Hugo Schäffer (13 June 1875 - 25 August 1945) was a German politician. He was initially a

non-partisan Nonpartisanship, also known as nonpartisanism, is a lack of affiliation with a political party and a lack of political bias. While an ''Oxford English Dictionary'' definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., ...

politician, as was then common, but joined 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 ...

in 1933. He served as Reich Minister for Labour in

Franz von Papen Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen, (; 29 October 18792 May 1969) was a German politician, diplomat, Prussian nobleman and army officer. A national conservative, he served as Chancellor of Germany in 1932, and then as Vice-Chancell ...

's cabinet for 163 days in 1932 when he was ousted after Papen could not secure the Reichstag following the

November 1932 German federal election Federal elections were held in Germany on 6 November 1932.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p762 The Nazi Party saw its vote share fall by four percentage points, while there were slight increases ...

. Before and after his service as minister, he served as President of the Reich Insurance Office (RVA) from 1924 to 1932 and again from 1933 to 1942. In this role, upon the Nazi rise to power, he was a

Nazi collaborator In World War II, many governments, organizations and individuals Collaborationism, collaborated with the Axis powers, "out of conviction, desperation, or under coercion". Nationalists sometimes welcomed German or Italian troops they believed wou ...

, becoming co-editor of a Nazi journal and part of the Nazi student council.

Early life

Schäffer was born on 13 June 1875 in Edelfingen, a village near

Mergentheim Bad Mergentheim (; Mergentheim until 1926; East Franconian: ''Märchedol'') is a town in the Main-Tauber-Kreis district in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It has a population of around 23,000. An officially recognized spa town since 1926, ...

. His father, Karl, was an evangelical pastor and his mother Karoline (née Öhm) was from an

Old Frankish Frankish ( reconstructed endonym: *), also known as Old Franconian or Old Frankish, was the West Germanic language spoken by the Franks from the 5th to 10th centuries. Franks under king Chlodio settled in Roman Gaul in the 5th century. O ...

family who lived in

Rothenburg ob der Tauber Rothenburg ob der Tauber () is a town located in the district of Ansbach (district), Ansbach of Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia), the Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. It is well known for its well-preserved Middle Ages, medieval old town, a d ...

. He studied in a

Latin school The Latin school was the grammar school of 14th- to 19th-century Europe, though the latter term was much more common in England. Other terms used include Lateinschule in Germany, or later Gymnasium. Latin schools were also established in Colon ...

Göppingen Göppingen (; or ) is a town in southern Germany, part of the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg. It is the capital of the Goeppingen (district), district Göppingen. Göppingen is home to the toy company Märklin, and it is the birthplace ...

, and then he attended

gymnasiums A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...

Blaubeuren Blaubeuren () is a town in the district of Alb-Donau near Ulm in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. it had 11,963 inhabitants. Geography Geographical location The core city Blaubeuren lies at the foot of the Swabian Jura, west of Ulm. Neighbori ...

and

Maulbronn Maulbronn () is a city in the district of Enz in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. History Founded in 1838, it emerged from a settlement, built around a monastery, which belonged to the Neckar Community in the Kingdom of Württemberg. In ...

. From 1893 to 1894 he did his one year of

voluntary military service A volunteer military system or all-volunteer military system (AVMS) is a military service system that maintains the military only with applicants without conscription. A country may offer attractive pay and benefits through military recruitment t ...

. In 1893 he started studying

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

and joined the

student fraternity In North America, fraternities and sororities ( and ) are social clubs at colleges and universities. They are sometimes collectively referred to as Greek life or Greek-letter organizations, as well as collegiate fraternities or collegiate sorori ...

called the Tübingen Royal Society Roigel. He decided to switch to

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

in 1895 and started attending the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

and studied in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, graduating in 1901 with a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

. In 1899 and 1901 he passed the higher Württemberg financial service examinations. He started working at the company Friedrich Krupp in

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

in 1901, and worked there until 1902. He started working in the

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

administrative service in 1902, and worked as a

bailiff A bailiff is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. There are different kinds, and their offices and scope of duties vary. Another official sometimes referred to as a '' ...

