Bundesarchiv Bild 102-10015, Robert Hermann Dietrich (cropped)

Hermann Robert Dietrich (14 December 1879 – 6 March 1954) was a German politician of the liberal

German Democratic Party The German Democratic Party (, or DDP) was a center-left liberal party in the Weimar Republic. Along with the German People's Party (, or DVP), it represented political liberalism in Germany between 1918 and 1933. It was formed in 1918 from the ...

and served as a minister during the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

Finance Minister of Germany

In 1930, Dietrich succeeded

Paul Moldenhauer Germany's Cabinet Brüning I (1930): Finance Minister Paul Moldenhauer standing in the second row, second from the right Ministry of Finance (Reichsministerium der Finanzen) at the Wilhelmplatz in Berlin (1930) Germany’s Government under Brüni ...

as Finance Minister of the Weimar Republic. In the midst of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, Dietrich became the "chief proponent" of government contracts in 1930 in an attempt to offset the drastic increase in unemployment. Because the contracts were contingent on the reduction of prices, he and the Provisional National Economic Council had to authorise the reduction of wages in the German industrial community. Dietrich, along with the economists

Heinrich Brüning Heinrich Aloysius Maria Elisabeth Brüning (; 26 November 1885 – 30 March 1970) was a German Centre Party politician and academic, who served as the chancellor of Germany during the Weimar Republic from 1930 to 1932. A political scienti ...

and Adam Stegerwald, firmly believed that accelerating the pace of the agricultural sector at the cost of Germany's industrial capacity would solve unemployment. During President

Paul von Hindenburg Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (; abbreviated ; 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany fro ...

's bid for re-election, Dietrich was one of few elites in the cabinet barred from speaking at the president's candidacy campaigns for allegedly being "too far left".

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* 1879 births 1954 deaths People from Emmendingen (district) People from the Grand Duchy of Baden German Protestants National Liberal Party (Germany) politicians German Democratic Party politicians German State Party politicians Free Democratic Party (Germany) politicians Economy ministers of Germany Finance ministers of Germany Members of the Weimar National Assembly Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic Members of the Second Chamber of the Diet of the Grand Duchy of Baden Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany {{Germany-politician-stub