Keppler Circle
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The (), which became known as (also ) after the
Nazi seizure of power The rise to power of Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919, when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He quickly rose t ...
, or " Keppler Circle", was a group of
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
industrialists whose aim was to strengthen the ties between the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
and business and industry. The group was formed and co-ordinated by
Wilhelm Keppler Wilhelm Karl Keppler (14 December 1882 – 13 June 1960) was a German businessman and one of Adolf Hitler's early financial backers. Introduced to Hitler by Heinrich Himmler, Keppler helped to finance the Nazi Party and later served as one of Hi ...
, one of
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 ...
's close economic advisors.


Early development

Keppler, who had been a member of the
Nazi party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
since 1927, formed the Circle after Hitler's request in 1932 for the formation of a "study group on economic questions". Members were not initially expected to be party members (though many later joined the party), and portrayed the group as " palaver" and an "innocuous gentleman's club". The size of the group never exceeded 40 members. Groups represented included manufacturing, banking, and Schutzstaffel (SS) officials. The group became associated with
Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...
, a friend of Keppler, beginning in 1935.


Impact

Historians have argued that the membership of the group was not particularly influential, with few members from large industry. Motivations for group members may have included strong anti-labor and anti-socialist positions, rather than pro-Hitler positions as such. However, even scholars who are skeptical of the influence of the group note them as part of late-
Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...
industrial leadership’s “opposition to parliamentary democracy”. From 1936 to 1944, the members of the circle donated approximately 1 million
Reichsmark The (; sign: ℛ︁ℳ︁; abbreviation: RM) was the currency of Germany from 1924 until the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945, and in the American, British and French occupied zones of Germany, until 20 June 1948. The Reichsmark was then replace ...
a year to Himmler for uses "outside the budget". One use of the money was to fund the
Ahnenerbe The (, "Ancestral Heritage") was a pseudoscientific organization founded by the ''Schutzstaffel'' in Nazi Germany in 1935. Established by ''Reichsführer-SS'' Heinrich Himmler in July 1, 1935 as an SS appendage devoted to promoting racial the ...
, which conducted
Aryan ''Aryan'' (), or ''Arya'' (borrowed from Sanskrit ''ārya''), Oxford English Dictionary Online 2024, s.v. ''Aryan'' (adj. & n.); ''Arya'' (n.)''.'' is a term originating from the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranians. It stood ...
historical and
eugenicist Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetics, genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human Phenotype, phenotypes by ...
research. Money from the group was also used to provide expenses and pay off debts of SS members which helped incentivize action by the otherwise-underpaid SS. At least some members of the group, such as
Friedrich Flick Friedrich Flick (10 July 1883 – 20 July 1972) was a German industrialist and convicted Nazi war criminal. After the Second World War, he reconstituted his businesses, becoming the richest person in West Germany West Germany was the co ...
, later benefited from the NSDAP's policy of
aryanization Aryanization () was the Nazi term for the seizure of property from Jews and its transfer to non-Jews, and the forced expulsion of Jews from economic life in Nazi Germany, Axis powers, Axis-aligned states, and their occupied territories. It enta ...
of Jewish-owned competitors. Membership in the group may have also played a role in allocation of concentration camp labor to industrial concerns. It also sponsored the
Jewish skull collection The Jewish skull collection was an attempt by Nazi Germany to create an anthropological display to showcase the alleged racial inferiority of the "Jewish race" and to emphasize the Jews' status as ''Untermenschen'' ("subhumans"), in contrast to th ...
, when 86 victims were selected at
Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...
, then murdered using
Zyklon B Zyklon B (; translated Cyclone B) was the trade name of a cyanide-based pesticide invented in Germany in the early 1920s. It consists of hydrogen cyanide (prussic acid), as well as a cautionary eye irritant and one of several adsorbents such ...
gas at
Natzweiler concentration camp Natzweiler-Struthof was a Nazi concentration camp located in the Vosges Mountains close to the villages of Natzweiler and Struthof in the Gau Baden-Alsace of Germany, on territory annexed from France on a basis in 1940. It operated from 21 Ma ...
and the corpses shipped to
Reichsuniversität Straßburg The Reichsuniversität Straßburg was founded in 1941 by the Nazis in Alsace after the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine by Nazi Germany. The University of Strasbourg had moved to Clermont-Ferrand in 1939. The university's purpose was to restore ...
for defleshing and ultimately public display by Professor
August Hirt August Hirt (28 April 1898 – 2 June 1945) was an anatomist with Swiss and German nationality who served as a chairman at the Reich University in Strasbourg during World War II. He performed experiments with mustard gas on inmates at the Natz ...
. The project stopped at this stage when Germany lost the war.