Öhringen Öhringen (East Franconian: ''Ähringe'') is the largest town in Hohenlohe (district) in the state of Baden-Württemberg, in southwest Germany, near Heilbronn. Öhringen is on the railline to Schwäbisch Hall and Crailsheim. With a population o ...

and Oberamt Gmünd until 1905. In 1905 he became an

unskilled worker A laborer ( or labourer) is a person who works in manual labor typed within the construction industry. There is a generic factory laborer which is defined separately as a factory worker. Laborers are in a working class of wage-earners in which ...

for the Württemberg Central Office for Trade and in 1906 he became a government assessor for the Württemberg Ministry of the Interior. He then reached a senior position as chief bailiff in

Künzelsau Künzelsau (; East Franconian: ''Kinzelse'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, in south central Germany. It is the capital of the Hohenlohe district. It is located on the river Kocher, 19 km (12 mi) north of Schwäbisch Hall, and 37 ...

from 1907 to 1909. In 1909 he was promoted to government councillor of the Württemberg Ministry of the Interior. In 1916 he became deputy

plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of a sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word can als ...

to the Bundesrat. He was then Ministerial Director in the Ministry of the Interior in 1919 and deputy plenipotentiary to the Committee of States. He served his third position as a deputy plenipotentiary to the Reichsrat in 1922. However, later that year, he returned to the company Friedrich Krupp to become its director which he did for a year, specifically in charge of finances after the hyperinflation period.

Political career

Reich Insurance Office

In 1924 he became President of the Reich Insurance Office for the first time. He left the office after he was appointed minister, but returned in 1933 alongside being appointed President of the Reich Supply Court.

Reich Minister of Labour

On 6 June 1932 he was confirmed as Reich Minister of Labour as part of Papen's cabinet. Schäffer later told

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

representatives that he had reservations about accepting the offer, but accepted after Papen threatened to dissolve the ministry and merge it with the Federal Ministry for Economics. He proposed Prussian Privy Councillor Ernst Kübler as State Secretary for his ministry, but it did not go through. Schäffer considered himself a "man of the industry" and so he fulfilled wishes from leading industries in the country. In an attempt to gain supporters, he stressed the government's

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...

relief plan before the Christian trade unions in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

in September of 1932. He was dropped from the cabinet after the

alongside Papen himself.

Nazi collaboration

He joined the

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers ...

on 1 May 1933. He was co-editor of the magazine Gesundes Volk, which was sponsored by the Reich Committee for Public Health Service. He was also in the

National Socialist Association of Legal Professionals The National Socialist Association of Legal Professionals (, NSRB) was the professional organization of German legal professionals (lawyers, judges, public prosecutors, notaries and legal academics) in the Third Reich Nazi Germany, ...

and the NS Student Council of the RVA.

Death

He died on 25 August 1945 in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, which was then under American occupation.

Honours and awards

* 1911 - Knight of the

Friedrich Order The Friedrich Order ( or ''Friedrichsorden'') was an order of merit of the German Kingdom of Württemberg. It was instituted on 1 January 1830 by the second king of Württemberg, Wilhelm I in remembrance of his father, King Friedrich I. In 1918, ...

* 1912 - 3rd Class Order of the Prussian Crown * 1916 - Knight of the

Order of the Württemberg Crown Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * H ...

* 1918 - 2nd Class

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...

* 1934 -

Honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne () is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in 1388. It closed in 1798 before being re-established in 1919. It is now one of the largest universities in Germany with around 45,187 students. The Universit ...

References

Nazi Party politicians Members of the Reichstag 1932 {{DEFAULTSORT:Schäffer, Hugo 1875 births 1945 deaths