Popitz, Johannes

(1884-1945)

   bureaucrat; helped regulate the Repub-lic's fiscal policies in the mid-1920s. Born to a pharmacist in Leipzig, he was raised by a grandfather in Dessau upon his father's early death. A student of law and economics, he completed his doctorate in 1907 and assumed a legal position in Cologne with the Prussian civil service*; by 1914 he was a depart-ment head with the Prussian Interior Ministry. Sent to the Reich Treasury Office in 1916, he was appointed Geheimrat at the Finance Ministry upon conclusion of the Armistice.* Promoted to ministerial director in 1921 and Staatssekretär in January 1925, he was soon deemed Germany's foremost financial-law expert. He promoted the unpopular fiscal policies of Finance Minister Matthias Erzber-ger* (policies that were applied in 1924) and was appointed honorary professor for finance and tax law in 1922 at Berlin.

   Popitz combined uncommon intelligence with personal integrity and financial expertise. Serving several Finance Ministers, he proved his genius by creating an important tax law in August 1925, soon after his appointment as Staatssek-retar. The law, which addressed the turmoil generated in the aftermath of the inflation* crisis (and remained in force until 1945), was the first of many in-novative policies regulating finances, especially between the Reich and federal states. Politically conservative, yet a member of no party, Popitz abhorred a system that required negotiation and compromise. A clash with Reichsbank Pres-ident Hjalmar Schacht* in 1929 led him to resign together with Finance Minister Rudolf Hilferding.* He then devoted two years to scholarly research. After his coup against the Prussian government, Franz von Papen* asked Popitz to man-age the Prussian Finance Ministry. Kurt von Schleicher* appointed him Minister without Portfolio and Commissioner of the Prussian Finance Ministry.

   Hitler* appointed Popitz Prussian Finance Minister in March 1933. Although he worked for several years with the regime—he was awarded the NSDAP's Golden Badge of Honor in 1937—by the late 1930s he was embarrassed by his role as a Nazi sycophant. Never an admirer of the Republic, he slowly came to detest the Third Reich. A leader in the resistance group Mittwochgesellschaft (Wednesday Society), centered on General Ludwig Beck and Carl Goerdeler,* he drafted a preliminary constitution for a post-Hitler regime in which he would serve as either Finance or Cultural Minister. Condemned to death for his activ-ities, he was executed in February 1945.

   REFERENCES:Bosl, Franz, and Hofmann, Biographisches Worterbuch; Dieckmann, Jo-hannes Popitz; Stachura, Political Leaders.