Kurt Paul Schmitt (born 7 October 1886 in Heidelberg; died 2 November 1950 in Heidelberg) was a German economic leader and the Reich Economy Minister. October 7 is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years). ... 1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ... Heidelberg (halfway between Stuttgart and Frankfurt) is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. ... November 2 is the 306th day of the year (307th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 59 days remaining. ... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Heidelberg (halfway between Stuttgart and Frankfurt) is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. ...

The jurist Kurt Schmitt graduated in 1911 in Munich with the thesis "The Ongoing Information File, in Particular the Information Convention". and then went into the service of the Allianz AG insurance company. From 1914 to 1917 he participated in the First World War and was discharged having reached the rank of captain. In 1917, he became a member of the Allianz board of directors, leading the company from 1921 to 1933 as Chairman of the Board. During these years, he made a name for himself as one of the most gifted leaders when it came to organization in the Weimar Republic's insurance industry. (1) JURIST is an online legal news and research service hosted by the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, edited by Professor Bernard Hibbitts and a staff of more than 20 law students. ... Munich and the Bavarian Alps Munich (German: München (pronounced listen) is the largest city and capital of the German Federal State of Bavaria. ... Allianz AG, (NYSE: AZ) is one of the worlds largest financial services providers headquartered in Munich, Germany. ... Insurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of potential financial loss. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... Flag of Weimar Republic, 1919–1933 Coat of arms The Weimar Republic (German Weimarer Republik, IPA: []) is the historical name for the republic that governed Germany from 1919 to 1933. ...

Allianz's leadership, represented by directors Kurt Schmitt and Eduard Hilgard, led a policy of drawing nearer the Nazis, even before they seized power. Already in October 1930, ties were forged with Hermann Göring. These contacts were realized through company dinners and by providing private financial loans. Heinrich Brüning and Franz von Papen tried without success to get Schmitt a ministerial office. The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ... Machtergreifung is a German word meaning seizure of power. ... Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (also Goering in English) (January 12, 1893 – October 15, 1946) was an early member of the Nazi party, leader of the Gestapo, and one of the main leaders of Nazi Germany. ... Dr. Heinrich Brüning (November 26, 1885–March 30, 1970) was a German politician and Chancellor of Germany. ... Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen (October 29, 1879–May 2, 1969) was a German politician and diplomat associated with the Centre Party. ...

Schmitt, who was also General Director of the Stuttgart Social Insurance Corporation (Stuttgarter Verein-Versicherungs AG) by 1931 (5), was included in Hjalmar Schacht's objectives in mid-1931. Stuttgart, a city located in southern Germany, is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg with a population of approximately 590,000 as of September 2005 in the city and around 3 million in the metropolitan area. ... Dr. Hjalmar Horace Greeley Schacht (January 22, 1877 - June 3, 1970) was a German financial expert and Minister of Economics from 1935 until 1937. ...

On 18 December 1932, he participated in a meeting of the Circle of Friends of the Economy (Freundeskreis der Wirtschaft), or Circle of Twelve (Zwölferkreis) at the Berlin Kaiserhof, where the Nazi Party agreed to lend its support. Schmitt now had closer relations with the Nazi leadership and on 20 February 1933, he, along with Hermann Göring, took part in a meeting that Adolf Hitler had with German industrialists, at which Schmitt made an election campaign donation to the Nazis of RM 10,000. In early 1933, Schmitt joined the Nazi Party (membership no. 2 651 252). He likewise took over the posts of Vice President of the Berlin Chamber of Industry and of the Chamber of Commerce in 1933. December 18 is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) is a leap year starting on Friday. ... The Nazi swastika symbol The National Socialist German Workers Party ( German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei), better known as the NSDAP or the Nazi Party was a political party that was led to power in Germany by Adolf Hitler in 1933. ... February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... (help· info) (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 and Führer (Leader) of Germany from 1934 until his death. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Business magnate. ... A 100 Reichsmark banknote from Germany of 1935 (http://www. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Meanwhile, Schmitt was convinced that the National Socialists could deal with the problem of joblessness if the economy was led by people like him. Furthermore, he held Hitler to be a great statesman and believed that over time, the Führer would grow to become less radical. Moreover, he had a latent anti-Semitic attitude, which Gerald D. Feldmann describes as follows: "Schmitt shared the belief that Jews were overrepresented within the academic professions, and that the rôle that they played in politics, law, and the arts would have to be greatly limited, if not utterly eliminated. He believed, however, that they were entitled to a place in German economic life, and made it into a maxim of his year in office as Reich Economy Minister that there was no "Jewish question in the economy".(2) The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... Politics is a process by which collective decisions are made within groups. ... Law (from the Old Norse lagu) in politics and jurisprudence, is a set of rules or norms of conduct which mandate, proscribe or permit specified relationships among people and organizations, intended to provide methods for ensuring the impartial treatment of such people, and provide punishments of/for those who do... Winged Victory of Samothrace exihibited in the Louvre. ...

