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Hitler Cabinet | |
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cabinet of the German Realm (30 January 1933 – 1943) cabinet of the Greater German Realm (1943 – 30 April 1945) | |
30 January 1933 – 30 April 1945 | |
![]() First session of the cabinet, 1933 | |
Date formed | 30 January 1933 |
Date dissolved | 30 April 1945 |
People and organisations | |
Head of government | Adolf Hitler |
Deputy head of government | Franz von Papen (30 January 1933 – 7 August 1934) Hermann Göring (10 February 1941 – 23 April 1945) |
Member parties | National Socialist German Workers Party German National People's Party (30 January 1933 – 27 June 1933; dissolved itself on 27 June 1933) |
Status in legislature | National Socialist German Workers Party – led coalition government (30 January 1933 – 27 June 1933) National Socialist German Workers Party dominate-party government (27 June 1933 – 5 July 1933) National Socialist German Workers Party one-party government (5 July 1933 – 30 April 1945) |
Opposition parties | Centre Party (30 January 1933 – 5 July 1933; dissolved itself on 5 July 1933) Communist Party of Germany (30 January 1933 – 30 April 1945; officially banned on 6 March 1933) Social Democratic Party of Germany (30 January 1933 – 30 April 1945; officially banned on 23 June 1933) |
Opposition leaders | Ludwig Kaas (30 January 1933 – 5 July 1933) Ernst Thälmann (30 January 1933 – 18 August 1944) Walter Ulbricht (6 March 1933 – 30 April 1945; leader of the Communist Party of Germany in exile) Arthur Crispien (30 January 1933 – 23 June 1933) Otto Wels (30 January 1933 – 16 September 1939; chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany in exile from 23 June 1933 – 16 September 1939) Hans Vogel (30 January 1933 – 30 April 1945; chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany in exile from 23 June 1933 – 30 April 1945) |
History | |
Election(s) | Mar. 1933 Nov. 1933 1936 1938 |
Outgoing election | Nov. 1932 |
Legislature term(s) | 7th legislature of the Diet of the Realm 1st legislature of the Greater-German Diet of the Realm |
Predecessor | Von Schleicher Cabinet |
Successor | Goebbels cabinet |
The Hitler Cabinet de jure formed the government of Nazi Germany between 30 January 1933 and 30 April 1945 upon the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of the German Reich by president Paul von Hindenburg. Contrived by the national conservative politician Franz von Papen, who reserved the office of the Vice-Chancellor for himself.[1] Originally, Hitler's first cabinet was called the Reich Cabinet of National Salvation,[2] which was a coalition of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) and the national conservative German National People's Party (DNVP), it became an exclusively Nazi cabinet when the DNVP was intimidated into dissolving itself.
The Enabling Act of 1933, passed two months after Hitler took office, gave the cabinet the power to make laws without legislative consent for four years. In effect, this power was vested in Hitler, and for all intents and purposes it made Hitler a dictator. After the Enabling Act's passage, serious deliberations more or less ended at cabinet meetings. It met only sporadically after 1934, and last met in full on 5 February 1938.[3] Nonetheless, it grew immensely in size on paper, due to the addition of the commanders of the armed services and several ministers without portfolio.
