The Goebbels cabinet was named by

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

in his political testament of 30 April 1945. The cabinet was therefore not legitimised according to the

Weimar Constitution The Constitution of the German Reich (), usually known as the Weimar Constitution (), was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic era. The constitution created a federal semi-presidential republic with a parliament whose ...

, which was still formally in force. To replace himself, Hitler named Admiral

Karl Dönitz Karl Dönitz (; 16 September 1891 – 24 December 1980) was a German grand admiral and convicted war criminal who, following Adolf Hitler's Death of Adolf Hitler, suicide, succeeded him as head of state of Nazi Germany during the Second World ...

as '' Reichspräsident'' and Propaganda Minister

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...

as ''

Reichskanzler The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, is the head of the federal government of Germany. The chancellor is the chief executive of the Federal Cabinet and heads the executive branch. T ...

''. The cabinet was short-lived as Goebbels killed himself along with his family on 1 May. His government was followed by the

Flensburg Government The Flensburg Government (), also known as the Flensburg Cabinet (''Flensburger Kabinett''), the Dönitz Government (''Regierung Dönitz''), or the Schwerin von Krosigk Cabinet (''Kabinett Schwerin von Krosigk''), was the rump government of Naz ...

under Dönitz.

Composition

Retaining some members from the previous Hitler cabinet, some members of the Goebbels cabinet would continue in the Dönitz cabinet.

References

{{German cabinets 1945 establishments in Germany 1945 disestablishments in Germany Cabinets established in 1945 Cabinets disestablished in 1945 Cabinets of Germany Joseph Goebbels