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Hans Heinrich LammersStatesman of Nazi Germany, head of the Imperial Chancellery
Date of Birth: 27.05.1879
Country:  Germany |
Content:
- Biography of Hans Heinrich Lammers
- World War I and Civil Service
- Political Career
- SS Obergruppenführer and Downfall
- Post-War Trial and Imprisonment
- Personal Life
Biography of Hans Heinrich Lammers
Early Life and EducationHans Heinrich Lammers was born in 1879 in Lublinitz, Upper Silesia, in a family of doctors. He attended an evangelical school in Plesse and studied at the law faculties of the Breslau and Heidelberg universities. After completing his military service, Lammers began working in the Prussian judicial system. In 1901, he passed the internship exam and became an assistant at a university. Three years later, he defended his doctoral dissertation and gained experience in legal practice.
World War I and Civil Service
As a reserve lieutenant, Lammers volunteered for military service during World War I. In his first year of service, in 1914, he was awarded the Iron Cross of the First and Second Class. After losing his left eye in the war, Hans Heinrich Lammers returned to civilian service and became a staff member for administrative affairs at the Imperial Governor-General's Office in Warsaw.
Political Career
In the late 1920s, Lammers served in the Imperial Ministry of the Interior and became a member of the German National People's Party. With Adolf Hitler's appointment as Chancellor in 1933 and the formation of a new government, Lammers became the head of the Führer's Reich Chancellery as an Imperial State Secretary. He was part of Hitler's inner circle at the Obersalzberg, where he managed the affairs of the Imperial Chancellery. Lammers also served as a legal consultant to Hitler.
SS Obergruppenführer and Downfall
In 1937, Hitler appointed his loyal associate Lammers as a Reich Minister without Portfolio, and in 1939, he became the Ministerial Councilor for Reich Defense. Lammers was awarded the SS rank of Obergruppenführer in 1940. In 1943, together with Martin Bormann and Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, he joined the so-called "Committee of Three," a specially created committee that facilitated Hitler's governance.
Despite lacking imagination, Lammers was primarily responsible for technical legal details. However, he eventually fell out of favor with Hitler. Following Hermann Göring's telegram to Hitler in late April 1945, where he offered to assume leadership of the country, an enraged Hitler ordered the arrest of both Göring and Lammers, considering Lammers the main instigator. This was not entirely unfounded, as Lammers had legally justified Göring's potential succession as head of state. He relied on the law of June 29, 1941, which designated Hermann Göring as Hitler's successor in case of the Führer's incapability to lead the country outside of Berlin and his territories.
Post-War Trial and Imprisonment
In 1949, at the American Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, Hans Heinrich Lammers was charged with preparing and legally justifying measures aimed at the mass extermination of Jews. In his defense, Lammers stated that he had no knowledge of the results of these measures until they were revealed in the courtroom. He stated, "I knew that the Führer had given the order to Heydrich, and this order was called the 'Final Solution to the Jewish Question.' But I knew nothing more about it."
Lammers was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment, which he served in Landsberg Prison. In 1951, his sentence was reduced to 10 years, and he was released in 1952. Hans Heinrich Lammers passed away on January 4, 1962, in Düsseldorf.
Personal Life
Since 1912, Lammers was married to Elfriede Tepel, and they had two daughters.