Members

Members of the group included: From manufacturing: * Fritz Kranefuss, Keppler's nephew and member of the board at
Brabag Brabag (Braunkohle Benzin AG) was a German firm, planned in 1933, and operating from 1934 until 1945, that distilled synthetic aviation fuel, diesel fuel, gasoline, lubricants, and paraffin wax from lignite. It was an industrial cartel firm closel ...
(committed suicide at the end of the war) *
Kurt Baron von Schröder Kurt Freiherr von Schröder (24 November 1889 in Hamburg, German Empire – 4 November 1966 in Hamburg, West Germany) was a German nobleman, financier and SS-Brigadeführer. He is most famous for hosting the negotiations between members of Paul v ...
and
Emil Heinrich Meyer Emil Heinrich Meyer (6 May 1886 in Wiesbaden – 9 May 1945 in Berlin) was a German business executive. Meyer was a board member at the ITT Corporation's Germany-based subsidiaries Standard Elektrik Lorenz and Mix & Genest as well as AEG (German co ...
,
ITT Corporation ITT Inc., formerly ITT Corporation, is an American worldwide manufacturing company based in Stamford, Connecticut. The company produces specialty components for the aerospace, transportation, energy and industrial markets. ITT's three businesses ...
executives *
August Rosterg August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Southern Hemisphere, August is the seasonal equivalent of February in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Northern Hemisphere, August ...
, the General Director of
Wintershall Wintershall Holding GmbH, based in Kassel, was Germany's largest crude oil and natural gas producer. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of BASF. The company was active in oil and gas exploration and production with operations in Europe, North Afri ...
*
Otto Steinbrinck Otto Steinbrinck (19 December 1888 – 16 August 1949) was a highly decorated World War I naval officer and German industrialist who was later indicted and found guilty in the Nuremberg Flick Trial. Having had a very successful career as a U-bo ...
, the vice-president of
Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG The Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG (VSt or Vestag, ''United Steel Works'') was a German industrial conglomerate producing coal, iron, and steel in the interbellum and during World War II. Founded in 1926, economic pressures (decreasing prices and exces ...
(sentenced to 5 years at the Flick trial, and died in prison in 1949) * Emil Helfferich, board chair of the
German-American Petroleum Company Deutsch-Amerikanische Petroleum Gesellschaft, also known as German-American Petroleum Company, was a German Petroleum industry, petroleum company that was a subsidiary of Standard Oil and was founded in 1890. From 1950 onwards the company was cal ...
* Friederich Flick, chair of Flick KG (sentenced to 7 years at the Flick trial, and released from prison in 1950) * Ewald Hecker, chair of
Ilseder Hütte The Ilseder Hütte is a former ironworks in Ilsede ( district of Peine) in Lower Saxony, Germany History Funded by the bank Ephraim Meyer & Sohn. Carl Hostmann founded an Ironworks based on supposed both coal- and orefields in this area. ...
*
Albert Vögler Albert Vögler (8 February 1877 – 14 April 1945) was a German politician, industrialist and entrepreneur. He was a co-founder of the German People's Party, and an important executive in the munitions industry during World War II. Vögler was ...
, of
Vereinigte Stahlwerke The Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG (VSt or Vestag, ''United Steel Works'') was a German industrial conglomerate producing coal, iron, and steel in the interbellum and during World War II. Founded in 1926, economic pressures (decreasing prices and exces ...
(committed suicide at the end of the war) *
Heinrich Bütefisch Heinrich Bütefisch (24 February 1894, Hanover5 September 1969, Essen) was a German chemist, manager at IG Farben, and Nazi war criminal. He was an Obersturmbannführer in the SS. World War II As a leading figure in IG Farben, Bütefisch joined th ...
, of IG-Farben * , of Norddeutsche Lloyd * Hans Walz, head of
Robert Bosch GmbH Robert Bosch GmbH (; ), commonly known as Bosch (styled BOSCH), is a German multinational engineering and technology company headquartered in Gerlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company was founded by Robert Bosch in Stuttgart in 188 ...
(honored by
Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...
as one of the
Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...
for his work to save Jews from the Holocaust) *
Richard Kaselowsky Richard Kaselowsky (14 August 1888 – 30 September 1944) was a German entrepreneur, industrialist, manager of Dr. Oetker, and member of the Nazi Party and Freundeskreis der Wirtschaft. He was the eldest son of the manufacturer Richard Kase ...
, manager of
Dr. Oetker Dr. Oetker () is a German multinational company that produces baking powder, cake mixes, Pizza#Preparation, frozen pizza, pudding, cake decoration, cornflakes, birthday candles, beer, and various other products. The company is a wholly owned b ...
