical expert on the German delegation at theGenoa Conference of 1922. Having established contacts to the Soviet negotiatorsKarl Radek andGeorgy Chicherin there, he subsequently pushed Rathenau to agree to theTreaty of Rapallo.[1]
From August to October 1923, Raumer served asReichswirtschaftsminister in thesecond cabinet of Gustav Stresemann.[1]
Raumer worked to strengthen German-Soviet economic ties through his work in the Reichstag as well as member of the board of theRußlandausschusses der deutschen Industrie and of the supervisory board of theIndustriefinanzierungsgesellschaft Ost. After 1929, Raumer was a chairman of the German-Soviet arbitration commission. He also brought together German industrialists and Soviet leaders likeAnastas Mikoyan, helping to establish German contributions to the Soviet Five Year Plan and, in 1931, landing Soviet orders from the German electrotechnical and machinery industries totalling 900 million Reichsmark.[1]
Raumer was a friend of the French ambassadorAndré François-Poncet and supportedHeinrich Brüning's policy of economic rappraochment with France. However, after the government of Brüning fell, Raumer also supported the policies ofKurt von Schleicher.[1]
In 1933, Raumer resigned from all positions. He had left the DVP in March 1932, but kept his distance to theNSDAP.[1]
In 1941, he was chairman of the supervisory board ofKönigstadt AG für Grundstücke und Industrie Berlin and member of the supervisory boards atBerlin-Gubener Hufabrik AG,Elektrowerke AG Berlin,Gesellschaft für elektrische Unternehmungen Berlin,Koblenzer Elektrizitäts- und Verkehrs-AG as well as at theSteatit-Magnesia AG and at theVerkaufskredit AG Berlin.[2]
Raumer's home was destroyed in 1943 by Allied bombing and he moved to Großlangewiesche (Priegnitz) and then toDätzingen. In 1962, he returned to West-Berlin.[1]
Raumer died there on 3 November 1965. He is buried at Dätzingen.[1]
Fehrenbach cabinet – 25 June 1920 to 10 May 1921 | ||
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Second Stresemann cabinet – 6 October 1923 to 23 November 1923 | ||
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