Walter Funk

Walter Funk
Robert Röhr · Public domain · source
Name	Walter Funk
Birth date	18 August 1890
Birth place	Kreuzburg, German Empire
Death date	31 May 1960
Death place	Stuttgart, West Germany
Nationality	German
Occupation	Economist, Politician
Party	Nazi Party
Known for	President of the Reichsbank, Reich Minister of Economics

Walter Funk

Walter Funk (18 August 1890 – 31 May 1960) was a German economist, banker, and politician who served as President of the Reichsbank and Reich Minister of Economics under the Nazi Party regime. He played a central role in the financial administration of Nazi Germany, participating in policies tied to rearmament, expropriation, and the economic integration of occupied territories during World War II. After the war he was prosecuted at the Nuremberg Trials and sentenced for crimes against peace and war crimes relating to economic exploitation.

Early life and career

Born in Kreuzburg in the Province of Silesia in the German Empire, Funk studied law and political economy at universities including Freiburg im Breisgau and Greifswald. He served briefly in the Imperial German Army during World War I and afterwards entered the banking sector, holding posts at regional savings banks and industrial finance institutions such as the Reichsbank's local affiliates. During the volatile years of the Weimar Republic he rose through financial circles, developing connections with figures in business and conservative politics including members of the DNVP and banking elites involved in stabilization efforts during the Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic and the later Great Depression. By the late 1920s and early 1930s Funk moved into national finance administration, aligning with technocrats who later cooperated with the Nazi Party's seizure of power.

Political rise and role in Nazi economic policy

After the Nazi seizure of power in January 1933 Funk formally joined the Nazi Party and was appointed to senior posts that linked finance and industrial mobilization. He served under prominent leaders such as Hermann Göring, Franz Seldte, and Hjalmar Schacht in coordinating policies that combined state planning with private industry collaboration, contributing to measures like the Four-Year Plan instituted by Göring. Funk's bureaucratic maneuvering connected him with ministries and institutions including the Reich Ministry of Economics and the Reichswerke Hermann Göring, and he maintained working relations with corporate executives from firms such as IG Farben, Krupp, and Siemens. As a member of the German state apparatus he was involved in currency control, credit allocation, and the financial mechanisms underpinning rearmament and autarky pursued by the regime in the lead-up to World War II.

Ministerial tenure and wartime actions

In 1938 Funk succeeded Hjalmar Schacht as President of the Reichsbank, and in 1942 he was appointed Reich Minister of Economics, combining the two offices. In these capacities he administered monetary policy, foreign exchange controls, and the financial incorporation of annexed and occupied territories such as Austria, the Sudetenland, Poland, and territories under the General Government (German-occupied Poland). Funk's tenure saw the Reichsbank's involvement in handling the proceeds of expropriations, including seized assets from persecuted groups and occupied states, and in financing Reichswerke-led industrial expansion. He dealt with senior Nazi leaders such as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels, and Heinrich Himmler over economic mobilization, and coordinated with military procurement authorities including the Wehrmacht high command and the OKW on credit for war production. Under Funk the Reichsbank cooperated with institutions like the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories in currency conversions and exploitation of raw materials.

Involvement in Nazi crimes and trials

Funk's administrative role implicated him in the economic aspects of Nazi crimes, notably the appropriation of property from Jewish victims, concentration camp inmates, and occupied populations. The Reichsbank under his presidency accepted and processed valuables and currency expropriated through deportation and mass murder, and Reich economic measures facilitated forced labor programs tied to firms in Germany and occupied Europe. After Germany's defeat Funk was indicted at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg along with other leading officials on charges including crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Prosecutors presented evidence of financial transactions, coerced expropriation, and the bank's role in financing the war economy; witnesses and documentary exhibits linked Funk to decisions involving confiscated valuables and economic exploitation. The tribunal found him guilty on several counts, concluding that his economic leadership materially furthered the regime's criminal policies.

Postwar imprisonment and later life

Sentenced at Nuremberg to life imprisonment in 1947, Funk's sentence was later commuted to a shorter term by clemency decisions in the context of postwar political shifts and debates involving Allied occupation zones and the emerging Federal Republic of Germany. He served part of his term in Allied prison facilities and was released in the 1950s. After release Funk lived in West Germany, where he wrote memoirs and engaged in limited public commentary, occasionally interacting with figures from business and former officials from the [Nazi Party era such as Albert Speer and Baldur von Schirach in postwar networks addressing denazification and restitution controversies. He died in Stuttgart in 1960. Funk's legacy remains tied to debates over the complicity of financial institutions and economic technocrats in the crimes of the Third Reich and the moral responsibilities of bankers and ministers under authoritarian regimes.

Category:1890 births Category:1960 deaths Category:German economists Category:Nazi Party politicians Category:People convicted by the International Military Tribunal