 |
Alfred HugenbergInfluential businessman and politician
Date of Birth: 19.06.1865
Country:  Germany |
Content:
Biography of Alfred Guggenberg
Alfred Ernst Christian Alexander Guggenberg was born on June 19, 1865, in Hanover, Germany. He studied law and economics starting from 1883 and completed his doctoral dissertation in 1888. After that, he served in the army until 1890.
In 1891, Guggenberg, along with Karl Peters, founded the ultra-nationalist General German Union, later known as the Pan-German Union. In 1900, he married his second cousin, Gertrude Adikes. Guggenberg worked on organizing agricultural societies before joining the Prussian Ministry of Finance in 1903.
In 1909, he became the chairman of the supervisory board of Krupp Steel, establishing close personal and political ties with Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach. Guggenberg left the public sector and started his own business projects in 1916, including the promotion of the socio-political magazine "Die Gartenlaube." He worked for Krupp until 1918.
During the Great Depression, Guggenberg acquired dozens of local newspapers, which formed the foundation for his publishing house, Scherl House. In the 1920s, as a media magnate, he exerted significant influence through his news agencies, which aimed to regulate right-wing political movements.
Guggenberg was one of several representatives of Pan-Germanism involved in the activities of the National Liberal Party before World War I. When the war broke out, he switched to the German National People's Party (DNVP), becoming one of its prominent members. He emphasized territorial expansion and anti-Semitism as his main political issues. In 1919, Guggenberg joined the German National People's Party (DNVP) and was elected to the Reichstag a year later.
In the 1928 elections, the DNVP suffered significant losses, and Guggenberg was appointed its chairman on October 21 of the same year. He was a supporter of radical nationalism and collaborated with the Nazi Party until 1933, initially hoping to control Hitler and use him as his "tool." However, he failed to resist Hitler's dictatorship.
Guggenberg served as the Minister of Economics and Minister of Agriculture and Food under Hitler's administration. As the Minister of Economics, he implemented a temporary moratorium on the transfer of pledged real estate to the mortgage holder, canceled some debts, and introduced a scale of fees on certain agricultural products to stimulate the sector. He also imposed restrictions on margarine production, leading to an increase in butter prices and making himself unpopular outside the farming community.
In June 1933, Guggenberg was forced to resign from his ministerial position. However, he remained a Reichstag deputy as a "guest" until 1945. Among the 639 Nazi deputies, Guggenberg was one of the 22 non-party representatives who had no influence.
Guggenberg's news agencies continued to bring him profits until 1943, when the Nazi Party's central publishing house, Eher Verlag, took control of Scherl House. After World War II, Guggenberg was detained by the British, but in 1949, a denazification court classified him as a "fellow traveler," allowing him to retain his property and business interests.
