Hitler Cabinet

Press session on 30 January 1933, standing from left: Schwerin von Krosigk, Frick, von Blomberg, Hugenberg, sitting: Göring, Hitler, von Papen

The Hitler Cabinet de jure formed the government of Nazi Germany between 30 January 1933 and 30 April 1945 upon the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of the German Reich by President Paul von Hindenburg – contrived by the national conservative politician Franz von Papen, who reserved the office of the Vice-Chancellor for himself.

Formation

Hitler succeeded the conservative Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher and similar to the preceding cabinets of the Weimar Republic, the parties of his coalition government, NSDAP and DNVP, initially had no majority in the Reichstag parliament until the elections of March 1933. The conservative plans to "enframe" the Nazis failed: after the Enabling Act had passed on March 24, Hitler was no longer dependent neither on presidential decrees according to Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution nor on the support of his coalition partner. On 27 June 1933 the DNVP officially dissolved, with its Reichstag MPs joining the Nazi Party.

At first, only three members of the cabinet were affiliated to the NSDAP: Hitler himself, Wilhelm Frick heading the strategically important Interior ministry, and Hermann Göring as Minister without portfolio. Shortly afterwards, Joseph Goebbels entered the cabinet upon the establishment of the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, furthermore the former Stahlhelm leader Franz Seldte joined the Nazi Party in April 1933. After the dissolution of the DNVP in June, the party's "strong man" Alfred Hugenberg, who had held two ministerial posts, retired. Vice-Chancellor von Papen chose to resign after the Night of the Long Knives in 1934, his post was not filled again. After von Hindenburg's death on 2 August 1934, Hitler also assumed his office as head of state, styling himself Führer und Reichskanzler.

From the beginning, Hitler did not admit any votings but expected the ministers to obey his orders. The cabinet met less and less often, the last session being held on 5 February 1938.

Besides Hitler himself, Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk and Wilhelm Frick were the only people to serve in the cabinet continuously from Hitler's appointment as Chancellor until his death.

Composition

The Reich cabinet consisted of the following Ministers:

Office	Incumbent	In office	Party
Chancellor	Adolf Hitler	30 January 1933 – 30 April 1945	NSDAP
Vice-Chancellor	Franz von Papen	30 January 1933 – 7 August 1934	none (Centre until 1932)
Minister of Foreign Affairs	Konstantin von Neurath	30 January 1933 – 4 February 1938	none (NSDAP from 1937)
	Joachim von Ribbentrop	4 February 1938 – 30 April 1945	NSDAP
Minister of the Interior	Wilhelm Frick	30 January 1933 – 24 August 1943	NSDAP
	Heinrich Himmler	24 August 1943 – 30 April 1945
Minister of Finance	Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk	30 January 1933 – 30 April 1945	none (NSDAP from 1937)
Minister of Justice	Franz Gürtner †	30 January 1933 – 29 January 1941	DNVP (NSDAP from 1937)
	Franz Schlegelberger (acting)	29 January 1941 – 24 August 1942	NSDAP
	Otto Georg Thierack	24 August 1942 – 30 April 1945
Minister of the Reichswehr (from 1935: of War)	Werner von Blomberg	30 January 1933 – 5 February 1938	none
	Wilhelm Keitel (as Chief of the OKW)	5 February 1938 – 30 April 1945
Minister for Economics	Alfred Hugenberg	30 January 1933– 29 June 1933	DNVP
	Kurt Schmitt	29 June 1933 – 3 August 1934	NSDAP
	Hjalmar Schacht	3 August 1934 – 26 November 1937	none (NSDAP from 1937)
	Hermann Göring	26 November 1937 – 15 January 1938	NSDAP
	Walther Funk	5 February 1938 – 30 April 1945
Minister for Food and Agriculture	Alfred Hugenberg	30 January 1933– 29 June 1933	DNVP
	Richard Walther Darré	29 June 1933 – 23 May 1942	NSDAP
	Herbert Backe	23 May 1942 - 30 April 1945
Minister for Labour	Franz Seldte	30 January 1933 – 30 April 1945	NSDAP (from 30 April 1933)
Minister for Postal Affairs	Paul Freiherr von Eltz-Rübenach	30 January 1933 – 2 February 1937	none
	Wilhelm Ohnesorge	2 February 1937 – 30 April 1945	NSDAP
Minister for Transport	Paul Freiherr von Eltz-Rübenach	30 January 1933 – 2 February 1937	none
	Julius Dorpmüller	2 February 1937 – 30 April 1945	none (NSDAP from 1941)
Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda	Joseph Goebbels	13 March 1933 – 30 April 1945	NSDAP
Minister of Aviation	Hermann Göring	5 May 1933 – 24 April 1945	NSDAP
Minister for Science and Education	Bernhard Rust	1 May 1934 – 30 April 1945	NSDAP
Minister for Church Affairs	Hanns Kerrl †	16 July 1935 – 15 December 1941	NSDAP
	Hermann Muhs (acting)	15 December 1941 – 30 April 1945
Minister for Armaments and Ammunition (from 1943: for Armaments and War Production)	Fritz Todt †	17 March 1940 – 8 February 1942	NSDAP
	Albert Speer	8 February 1942 – 30 April 1945
Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories	Alfred Rosenberg	17 November 1941 - 30 April 1945	NSDAP
Minister of State for Bohemia and Moravia	Karl Hermann Frank	20 August 1943 - 30 April 1945	NSDAP
Ministers without portfolio (from 1938: Reich Ministers)	Hermann Göring	30 January 1933 - 28 April 1933	NSDAP
	Ernst Röhm (SA Chief) †	1 December 1933 - 1 July 1934
	Rudolf Hess (Deputy Führer)	1 December 1933 - 10 May 1941
	Hanns Kerrl	16 April 1934 - 18 July 1935
	Hans Frank (Governor-General from 1939)	19 December 1934 - 30 April 1945
	Hjalmar Schacht	26 November 1937 - 22 January 1943
	Otto Meissner (Chief of Presidential Chancellery)	1 December 1937 - 30 April 1945
	Hans Lammers (Chief of Reich Chancellery)	1 December 1937 - 30 April 1945
	Arthur Seyss-Inquart	1 May 1939 - 30 April 1945
	Martin Bormann (Chief of Nazi Party Chancellery)	12 May 1941 - 30 April 1945
	Wilhelm Frick (Reich Protector)	24 August 1943 – 30 April 1945

