Walter Kriege
Walter Kriege | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1891-03-15 Asunción, Paraguay |
| Died | 1952-12-01 |
| Occupation(s) | Legal expert, politician, banker |
| Years active | 1921–1952 |
| Known for | Roles in German politics and banking; involvement in resistance against Hitler; president of Landeszentralbank of North Rhine-Westphalia |
Walter Kriege (15 March 1891 – 1 December 1952) was a German legal expert who played prominent roles in politics and banking during the mid-1900s.
Life
Kriege was born in Paraguay as the son of Johannes Kriege, a German diplomat and consul stationed in Asunción. Following his service in the First World War, he attained a doctorate in law from Berlin. Between 1921 and 1923, he was employed at the Reichsbank before taking on roles within the Prussian Justice Ministry, which later became part of the national Justice Ministry, where he worked until 1944. In April 1940, he was appointed Ministerial Director in the Justice Ministry, a position he maintained until his detention after the unsuccessful 20 July 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler. During his tenure, Kriege attended a 1941 conference where Nazi Germany's Action T4 euthanasia program was revealed. From 1939 to 1944, he also served as president of the Senior Maritime Trophies Court (Oberprisenhof).
Kriege was chosen to serve either as Secretary of State or Justice Minister in Carl Friedrich Goerdeler’s proposed Shadow Cabinet. Following the failed coup attempt, he was arrested but subsequently released by November 1944.
After World War II, Kriege held the role of deputy president of the German Finance Council (1946–1949) within the American occupation zone and led the Finance Administration Office, which evolved into West Germany’s Finance Ministry. Chancellor Konrad Adenauer intended to appoint him as Administrative Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in 1949; however, Kriege declined due to restricted independence under the Occupation Statute that limited West Germany’s foreign policy capabilities. Consequently, Adenauer initially managed foreign affairs personally.
Instead, Kriege assumed leadership as president of the Landeszentralbank of North Rhine-Westphalia, a banking executive role he fulfilled until his passing in 1952.
His family connections included notable individuals such as architect Richard Saran, Bremen’s mayor John Daniel Meier, journalist Mary Saran, and early socialist figure Hermann Kriege.