Heinrich Friedrich Albert (12 February 1874 to 1 November 1960) was a German civil servant, diplomat, politician, businessman and lawyer who served as minister for reconstruction and the Treasury in the government of
Wilhelm Cuno
Wilhelm Carl Josef Cuno (2 July 1876 – 3 January 1933) was a German businessman and politician who was the chancellor of Germany from 1922 to 1923, for a total of 264 days. His tenure included the episode known as the Occupation of the Ruhr ...
in 1922/1923. During his tenure as commercial attaché to the German embassy to the U.S. in 1914-17, he was suspected of engaging in espionage and sabotage.
Life and career
Heinrich (Friedrich) Albert was born on 12 February 1874 at
Magdeburg
Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river.
Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...
in what was then the Prussian
Province of Saxony
The Province of Saxony (german: link=no, Provinz Sachsen), also known as Prussian Saxony () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg.
It was formed by the merge ...
(now
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of
and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...
), Germany.
His father was a merchant.
[
Albert studied law and in 1895 became ''Referendar'' at Magdeburg. In 1901, he was made ''Assessor'' and then ''Hilfsrichter'' (assistant judge). In 1904, Albert joined the ''Reichsamt des Inneren'', the German Empire's interior ministry. He was ''Attaché des Reichskommissars'' for the World's Fair at St. Louis. In 1908, he took over the same position for the fair at Brussels in 1910.][ Albert was promoted to ''Regierungsrat'' in 1905 and ''Geheimer Regierungsrat'' in 1908.]
From 1914-17, Albert was ''Handelsattaché'' (commercial attaché) at the German embassy at Washington D.C. and later in charge of administering the property of enemy aliens in Germany.[
In 1918 or 19, Albert was president of the ''Reichsamt zur Verwertung der nach der Demobilisierung freigewordenen Heeresgüter'' (national bureau for the use of army property made available by demobilisation).][
In March 1919, he became ''Unterstaatssekretär'' and head of the ''Reichskanzlei'', the head clerk of the German chancellor. In 1920, he became ''Staatssekretär''. He held that position until 1921, when he was furloughed and began working as a lawyer at the ''Landgericht I'' at Berlin.][
In November 1922, ]Wilhelm Cuno
Wilhelm Carl Josef Cuno (2 July 1876 – 3 January 1933) was a German businessman and politician who was the chancellor of Germany from 1922 to 1923, for a total of 264 days. His tenure included the episode known as the Occupation of the Ruhr ...
made him ''Reichsschatzminister'' (head of the Treasury) in his cabinet. As of 1 April 1923, the ''Reichsschatzministerium'' was merged with the ''Reichsfinanzministerium'' (Ministry of Finance). In late March 1923, Albert became ''Reichsminister für Wiederaufbau'' (minister for reconstruction). He remained in that office until the cabinet's resignation in August 1923.[
On 25 November 1923, after the resignation of the second cabinet of ]Gustav Stresemann
Gustav Ernst Stresemann (; 10 May 1878 – 3 October 1929) was a German statesman who served as chancellor in 1923 (for 102 days) and as foreign minister from 1923 to 1929, during the Weimar Republic.
His most notable achievement was the reconci ...
, president Friedrich Ebert
Friedrich Ebert (; 4 February 187128 February 1925) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the first president of Germany from 1919 until his death in office in 1925.
Ebert was elected leader of the SPD on t ...
asked Albert to form a new government. However, this attempt failed due to the opposition of the parties to support the independent Albert as chancellor.
Albert then opened his own law firm in 1924. He specialized in commercial law in relation to the U.S. In 1932, he became general director of the Norddeutscher Lloyd
Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL; North German Lloyd) was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on 20 February 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of th ...
, a shipping line, a position which he held until 1933. From 1937 to 1945, Albert was chairman of the supervisory board at the German subsidiary of the Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
. He was also member of the supervisory board at .
Albert died on 1 November 1960 at Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...
.[
]
Alleged espionage activity during World War I
As commercial attaché to the U.S. during the early years of World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Albert was suspected of having engaged in illegal activities (i.e. not consistent with his diplomatic status) to weaken the U.S. and further the interests of Germany. According to a 1923 article in the tabloid ''New York Evening Post'', Albert had spent 30 million dollars on pro-German propaganda and "was involved in schemes involving the destruction of property, agitation for strikes, German propaganda and the flotation of German financial schemes".
The FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
created a file on him.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albert, Heinrich
1874 births
1960 deaths
Politicians from Magdeburg
People from the Province of Saxony
Jurists from Saxony-Anhalt
Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
German expatriates in the United States