Changes

• March 1933: Joseph Goebbels enters the cabinet as Minister of Propaganda.
• April 1933: Franz Seldte becomes a member of the NSDAP; Göring takes a portfolio as Minister of Aviation.
• June 1933: Kurt Schmitt succeeds Hugenberg as Minister of Economics. Richard Walther Darré succeeds Hugenberg as Minister of Food.
• December 1933: Ernst Röhm and Rudolf Hess enter the Cabinet as Ministers without Portfolio.
• May 1934: Bernhard Rust enters the Cabinet as Minister of Science and Education.
• June 1934: Hanns Kerrl enters the Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio. Röhm, Minister without Portfolio, is murdered.
• July 1934: Göring takes another portfolio as Minister of Forestry.
• August 1934: Vice-Chancellor Franz von Papen leaves the cabinet. A new Vice-Chancellor is not installed. Hjalmar Schacht succeeds Schmitt as Minister of Economics.
• December 1934: Hans Frank enters the Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio.
• March 1935: Göring takes yet another portfolio as Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe.
• May 1935: The title of Minister of Defense is replaced by that of Minister of War. Blomberg retains the office.
• July 1935: Hanns Kerrl takes a portfolio as Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs.
• April 1936: Werner von Fritsch, Commander-in-Chief of the Army, and Erich Raeder, Commander in Chief of the Navy, join the Cabinet.
• February 1937: Wilhelm Ohnesorge succeeds Eltz as Minister of Posts. Julius Dorpmüller succeeds Eltz as Minister of Transport.
• November 1937: Hermann Göring succeeds Schacht as Minister of Economics. Schacht becomes Minister without Portfolio.
• December 1937: Otto Meissner enters the Cabinet as Minister of State and Head of the Chancellery.
• January 1938: Walter Funk succeeds Göring as Minister of Economics.
• February 1938: Joachim von Ribbentrop replaces Neurath as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Neurath becomes Minister without Portfolio. Blomberg resigns as Minister of War and his office is abolished. His role is taken by General Wilhelm Keitel as Director of the OKW. Walther von Brauchitsch succeeds Fritsch as Commander-in-Chief of the Army.
• May 1939: Arthur Seyss-Inquart enters the Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio.
• March 1940: Fritz Todt becomes Minister of Armaments and Ammunition.
• January 1941: Franz Schlegelberger succeeds Gürtner as Minister of Justice.
• May 1941: Rudolf Hess is suspended from the Cabinet.
• July 1941: Alfred Rosenberg enters the Cabinet as Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories.
• December 1941: Hanns Kerrl, the Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs, dies. He is not replaced. Hitler himself takes up the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Army.
• February 1942: Albert Speer succeeds Todt as Minister of Armaments and Ammunition.
• May 1942: Herbert Backe succeeds Darré as Minister of Food.
• August 1942: Otto Georg Thierack succeeds Schlegelberger as Minister of Justice.
• January 1943: Karl Dönitz succeeds Raeder as Commander-in-Chief of the Navy.
• January 1943: Hans Lammers appointed President of Reich Cabinet (Cabinet President in Hitler's absence)
• August 1943: Heinrich Himmler succeeds Frick as Minister of the Interior.
• September 1943: Albert Speer's ministerial authority is extended to cover the entire German war industry, and is elevated to Minister of Armaments and War Production.
• July 1944: Schacht departs the Cabinet.

End of Cabinet

As the Third Reich government was disintegrating at the end of the Second World War and following Hitler's death on 30 April 1945, it was succeeded by the short-lived Cabinet Schwerin von Krosigk of the Flensburg government.

Notes and references

This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia.