Hans Lammers
| Hans Lammers | |
|---|---|
Hans Lammers in SS uniform, circa 1938–1940.
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| Chief of the Reich Chancellery | |
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In office 30 January 1933 – 24 April 1945 |
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| President |
Adolf Hitler Führer |
| Chancellor | Adolf Hitler |
| Preceded by | Erwin Planck |
| Succeeded by | none |
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Cabinet Minister Without Portfolio or (Title Post – 1938) Reich Minister |
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In office 1 December 1937 – 24 April 1945 |
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| President of the Reich Cabinet (Presiding Officer in Hitler's Absence) |
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In office January 1943 – 24 April 1945 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
27 May 1879 Lublinitz, Silesia, Prussia, German Empire |
| Died | 4 January 1962 (aged 82) Düsseldorf, West Germany |
| Political party | Nazi (DNVP until 1932) |
| Profession | Judge |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 German Empire Nazi Germany
|
| Service/branch | Imperial German Army |
| Battles/wars |
World War I World War II |
Hans Heinrich Lammers (27 May 1879 – 4 January 1962) was a German jurist and prominent Nazi politician. From 1933 until 1945 he served as head of the Reich Chancellery under Adolf Hitler. During the 1948–1949 Wilhelmstrasse Trial, Lammers was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.
Born in Lublinitz (Lubliniec) in Upper Silesia, the son of a veterinarian, Lammers completed law school at the universities of Breslau (Wrocław) and Heidelberg, obtained his doctorate in 1904, and was appointed judge at the Amtsgericht of Beuthen (Bytom) in 1912. During World War I, as a volunteer and officer of the German Army, he received the Iron Cross, First and Second Class. After World War I he joined the national conservative German National People's Party (DNVP) and resumed his career as a lawyer reaching by 1922 the position of undersecretary at the Reich Ministry of the Interior.
In 1932, Lammers joined the Nazi Party and achieved rapid promotions: he was appointed head of the police department, and, after the Nazi seizure of power in 1933 State Secretary and Chief of the Reich Chancellery. At the recommendation of Reich Minister Wilhelm Frick, he became the centre of communications and chief legal adviser for all government departments. From 1937, he was a member of Hitler's cabinet as a Reich Minister without portfolio, and from 30 November 1939 a member of the Council of Ministers for the Defence of the Reich. In this position he was able to review all pertinent documents regarding national security and domestic policy even before they were forwarded to Hitler in person. Historian Martin Kitchen explains that due to the centralization of power accorded to the Reich Chancellory and therefore to its head, Lammers became "one of the most important men in Nazi Germany". From the vantage point of most government officers, Lammers seemed to speak on behalf of Hitler, the ultimate authority within the Reich. Lammers was also one of the first officials to sign government correspondence with "Heil Hitler", which became a requisite greeting for civil servants and eventually so ubiquitous that failure to use it was considered an "overt sign of dissidence" which could trigger attention from the Gestapo. Sometime in 1940, Lammers was also promoted to honorary SS General.
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