Papen's cabinet

The Papen Cabinet; standing from left: Gürtner (justice), Warmbold (economy), von Schleicher (Reichswehr); sitting from left: von Braun (nutrition, agriculture), von Gayl (interior), von Papen (chancellor), von Neurath (exterior); missing: von Krosigk (finance), Schäffer (work), von Eltz-Rübenach (transport, post)

The Papen Cabinet , a presidential cabinet , was the government of the German Empire of the Weimar Republic from June 1, 1932 to December 3, 1932. The cabinet, headed by the noble Franz von Papen as Reich Chancellor and almost exclusively , became of contemporaries non-party ministers with noble descent or academic background belonged, also mockingly referred to as the Cabinet of Barons . According to the former Papen employee Fritz Günther von Tschirschky , the name was invented by the National Socialist head of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels , and was later picked up by the government's social democratic and communist opponents.

Von Papen's cabinet

The Papen cabinet was formed on the initiative of Kurt von Schleicher , who worked in the background and who had also chosen von Papen. Besides the non-party members, only the German Nationals were represented in the government, to which they contributed three ministers. Most of the members of the government were virtually unknown to the general public at the time of their appointment. Even conservatives saw the government as a temporary solution. The right-wing publicist Edgar Julius Jung , for example, when the cabinet list was presented to him by a friend on June 1st during a lecture in front of the Dortmund Industrial Club, the verdict: “I know almost all of them, they are characters who pass by. This government is of a transitory nature. What will come after her? "

The presidential cabinet only lasted six months. The reason for this was that it could not find a majority in the Reichstag and, according to Schleicher's simulation game Ott, President Paul von Hindenburg considered a breach of the constitution by ignoring a vote of no confidence by the Reichstag or a coup d'état as too dangerous. Eventually it was replaced by the Schleicher cabinet .

composition

Reich Minister

Papen cabinet June 1, 1932 to December 3, 1932
Chancellor	Franz von Papen	independent
Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Konstantin Freiherr von Neurath from June 2, 1932	independent
Interior	Wilhelm Freiherr von Gayl	DNVP
Finances	Johann Ludwig Graf Schwerin von Krosigk from June 2, 1932	independent
economy	Hermann Warmbold	independent
job	Hermann Warmbold was entrusted with running the business until June 5, 1932	independent
job	Hugo Schäffer from June 6, 1932	independent
Judiciary	Franz Gürtner from June 2, 1932	DNVP
Reichswehr	Kurt von Schleicher	independent
post Office	Paul Freiherr von Eltz-Rübenach	independent
traffic	Paul Freiherr von Eltz-Rübenach	independent
Food and Agriculture	Magnus Freiherr von Braun	DNVP
Reich Minister without portfolio	Franz Bracht (since October 29, 1932)	independent
Reich Minister without portfolio	Johannes Popitz (since October 29, 1932)	independent

Officials of the Reich Chancellery

Officials of the Reich Chancellery
State Secretary of the Reich Chancellery	Erwin Planck
Joint service with Reich Chancellor and State Secretary	Ministerial Director Edwin Pukass
Speaker	Ministerialdirektor Viktor von Hagenow (put into temporary retirement on July 1, 1932)
Speaker	Ministerialrat Othmar Feßler
Speaker	Ministerialrat Heinrich Vogels
Speaker	Ministerialrat Richard Wienstein
Speaker	Ministerialrat Edwin Pukass
Speaker	Higher Government Councilor Hans Thomsen
Speaker	Senior Government Councilor Curt Walter
Speaker	Upper Government Councilor Otto Westphal
Speaker	Senior Government Councilor Joseph Krebs
Ministerial Office Director	Rudolf Ostertag
Press chief of the Reich government	Ministerial Director Heinrich Ritter von Kaufmann-Asser (until August 17, 1932)
Press chief of the Reich government	since August 17, 1932: Ministerialdirektor Erich Marcks

Web links

Rainer Schaefer: The Papen cabinet . The Weimar Republic, Volume III
Extract from: Weimar Republic . Federal Agency for Civic Education
Volume 456 - Changes in the Imperial Government. Negotiations of the Reichstag

Individual evidence

^ Fritz Günther von Tschirschky: Memories of a high traitor . 1972, p. 81.

[1] Fritz Günther von Tschirschky: Memories of a high traitor . 1972, p. 81.