Karl Blessing

Karl Blessing
Born	Template:Birth date Württemberg, Germany
Died	April 25, 1971(1971-04-25) (aged 71) Rasteau, France
Occupation	Banker
Years active	1920–1969
Known for	President of Deutsche Bundesbank (1958–1969)

Karl Blessing (5 February 1900 – 25 April 1971) was a German banker who held the position of President at the Deutsche Bundesbank between 1958 and 1969.

Early life

Originating from Württemberg, Blessing began his career at the Reichsbank in 1920 and completed a degree in Business Administration by 1925.

Pre World War Two

By 1929, he had become an assistant to Reichsbank president Hjalmar Schacht and was assigned to the Reich Ministry of Economics in 1934. He joined the executive board of the Reichsbank in 1937 but was removed in 1939 due to his criticism of Nazi economic policies. After becoming a member of the Nazi Party, he was responsible for overseeing the incorporation of the Austrian National Bank following the 1938 Anschluss. Blessing operated within the upper echelons of the financial administration of the Third Reich.

World War Two Era

Contrary to Blessing’s assertions of ignorance about Nazi crimes, documentation reveals that in 1941 he sought to acquire an apartment confiscated by the Gestapo from a Jewish family. Historian Christopher Simpson notes that Blessing frequently attended meetings of the Himmlerkreis, a clandestine group financing Heinrich Himmler’s initiatives, and visited concentration camps during excursions organized by Himmler.

During wartime, Blessing served on the board of Kontinentale Öl, a monopoly created by IG Farben and private oil companies to control petroleum resources in occupied regions. This enterprise maintained concentration camps where forced laborers endured harsh conditions. Other board members included Reichsbank president Walther Funk and IG Farben executive Heinrich Butefisch.

Blessing typified the morally indifferent Nazi technocrat who later assumed a leading role in West Germany’s postwar financial system. His actions ranged from passive complicity to active involvement in wartime atrocities. Notably, he was listed by Carl Goerdeler as a candidate for Minister of Economics or Reichsbank president if the 20 July plot against Hitler had succeeded, yet he escaped arrest by the Gestapo following its failure.

Post-war

Following World War II, Blessing was detained under suspicion of war crimes. Nonetheless, U.S. occupation officials, led by Allen Dulles, sought qualified individuals for Germany’s new government. Dulles ranked Blessing highest on a secondary list, describing him as "a prominent businessman and financial expert with considerable experience in international trade." Support also came from John J. McCloy.

With this endorsement, Blessing rejoined Unilever and in 1958 was appointed president of the Deutsche Bundesbank, successor to the Reichsbank. He remained in this role until 1969 and regularly participated in central bankers’ gatherings at the BIS. After the war, Blessing minimized his involvement with Kontinentale-Öl, presenting himself as a minor government official—a portrayal accepted by much of the media.

Blessing passed away in 1969 in Rasteau, France, aged 71, receiving recognition from banking colleagues and German authorities while his contentious history received little attention. His grandson, Martin Blessing, later became CEO of Commerzbank from 2008 to 2016.

External links

• dmh de Profile of Karl Blessing
• Germany's Central Bank Supports Investigation into Nazi Era Involvement – New York Times
• The American Responsible for Allowing the Nazis to Reconstruct Germany