On 30 June 1933, Schmitt was appointed Reich Economy Minister, succeeding Alfred Hugenberg, and he also took on honorary membership in the SS (no. 101 346). In August 1933, he took the function of Prussian Plenipotentiary in the Reich Government. In October of the same year, he was appointed to the Prussian State Council. The Academy for German Law also took him on as a member. June 30 is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 184 days remaining. ... Alfred Hugenberg (June 19, 1865 - March 12, 1951) was an influential German businessman and politician. ... The infamous double-sig rune SS insignia. ... The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Prussia, 1701-1918 The word Prussia (Old Prussian: Prūsa, German: Preußen, Polish: Prusy, Lithuanian: Prūsai, Latin: Borussia) has had various (often contradictory) meanings: The land of the Baltic Prussians (in what is now parts of southern Lithuania, the Kaliningrad...

On 13 March 1934, Schmitt made known what the new arrangement would be for the industrial economy. The leader of the overall organization of the industrial economy was to be Philipp Kessler, as leader of the Reich Federation of the Electrical Industry. When Schmitt wanted to replace the Reich Federation of German Industry with overall state control, he ran up against concentrated resistance from business leaders. Furthermore, Hjalmar Schacht undertook efforts to oust Schmitt from his ministerial office so that he could take it over himself. (3) During a speech on 28 June 1934, Schmitt had a heart attack and collapsed. He used this opportunity to go on a long recuperative holiday, and later, on 31 January 1935, Hitler approved his dismissal from ministerial office. On 30 July 1934, Schacht became Schmitt's successor as Reich Economy Minister. March 13 is the 72nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (73rd in leap years). ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... (Some entries on this page have been duplicated on August 1. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... A myocardial infarction occurs when an atherosclerotic plaque slowly builds up in the inner lining of a coronary artery and then suddenly ruptures, totally occluding the artery and preventing blood flow downstream. ... January 31 is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... July 30 is the 211th day (212th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 154 days remaining. ...

After coming back from his extended leave in 1935, he took over the chairmanship in the supervisory board of AEG AG and the Deutsche Continental Gasgesellschaft (a gas company) in Dessau. In 1937, and until 1945, he held the board chairmanship of Münchener Rückversicherung AG. He was also on Allianz AG's supervisory board until 1945. As a member of the Freundeskreis Reichsführer-SS, Heinrich Himmler promoted him to SS Brigadeführer on 15 September 1935. (4) Since Schmitt was functioning as AEG supervisory board chairman, they donated to Himmler between RM 12,000 and 15,000 yearly, and Münchner Rückversicherung and Continental Gasgesellschaft between RM 6,000 and 8,000. (6) AEG (Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft) (English Translation: General Electricity Company) is a German producer of electronics and electrical equipment. ... Dessau is a town in Germany on the junction of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the Bundesland (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. ... Münchener Rückversicherungs-Gesellschaft Aktiengesellschaft (also Munich Re in English) is the worlds largest reinsurance company based in Munich, Germany. ... Heinrich Himmler (help· info) (October 7, 1900 – May 23, 1945) was the commander of the German Schutzstaffel (SS) and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany. ... Brigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. ... September 15 is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years). ... A 100 Reichsmark banknote from Germany of 1935 (http://www. ...

From 1945 to 1949, Schmitt had to undergo Denazification, administered by the United States Army. He lost all his offices, and he was barred from practising his profession. In 1946, he was classified as a Hauptschuldiger (literally "main culprit"). This designation was reviewed in several court proceedings, and was overturned in 1949. He would now only be classified as a Mitläufer, or follower. He nevertheless still had to pay a fine and the court costs. Denazification (German: Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary and politics of any remnants of the Nazi regime. ... The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces that has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ...

Literature

• (1) Gerald D. Feldmann, Die Allianz und die deutsche Versicherungswirtschaft 1933 bis 1945, C.H. Beck Verlag, Munich 2001
• (5) August Heinrichsbauer, Schwerindistrie und Politik, Essen 1948
• (6) Ulrich Völklein, Geschäfte mit dem Feind, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3203837005

External links

• (1) Picture of Kurt Schmitt
• (2) Gerald D. Feldman, Zur Geschichte der Allianz in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus (in German)
• (3) See Wachsende Gegensätze (in German)
• (4) Schmitt as a member of Himmler's circle of friends

Decorations

In 1914 Schmitt was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class. He also received the Verwundetenabzeichen in black, an award given wounded soldiers. Further decorations: the War Merit Cross first class without swords, the War Merit Cross 2nd class without swords. From the SS he received the "Reichsführer-SS Sword of Honour" and the "Totenkopfring der SS" (SS Death's Head Ring). 1914 (MCMXIV) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... A stylized version of the Iron Cross, the logo of the German Armed Forces The Iron Cross (German: Eisernes Kreuz) is a military decoration of the Kingdom of Prussia, and later of Germany, which was established by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and first awarded on 10 March 1813. ... The War Merit Cross was a decoration of Nazi Germany during the Second World War, which could be awarded to civilians as well as military personel. ...