Ludwig von Winterfeld (entrepreneur)

Ludwig Gustav Moritz von Winterfeld (born November 21, 1880 in Potsdam ; † May 10, 1958 in Freiburg im Breisgau ) was a German entrepreneur at Siemens-Schuckertwerke and Siemens & Halske AG.

Life

Ludwig was a son of the Prussian Colonel Ernst von Winterfeld (1841-1896) and his wife Hedwig, born von Winterfeldt (* 1849).

In 1905 he married Charlotte Pietschker, a daughter of Käthe Pietschker and granddaughter of Werner von Siemens . Winterfeld served in the 1st Guards Regiment on foot in the Prussian Army and received his doctorate in 1913. phil. with the work development and activity of Siemens & Halske in the years 1847-1897 . In 1914 he joined Siemens-Schuckertwerke, where he became a deputy member of the management board in 1919 and a full member in 1925. He was also a member of the Management Board of Siemens & Halske AG. From 1914 to 1918 he took part in the First World War as a captain .

politics

Winterfeld sat on the administrative board of the Political College . He was on the advisory board of the Central European Business Conference , which aimed to unify Central Europe under German leadership. In 1924 he described fascism in the “Siemens Mitteilungen” as a “countercurrent against the danger of communism” and when asked “What does fascism want?” He replied:

"In a nutshell, his slogan is: 'Discipline, order, happiness, greatness of the fatherland' - a slogan that anyone who loves his fatherland and is not hindered by party hatreds from seeing clearly can explain without hesitation as his own . [...] Which objective observer could deny his sympathy to this phenomenon? "

Walther Funk testified in the Nuremberg trial against the main war criminals that Winterfeld had campaigned for understanding for the NSDAP with the Siemens management, which had been democratically minded, before the seizure of power . He took part in the secret meeting of industrialists with Hitler on February 20, 1933 , at which an election fund of 3 million Reichsmarks for the NSDAP and the black-white-red battle front was decided.

After the seizure of power , he became a member of the F-Kreis , an advisory group to Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels .

Web links

Short biography at the Federal Archives

Individual evidence

^ Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Nobeligen houses. 1904. Fifth year, Justus Perthes, Gotha 1903, p. 906.
↑ Ludwig von Winterfeld: Fascism . In: Siemens-Mitteilungen 56/1924. Quote from Hans Radandt (head): Siemens - Armaments - War - Profits . oOoJ, p. 24 f.
↑ Nuremberg Document EC-440, Statement Funk dated June 28, 1945. Quoted from: Office of the United States Chief of Counsel For Prosecution of Axis Criminality (Ed.): Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression . Supplement A, Washington 1946. online (PDF; 27.0 MB)

personal data
SURNAME	Winterfeld, Ludwig von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Winterfeld, Ludwig Gustav Moritz von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH	November 21, 1880
PLACE OF BIRTH	Potsdam
DATE OF DEATH	May 10, 1958
Place of death	Freiburg in Breisgau

[1] Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Nobeligen houses. 1904. Fifth year, Justus Perthes, Gotha 1903, p. 906.

[2] Ludwig von Winterfeld: Fascism . In: Siemens-Mitteilungen 56/1924. Quote from Hans Radandt (head): Siemens - Armaments - War - Profits . oOoJ, p. 24 f.

[3] Nuremberg Document EC-440, Statement Funk dated June 28, 1945. Quoted from: Office of the United States Chief of Counsel For Prosecution of Axis Criminality (Ed.): Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression . Supplement A, Washington 1946. online (PDF; 27.0 MB)