Franz von Papen | |
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22nd Chancellor of the German Reich 13th Chancellor of the Weimar Republic | |
In office 1 June – 17 November 1932 | |
President | Paul von Hindenburg |
Preceded by | Heinrich Brüning |
Succeeded by | Kurt von Schleicher |
Vice-Chancellor of the German Reich | |
In office 30 January 1933 – August 1934 | |
Chancellor | Adolf Hitler |
Preceded by | Hermann R. Dietrich |
Succeeded by | Vacant Franz Blücher (1949) |
Minister President of Prussia | |
In office 20 July – 3 December 1932 | |
Preceded by | Otto Braun |
Succeeded by | Kurt von Schleicher |
In office 30 January – 10 April 1933 | |
Preceded by | Kurt von Schleicher |
Succeeded by | Hermann Göring |
Personal details | |
Born | Werl | 29 October 1879
Died | 2 May 1969 Sasbach, Germany | (aged 89)
Political party | Centre Party (until 1932) Nazi party (until 1945) |
Occupation | Soldier, spy, diplomat, nobleman |
Military service | |
Allegiance | German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany (to 1945) |
Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen zu Köningen (29 October 1879 - 2 May 1969) was a German nobleman, Catholic monarchist politician, General Staff officer, and diplomat. He was Chancellor of Germany in 1932 and as Vice Chancellor of Germany in 1933-1934. He was a member of the Catholic Centre Party of Germany until 1932.
Papen was one the people who believed and said that they (the conservative elite and the military) could control Adolf Hitler when he becomes Chancellor of Germany; and was responsible for his rise to power along with Reich President Paul von Hindenburg, when he persuaded Hindenburg, that the other alternative to Hitler was Communist rule, which they saw as more dangerous.
As a result, Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor on 30 January 1933. But von Papen's belief in controlling Hitler and his assurances to Hindenburg did not happen, because Hitler started to control them and gain more power. In March Hindenburg signed the Enabling Act of 1933 which gave special powers to Hitler and his government, and he became a dictator. Von Papen and the conservatives lost all influence, though most of them stayed as members in Hitler's cabinet with no powers, until the fall of the Third Reich.
Before and during World War II he was an ambassador, from 1934 to 1938 in Austria, and from 1939 to 1944 in Turkey.
Von Papen was one of the 24 people charged at the Nuremberg Trials. The court decided he was not guilty.
Chancellors of Germany Reich Chancellor (Reichskanzler): 1871-1945 Federal Chancellor (Bundeskanzler): 1945- | |
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German Empire (1871–1918) | Otto von Bismarck · Leo von Caprivi · Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst · Bernhard von Bülow · Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg · Georg Michaelis · Georg von Hertling · Max of Baden |
Weimar Republic (1918–1933) | Friedrich Ebert · Philipp Scheidemann · Gustav Bauer · Hermann Müller · Konstantin Fehrenbach · Joseph Wirth · Wilhelm Cuno · Gustav Stresemann · Wilhelm Marx · Hans Luther · Otto Geßler (acting) · Wilhelm Marx · Hermann Müller · Heinrich Brüning · Franz von Papen · Kurt von Schleicher |
Nazi Germany (1933–1945) | |
Germany (since 1949) | Konrad Adenauer · Ludwig Erhard · Kurt Georg Kiesinger · Willy Brandt · Walter Scheel (acting) · Helmut Schmidt · Helmut Kohl · Gerhard Schröder · Angela Merkel
· Olaf Scholz |
Franz von Papen (ind) • Konstantin von Neurath • Joachim von Ribbentrop • Wilhelm Frick • Heinrich Himmler • Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk (ind) • Alfred Hugenberg (DNVP) • Kurt Schmitt • Hjalmar Schacht (ind) • Hermann Göring • Walther Funk • Franz Seldte • Franz Gürtner (DNVP) • Franz Schlegelberger • Otto Georg Thierack • Werner von Blomberg (ind) • Wilhelm Keitel (ind) • Freiherr von Eltz-Rübenach (ind) • Julius Dorpmüller • Wilhelm Ohnesorge • Richard Walther Darré • Herbert Backe • Joseph Goebbels • Bernhard Rust • Fritz Todt • Albert Speer • Alfred Rosenberg • Hanns Kerrl • Hermann Muhs • Otto Meißner (ind) • Arthur Seyß-Inquart • Hans Frank • Hans Lammers • Martin Bormann • Karl Hermann Frank • Rudolf Hess • Ernst Röhm | |
All ministers were NSDAP members except where indicated ("ind" = nominally independent). Most of them later became NSDAP members, except Von Papen, Hugenberg and Von Eltz-Rübenach. |