Ernst Trendelenburg | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Trendelenburg in 1932. | |
| Reich Minister of Economics | |
| In office June 27, 1930 (1930-06-27) – 8 October 1931 (1931-10-08) | |
| President | Paul von Hindenburg |
| Chancellor | Heinrich Brüning |
| Preceded by | Hermann Dietrich |
| Succeeded by | Hermann Warmbold |
| In office May 6, 1932 (1932-05-06) – 30 May 1932 (1932-05-30) | |
| Preceded by | Hermann Warmbold |
| Succeeded by | Hermann Warmbold |
| State Secretary in the Reich Ministry of Economics | |
| In office 1923–1932 | |
| Chancellor | Gustav Stresemann Hans Luther Wilhelm Marx Hermann Müller Heinrich Brüning |
| Head of theReich Group Industry | |
| In office 1935–1936 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1882-02-13)February 13, 1882 |
| Died | 28 April 1945(1945-04-28) (aged 63) |
| Political party | DDP (1918-1930) Independent (1930-1945) |
| Relatives | Friedrich Trendelenburg (father) Paul Trendelenburg (brother) Wilhelm Trendelenburg (brother) Ullrich Georg Trendelenburg (nephew) Friedrich Adolf Trendelenburg (grandfather) |
| Alma mater | University of Greifswald |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
Ernst Trendelenburg (13 February 1882 - 28 April 1945) was a German politician and civil servant of theDDP and later anindependent politician in theWeimar Republic. He most notably served asReich Minister of Economics for two terms, serving from 1930 to 1931 and as acting minister in 1932. Prior to this, he had served for 9 years as aState Secretary in the Reich Ministry of Economics. Trendelenburg was also briefly Head of theReich Group Industry from 1935 to 1936 inNazi Germany.
Ernst was born inRostock in theGerman Empire, the son of prominent surgeonFriedrich Trendelenburg. The Trendelenburg's had been a notable family asphilologists andphilosophers prior. He studiedlaw at university, graduating from theUniversity of Greifswald. After graduating he was anunskilled worker, but eventually rose in the ranks when he transferred to the Reich Ministry of Economics in 1917 while being a senior member of theKaiser Wilhelm Society (KWG). He joined theDDP in 1918, and a year later was appointedReichskommissar for Import and Export Permits, but he later went back to the Ministry of Economics where he became State Secretary until 1932. That same year he became Under-Secretary General to theLeague of Nations, where he helped lay the foundations for economics but he resigned after a year following Germany's withdrawal from the league.
In June 1930 he was appointed Reich Minister of Economics by chancellorHeinrich Brüning, due to him being non-partisan and supporting Brüning's policies. His time there saw the start of theEuropean banking crisis of 1931. He supported foreign competition and breaking upcartels, and criticized government regulations on the economy. He left this role in October 1931, but served as acting minister in May 1932. After leaving, he served as Chairman ofVereinigte Industrieunternehmungen AG (VIAG) andReichs-Kredit-Gesellschaft, but did not join theNSDAP although he worked closely with theNazi regime. He was appointed Head of theReichsgruppe Industrie for a year starting in 1935, and was later briefly Head of the Reich Iron Association (RVE) in 1942. He committedsuicide in 1945 byoverdosing onVeronal, a sleeping aid, after the rape of his daughter following theBattle of Berlin by Russian soldiers.
Ernst Trendelenburg was born on 13 February 1882 inRostock, then part of theGrand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in theGerman Empire.[1] He was the son ofFriedrich Trendelenburg, a prominent surgeon, and Charlotte Fabricius.[2] Trendelenburg's had four brothers who wereWilhelm,Paul, Friedrich, and Ferdinand.[3][4][5] Their paternal grandfather wasFriedrich Adolf Trendelenburg, aphilosopher andphilologist, who specialized inAristotelianism andGerman idealism.[6]
He initially attended the Städtisches Gymnasium inBonn, but then transferred to theSt. Thomas School in Leipzig.[5] He completed hisabitur in 1900. After Trendelenburg completed his abitur, he studiedmedicine for a brief period, but in 1901 he began studyinglaw at the universities ofBonn andLeipzig.[5] In 1903 he began aclerkship.[7] In 1904 he graduated from theUniversity of Greifswald with adoctorate in law, with athesis on the acquisition of property by representatives throughcommon law and theGerman Civil Code.[8]
In 1908 he became an unskilled worker in theReich Ministry of Justice.[9] He later went to theReich Office of the Interior, prior to 1917.[10][11] During this time, from 1912 to 1920, he was also Secretary General of theKaiser Wilhelm Society (KWG), a scientific institution.[12] In 1917 he went to the newly-createdReich Ministry of Economics as a counsellor.[7] By April 1918 he had risen to being Privy Councillor and Lecturer Councillor.[5] In his time at the ministry in the late 1910s, he often worked closely withWichard von Moellendorf, helping to negotiate with theZentralarbeitsgemeinschaft (Central Working Group).[13] As an official of the Office of Economics, he also participated in theBrussels International Financial Conference of 1920.[14]
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AfterWorld War One, he joined theDDP in 1918. A year later, in 1919, he becameReichskommissar for Import and Export Permits, a position he would hold until 1922.[15][16] He also monitored foreign commerce while serving as Reichskommissar because he was convinced that the low value of theReichsmark would lead to the selling of goods from foreign investors and said that state regulations would ensure that Germany was not at a disadvantage.[17]In September 1922, he was appointed Ministerial Director in charge of Department II, the Industrial Department, of the Reich Ministry of Economics.[18] After this, he was appointed State Secretary in the Reich Ministry of Economics a year later, an important position he would hold until 1932.[19] In this role he was responsible for industrial bonds in response to the passing of theDawes Plan.[20] He also opposed any raise inpremiums at the height ofunemployment, contrary to experts who called for a raise of 0.5%.[21]
In 1932 he was appointed Under-Secretary General, representing Germany, to theLeague of Nations.[22] In this role he laid the foundations for the economics of the League of Nations and helped create the World Economic Conference, but had very little success because of the lastingWorld War One economies andnationalism.[23] On 21 October 1933 Germany withdrew from the League of Nations, and as a consequence Trendelenburg also announced his resignation.[24] He was also Chairman of the Geneva Economic Committee at the League of Nations during this time.[25]
On 27 June 1930 he took over the Reich Ministry of Economics, who was non-partisan and supported then-chancellorHeinrich Brüning, but who would not win over support in theReichstag.[26] He considered a reduction in the cost of living to be only possible if the food prices were to go down, because there was a lack of confidence in public finances.[27] He instead suggested allowing foreign competition and breaking upcartels and to have wage reductions.[27] He urged the entire cabinet to require the negotiation of labor contracts saying that trade unions shared responsibility for lowering wages that lead to reduced unemployment, a statement that was harshly criticized by workers.[28] He also believed that the government regulations needed to be loosened on the economy.[28] He resigned his first term on 8 October 1931, and was succeeded byHermann Warmbold.
He again returned as acting minister from 6 May to 30 May 1932 after Warmbold resigned.[29][30]
In 1934 he became Chairman of the Supervisory BoardsVereinigte Industrieunternehmungen AG (VIAG), aconglomerate for industrial holdings, and the state-owned bankReichs-Kredit-Gesellschaft.[7] Although not a member of theNSDAP, instead remaining independent, he worked closely with the Nazi Party especially because of its influence on the VIAG.[31]
In 1935 he was appointed Head of theReichsgruppe Industrie, which represented the interests of the German industry, which he continued until a year later.[32] He was also the first honorary head of the Export Community for War Equipment (AGK) during this time, which was then a department of the Reichsgruppe, which was a collaboration between theWaffenamt and the Reich Economic Office to act as a self-governing body of the armaments industry and promote arms exports.[33] That same year he joined the Reich Chamber of Commerce inBerlin,[5] and served on the Joint Committee established to stabilize the international economic situation.[34]
Over the following years, he would stay as chairman of VIAG. He notably criticized the Anglo-American Treaty of 1938, as he questioned whether they were really servingreconstruction and friendly cooperation, and are instead having a policy of highprotectionism which he said caused theGreat Depression.[35] In 1942, upon the creation of the Reich Iron Association (RVE), he served briefly as its head.[5]
He was married to Cläre, the daughter of physician Gustav Schaede.[5] He had three children: Karin, Peter, and another daughter.[36] After Karin, Ernst, and Cläre committed suicide, the other daughter would follow a year later, and Peter later moved to theUnited States.[36]
Ernst, Cläre, and Karin committedsuicide following theircode of honor after their 16-year daughter, Karin, wasraped after theBattle of Berlin by Russian soldiers.[36] They committed suicide byoverdosing onVeronal, a common sleeping aid.[37]
1919 bis 1920 war Ernst Trendelenburg, später Hirschs Nachfolger als Staatssekretär, Reichskommissar für Aus- und Einfuhrbewilligung. Bis in die letzten Monate der Weimarer Republik bekleidete er verschiedene Ämter. In den Krisenjahre