Kurt Freiherr von Schröder (24 November 1889 in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

– 4 November 1966) was a German nobleman, financier and SS-Brigadeführer. He is most famous for hosting the negotiations between members of Paul von Hindenburg's camarilla,

Franz von Papen Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen, Erbsälzer zu Werl und Neuwerk (; 29 October 18792 May 1969) was a German conservative politician, diplomat, Prussian nobleman and General Staff officer. He served as the chancellor of Germany i ...

and

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

in order to form a government after the German federal election of November 1932, which earned him the moniker "''midwife of Nazism''".

Life

Schröder was the second son of Frederick Freiherr von Schröder, a financier, and his wife Harriet Millberg, the daughter of a prominent Hanseaten family. He obtained his university degree in economics from the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...

in 1907 and eventually obtained a commission in the

Prussian Army The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power. The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...

as a cavalry officer. Schröder continued to alternate between his job as a

merchant banker A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in commodi ...

and a reserve officer until the outbreak of the

First World War 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 ...

, which eventually left him disillusioned after the

Armistice of Compiègne The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices ...

. Dissatisfied with the instability of 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 ...

, he first joined the

center right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and me ...

and pro-monarchist

German People's Party The German People's Party (German: , or DVP) was a liberal party during the Weimar Republic that was the successor to the National Liberal Party of the German Empire. A right-liberal, or conservative-liberal political party, it represented politi ...

led by

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 ...

. After Stresemann's death Schröder increasingly veered towards the nascent

National Socialist Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

movement before becoming an influential fundraiser and economic advisor to the

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

. In 1927 Schröder formally joined the

Circle of Friends of the Economy The Freundeskreis der Wirtschaft, or ''Circle of Friends of the Economy'' (which became known as "Freundeskreis Reichsführer SS", "Freundeskreis Himmler" or " Keppler Circle") was a group of German industrialists whose aim was to strengthen the t ...

, a pro-Hitler lobbying group established by

Wilhelm Keppler Wilhelm Karl Keppler (14 December 1882 – 13 June 1960) was a German businessman and one of Adolf Hitler's early financial backers. Introduced to Hitler by Heinrich Himmler, Keppler helped to finance the Nazi Party and later served as one of Hi ...

in order to strengthen ties between prominent industrialists and members of Hitler's inner circle. Kurt Baron von Schröder was Royal Swedish Consul General in Köln 1938–1945.

Role in supporting Hitler

Schröder's close ties to politicians across the spectrum of the political right allowed him to form a bridge between the center-right, led alternatively by

and

Kurt von Schleicher Kurt Ferdinand Friedrich Hermann von Schleicher (; 7 April 1882 – 30 June 1934) was a German general and the last chancellor of Germany (before Adolf Hitler) during the Weimar Republic. A rival for power with Hitler, Schleicher was murdered by ...

, and by

. After Papen's government fell in the November 1932 election, Papen asked Schröder to make an introduction to Hitler at Schröder's villa in the fashionable Braunsfeld neighbourhood of

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, which took place on January 6, 1933, and would earn Schröder the nickname "midwife of Nazism". Accompanied by

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

and

Rudolf Hess Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German; 26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987) was a German politician and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler in 1933, Hess held that position unt ...

, Hitler ranted against Hindenburg and Schleicher for several hours during which time Schröder was unable to moderate the conversation although Papen and Hitler agreed to continue the conversation further. Schröder's matchmaking eventually paved the way for Hitler to be appointed

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

in 1933. Schröder figures prominently in the book by former Hoover Institution scholar

Antony C. Sutton Antony Cyril Sutton (February 14, 1925 – June 17, 2002) was a British-American writer, researcher, economist, and professor. Early life and education Antony C. Sutton was born in London on February 14, 1925 to Edward Ceril Sutton and Marjorie ...

titled ''Wall Street and the Rise of Hitler''. As Sutton observes, After the war, there were attempts to conceal the financing of Nazi regime, some by the former American bankers and officials of the Allied military government, especially by blocking the investigation of the bank ''Bankhaus J.H. Stein'' based in Cologne, Germany. This bank, the so-called "bank of the cartel kings", had been suspected to have served as a conduit for funding Heinrich Himmler's SS through deposits by German industrial cartels.

Rewards for support

Schröder became chairman of the board of directors of several major companies in Germany and was president of the Rhineland Industrial Chamber in Cologne.

Postwar

After the Second World War, Schröder was arrested and was tried by a German court for membership in a criminal organization. He was found guilty and was sentenced to three months' imprisonment. Kurt von Schröder died on 4 November 1966.

Notes

References

''The Nazi Hydra in America: Suppressed History of a Century''
by Glen Yeadon, John Hawkins

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Schroeder, Kurt von 1889 births 1966 deaths Barons of Germany Businesspeople from Hamburg German People's Party politicians Nazi Party politicians German bankers