The Reich cabinet consisted of the following Ministers:
Portfolio | Minister | Took office | Left office | Party | |
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Chancellor of the German Reich | Adolf Hitler | 30 January 1933 | 30 April 1945 | NSDAP | |
Vice-Chancellor of the German Reich | Franz von Papen | 30 January 1933 | 7 August 1934 | Independent | |
Hermann Göring | 10 February 1941 | 23 April 1945 | NSDAP | ||
Reich Minister of Foreign Affairs | Konstantin von Neurath | 30 January 1933 | 4 February 1938 | NSDAP | |
Joachim von Ribbentrop | 4 February 1938 | 30 April 1945 | NSDAP | ||
Reich Minister of the Interior | Wilhelm Frick | 30 January 1933 | 24 August 1943 | NSDAP | |
Heinrich Himmler | 24 August 1943 | 29 April 1945 | NSDAP | ||
Reich Minister of Finance | Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk | 30 January 1933 | 30 April 1945 | NSDAP | |
Reich Minister of Justice | Franz Gürtner † | 30 January 1933 | 29 January 1941 | NSDAP | |
Franz Schlegelberger (acting) | 29 January 1941 | 24 August 1942 | NSDAP | ||
Otto Georg Thierack | 24 August 1942 | 30 April 1945 | NSDAP | ||
Reich Minister of the Reichswehr (from 1935, Reich Minister of War) | Werner von Blomberg | 30 January 1933 | 5 February 1938 | Independent | |
Wilhelm Keitel (as Chief of the OKW) | 5 February 1938 | 30 April 1945 | Independent | ||
Reich Minister of Economics | Alfred Hugenberg | 30 January 1933 | 29 June 1933 | DNVP | |
Kurt Schmitt | 29 June 1933 | 3 August 1934 | NSDAP | ||
Hjalmar Schacht | 3 August 1934 | 26 November 1937 | Independent | ||
Hermann Göring | 26 November 1937 | 15 January 1938 | NSDAP | ||
Walther Funk | 5 February 1938 | 30 April 1945 | NSDAP | ||
Reich Minister for Food and Agriculture | Alfred Hugenberg | 30 January 1933 | 29 June 1933 | DNVP | |
Richard Walther Darré | 29 June 1933 | 23 May 1942 | NSDAP | ||
Herbert Backe | 23 May 1942 | 30 April 1945 | NSDAP | ||
Reich Minister for Labour | Franz Seldte[4] | 30 January 1933 | 30 April 1945 | NSDAP | |
Reich Minister for Postal Affairs | Paul Freiherr von Eltz-Rübenach | 30 January 1933 | 2 February 1937 | Independent | |
Wilhelm Ohnesorge | 2 February 1937 | 30 April 1945 | NSDAP | ||
Reich Minister for Transport | Paul Freiherr von Eltz-Rübenach | 30 January 1933 | 2 February 1937 | Independent | |
Julius Dorpmüller | 2 February 1937 | 30 April 1945 | NSDAP | ||
Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda | Joseph Goebbels | 13 March 1933 | 30 April 1945 | NSDAP | |
Reich Minister of Aviation | Hermann Göring | 27 April 1933 | 23 April 1945 | NSDAP | |
Reich Ministry of Science, Education and Culture | Bernhard Rust | 1 May 1934 | 30 April 1945 | NSDAP | |
Reich Minister for Church Affairs | Hanns Kerrl † | 16 July 1935 | 15 December 1941 | NSDAP | |
Hermann Muhs (acting) | 15 December 1941 | 30 April 1945 | NSDAP | ||
Reich Minister for Armaments and Ammunition (from 1943, for Armaments and War Production) | Fritz Todt † | 17 March 1940 | 8 February 1942 | NSDAP | |
Albert Speer | 8 February 1942 | 30 April 1945 | NSDAP | ||
Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories | Alfred Rosenberg | 17 November 1941 | 30 April 1945 | NSDAP | |
Reich Minister for Bohemia and Moravia | Karl Hermann Frank | 20 August 1942 | 30 April 1945 | NSDAP | |
Ministers without portfolio | Hermann Göring | 30 January 1933 | 27 April 1933 | NSDAP | |
Ernst Röhm (SA Chief) † | 1 December 1933 | 1 July 1934 | NSDAP | ||
Reich Ministers without portfolio (from 1938) | Rudolf Hess (Deputy Führer) | 1 December 1933 | 10 May 1941 | NSDAP | |
Hanns Kerrl | 16 April 1934 | 16 July 1935 | NSDAP | ||
Hans Frank (Governor-General from 1939) | 19 December 1934 | 30 April 1945 | NSDAP | ||
Hjalmar Schacht | 26 November 1937 | 22 January 1943 | NSDAP | ||
Otto Meissner (Chief of Presidential Chancellery) | 1 December 1937 | 30 April 1945 | NSDAP | ||
Hans Lammers (Chief of Reich Chancellery) | 1 December 1937 | 30 April 1945 | NSDAP | ||
Arthur Seyss-Inquart | 1 May 1939 | 30 April 1945 | NSDAP | ||
Martin Bormann (Chief of Nazi Party Chancellery) | 12 May 1941 | 30 April 1945 | NSDAP | ||
Wilhelm Frick (Reich Protector) | 24 August 1943 | 30 April 1945 | NSDAP | ||
Konstantin Hierl (Chief of the Reich Labour Service) | 24 August 1943 | 30 April 1945 | NSDAP |
The last meeting of Hitler's cabinet took place on 5 February 1938. As the Third Reich government was disintegrating at the end of the Second World War and following Hitler's death on 30 April 1945, it was succeeded by the short-lived Cabinet of Schwerin von Krosigk commonly known as the Flensburg government.