Full Name Albert Vogler Name Albert Vogler Party German People's Party | Cause of death Suicide Role German Politician | |
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Born 8 February 1877 ( 1877-02-08 ) Essen Occupation Industrialist, politician Employer Dortmunder Steel Works, Deutsch-Luxemburgische Bergwerks- und Hutten-AG mining company, Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG Political party German People's Party (member, co-founder) Board member of Dortmunder Chamber of Commerce, Rheinisch Westfali coal syndicate Died April 14, 1945, Herdecke, Germany Education Karlsruhe Institute of Technology | ||
Csu mw albert vogler
Albert Vogler (8 February 1877 - 14 April 1945), was a German liberal politician, industrialist and entrepreneur. He was a co-founder of the German People's Party, and an important executive in the munitions industry during the Second World War.
Vogler was born to Karl and Berta Vogler in Essen. He studied mechanics and engineering at high school before graduating from the university of Karlsruhe in 1901 with a degree in mechanical engineering. Between 1901 and 1910 he worked as a senior engineer at the Dortmunder Steel Works, and then became a member of the executive committee in the Deutsch-Luxemburgische Bergwerks- und Hutten-AG mining company. Upon the death in 1924 of the founder, Hugo Stinnes, Vogler became manager.
In 1918, with Gustav Stresemann, he was involved in the founding of the German People's Party (DVP) in the Weimar Republic. He criticised the policies of Joseph Wirth who signed agreements with France in accordance with Germany's submission to the French occupation of the Ruhr in 1923. In 1924 he left the DVP.
Between 1925 and 1927 he was a member of the Dortmunder Chamber of Commerce and president of the Rheinisch Westfali coal syndicate. In 1926 he founded the Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG and was its chairman until 1935. In 1927 he also became an honorary board member of his old university in Karlsruhe.
As a business man, Vogler feared the rise of communism in Germany. Records of donations from Vogler to the Nazi Party from as early as 1931 exist. Vogler met Adolf Hitler on 11 September 1931. From 1932 Vogler openly funded the Nazi party.
Hitler became German Chancellor on 30 January 1933. He held a meeting with Hermann Goring, and German industrialists on 20 February 1933. Vogler was present at this meeting. Hitler presented the Nazi Party's political plans, and received a total of three million marks in donations.
From 1940 onwards, Vogler was heavily involved with the manufacture of munitions. He served in increasingly important positions under Albert Speer in the Ruhr industrial heartland from 1942 until 1944.
He was president of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society (later Max Planck Society) from 1941 until his death in 1945.
On 14 April 1945, in order to avoid capture by the US Army, Vogler committed suicide in Haus Ende, Herdecke.