(killed in an air raid in 1944.) *
Emil Heinrich Meyer Emil Heinrich Meyer (6 May 1886 in Wiesbaden – 9 May 1945 in Berlin) was a German business executive. Meyer was a board member at the ITT Corporation's Germany-based subsidiaries Standard Elektrik Lorenz and Mix & Genest as well as AEG (German co ...
, board member (committed suicide at the end of the war) From banking: *
Hjalmar Schacht Horace Greeley Hjalmar Schacht (); 22 January 1877 – 3 June 1970) was a German economist, banker, politician, and co-founder of the German Democratic Party. He served as the Currency Commissioner and President of the Reichsbank during the ...
, president of the
Reichsbank The ''Reichsbank'' (; ) was the central bank of the German Empire from 1876 until the end of Nazi Germany in 1945. Background The monetary institutions in Germany had been unsuited for its economic development for several decades before unifica ...
*
Karl Rasche Karl Emil August Rasche (23 August 1892 – 13 September 1951) was an SS-Obersturmbannführer and a Ph.D. in law as well as a board member and banker, later spokesman, of the Dresdner Bank during the Third Reich. On 11 April 1949 he was sentenc ...
, board member of the
Dresdner Bank Dresdner Bank AG () was a German bank, founded in 1872 in Dresden, then headquartered in Berlin from 1884 to 1945 and in Frankfurt from 1963 onwards after a postwar hiatus. Long Germany's second-largest bank behind Deutsche Bank, it was eventually ...
*
Friedrich Reinhart Friedrich "Fritz" Reinhart (23 February 1871 – 3 October 1943) was a German bank executive, financier and supporter of the Nazi Party. He was the chief executive officer of the Commerz- und Privat-Bank from July 1934 until his death in Octobe ...
, chairman of the board at
Commerzbank The Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft (shortly known as Commerzbank AG or Commerzbank ) is a European Financial institution, banking institution headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany. It offers services to private and entrepreneurial c ...
From politics and the SS: *
Carl Vincent Krogmann Carl Vincent Krogmann (3 March 1889, in Hamburg – 14 March 1978, in Hamburg) was a German banker, industrialist and Nazi Party politician. He served as Mayor of Hamburg for the majority of the Nazi period of government. Early years Krogmann was ...
and
Gottfried Graf von Bismarck-Schönhausen Count Gottfried von Bismarck-Schönhausen (9 March 1901 – 14 September 1949) was a German politician and a conspirator in the 20 July plot. Biography Born in Berlin, Bismarck was a grandson of the 19th century Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. ...
, political figures *
Oswald Pohl Oswald Ludwig Pohl (; 30 June 1892 – 7 June 1951) was a German high-ranking SS official during the Nazi era. As the head of the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office and the head administrator of the Nazi concentration camps, he was a ke ...
, head of the Administrative and Economic office of the SS (executed in 1951) * Franz Hayler and
Otto Ohlendorf Otto Ohlendorf (; 4 February 1907 – 7 June 1951) was a German Schutzstaffel, SS functionary and Holocaust perpetrator during the Nazi era. An economist by education, he was head of the Sicherheitsdienst#Inland-SD, (SD) Inland, responsible ...
, of the Reich Group for Commerce and Trade * group secretary Fritz Kranefuß, a former employee of Keppler's and member of Himmler's personal staff * group financial manager
Kurt Baron von Schröder Kurt Freiherr von Schröder (24 November 1889 in Hamburg, German Empire – 4 November 1966 in Hamburg, West Germany) was a German nobleman, financier and SS-Brigadeführer. He is most famous for hosting the negotiations between members of Paul v ...
* Keppler (sentenced to 10 years in prison at the Ministries Trial at
Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...
in 1949, and released in February 1951)


See also

*
Secret Meeting of 20 February 1933 The Secret Meeting of 20 February 1933 () was a secret meeting held by Adolf Hitler and 25 industrialists at the official residence of the President of the Reichstag Hermann Göring in Berlin. Its purpose was to raise funds for the election campai ...
*
Industrielleneingabe The () was a petition signed by 19 representatives of industry, finance, and agriculture on November 19, 1932 that requested for German President Paul von Hindenburg to make Adolf Hitler the German Chancellor. There had already been two simil ...
*
Private sector participation in Nazi crimes Private sector participation in German war crimes, Nazi crimes was extensive and included widespread use of forced labor in Nazi Germany, forced labor in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe, confiscation of property from Jews and other victims ...


References

{{Heinrich Himmler Nazi Party organizations Heinrich Himmler