Peter Paul Freiherr von Eltz-Rübenach (9 February 1875 – 25 August 1943) was Reich Postal Minister ''(Reichspostminister)'' and Reich Minister of Transport ''(Reichsminister für Verkehr)'' of Germany between 1932 and 1937.

Early life

Eltz-Rübenach was born in Wahn (today part of

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

), a scion of the Rhenish noble house of Eltz. He studied engineering at the Technische Hochschulen in Aachen (now

RWTH Aachen University RWTH Aachen University (), in German ''Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen'', is a German public research university located in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With more than 47,000 students enrolled in 144 study prog ...

) and in Charlottenburg (now

Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin; also known as Berlin Institute of Technology and Technical University of Berlin, although officially the name should not be translated) is a public university, public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was the first ...

) and was then employed by the state railroad service. He spent several years in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

working from 1911 to 1914 as a technical expert in the German

consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth countries, a ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. At the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he returned to Germany and worked in military rail transport. In 1924 he became president of the ''

Deutsche Reichsbahn The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'' (), also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the Weimar Republic, German national Rail transport, railway system created after th ...

'' Board in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

Political career

On 1 June 1932, he was appointed '' Reichsminister'' for both the

Reich Ministry of Transport The Reich Ministry of Transport (, ''RVM'') was a cabinet-level agency of the Germany, German government from 1919 until 1945, operating during the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany. Formed from the Prussian Ministry of Public Works after the end o ...

and the Reich Postal Ministry as a nonpartisan technocrat in Chancellor

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 of barons." He retained both these portfolios in the cabinets formed by Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher (3 December 1932) and, after the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

'' Machtergreifung,'' by

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

(30 January 1933). In the cabinet, he fought unsuccessfully for development of the railroads against the government's emphasis on developing an improved highway system, the '' Reichsautobahn''. Eltz-Rübenach also served as a member of the

Academy for German Law The Academy for German Law () was an institute for legal research and reform founded on 26 June 1933 in Nazi Germany. After suspending its operations during the Second World War in August 1944, it was abolished after the fall of the Nazi regime on ...

. To mark the fourth anniversary of the Nazi regime, Hitler determined to enroll all the remaining non-Nazi ministers in the Nazi Party and to confer upon them the Golden Party Badge. Eltz-Rübenach, a devout Catholic, was troubled by the rising conflict between the Nazi government and the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. At the cabinet meeting on 30 January 1937, Eltz-Rübenach rejected the Golden Party Badge personally offered by Hitler and demanded a statement of Hitler's proposed policy toward the Church. The other ministers sat in stunned silence as Eltz-Rübenach was required to submit his resignation. Some time later, when his wife refused to accept the Cross of Honour of the German Mother, a Nazi decoration, he and his family became "suspect persons" and were placed under

surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing, or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...

by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

. In addition, his pension claims were temporarily revoked. Eltz-Rübenach died in Linz am Rhein in 1943, aged 68.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eltz-Rubenach, Paul Freiherr von 1875 births 1943 deaths German barons House of Eltz German Roman Catholics Members of the Academy for German Law Government ministers of Nazi Germany Politicians from Cologne Politicians from the Rhine Province Technische Universität Berlin alumni