Wilhelm Karl Keppler (14 December 1882 – 13 June 1960) was a German businessman and one of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

's early financial backers. Introduced to Hitler by

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

, Keppler helped to finance the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

and later served as one of Hitler's economic advisors. Keppler attended Karlsruhe Technical School from 1901 to 1905. He then served in the army between 1903 and 1904 before attending Königliche Technische Hochschule zu Danzig from 1905 to 1910, where he earned his degree in

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

. He was commissioned by the army as a reserve second

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in 1910. Keppler became an engineer in the chemical industry starting in 1911. He fought in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. Keppler was an engineer and chemical manufacturer at the time that he joined the

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

in February 1927 as member #62,424. He co-owned Odin Works, a small photographic gelatin factory, and was chairman of the I. G. Farben subsidiary Braunkohle-Benzin AG. Hitler appointed him as the Nazi Party's economics adviser in December 1931. He was elected to the Reichstag on 5 March 1933, representing Baden, a position which he held to 1945. In July 1933 he was appointed Reich Commissioner for Economic Affairs (german: Kommissar für Wirtschaftsfragen). This position granted Keppler charge of all party organizations involved with economic policy. After 1934, Keppler faced the problem of securing and utilizing raw materials.Zenter, Christian and Bedürftig, Friedemann (1991). ''

Encyclopedia of the Third Reich ''The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich'' is a two-volume text edited by and , first published in German in 1985. ''The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich'' is leading source material for information about Nazi Germany and the reign of Adolf Hitler a ...

'', pp. 494-495. New York: Macmillan. In October 1933, he was a founding member of

Hans Frank Hans Michael Frank (23 May 1900 – 16 October 1946) was a German politician and lawyer who served as head of the General Government in Nazi-occupied Poland during the Second World War. Frank was an early member of the German Workers' Par ...

Academy for German Law The Academy for German Law (german: Akademie für deutsches Recht) was an institute for legal research and reform founded on 26 June 1933 in Nazi Germany. After suspending its operations during the Second World War in August 1944, it was abolished ...

and was named to its ''präsidium'', or executive committee. To strengthen the Nazi Party's ties with business and industry, Keppler founded the Circle of Friends of the Economy (

Freundeskreis der Wirtschaft The Freundeskreis der Wirtschaft, or ''Circle of Friends of the Economy'' (which became known as "Freundeskreis Reichsführer SS", "Freundeskreis Himmler" or " Keppler Circle") was a group of German industrialists whose aim was to strengthen the t ...

, which is sometimes referred to as the "Keppler Circle"). Keppler joined the SS (#50,816) in August 1932 and founded the

Circle of Friends of Heinrich Himmler A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is consta ...

, which was a continuation of the Keppler Circle. Considered weak and slow, Keppler's role was supplanted in 1936 by the

Four Year Plan The Four Year Plan was a series of economic measures initiated by Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany in 1936. Hitler placed Hermann Göring in charge of these measures, making him a Reich Plenipotentiary (Reichsbevollmächtigter) whose jurisdiction cut a ...

. He served as a personal adviser to

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...

on the Four Year Plan. He was given a new title of "general expert of German raw and industrial materials". He went to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in 1938 to prepare the ground for

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germa ...

. He served as Secretary at the German Embassy in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1938, Reich Commissioner in

from March to June 1938, then Reich Commissioner in

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

in 1939, and finally Reich Commissioner in Danzig in August 1939. Keppler became Secretary of State with special duties in the Foreign Office during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, during which he administered SS confiscated industries in Poland and Russia. On 30 January 1942 he became an honorary ''

Obergruppenführer ' (, "senior group leader") was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissio ...

'' (Lieutenant General) of the SS. Keppler was sentenced to ten years in prison during the Ministries Trial on 14 April 1949. He was released from prison on 1 February 1951 and died on 13 June 1960.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keppler, Wilhelm 1882 births 1960 deaths Businesspeople from Heidelberg Gdańsk University of Technology alumni Members of the Academy for German Law Members of the Reichstag of Nazi Germany Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic Nazi Party politicians People convicted by the United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals People from the Grand Duchy of Baden Politicians from Heidelberg SS-Obergruppenführer

See also

References

External links