Julius Dorpmüller
Photo: Unknown Unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons16

Julius Dorpmüller

German politician and railway manager

Julius Heinrich Dorpmueller (24 July 1869 – 5 July 1945) was general manager of Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft from 1926 to 1945, a Nazi politician and the Reich Minister for Transport from 1937 to 1945.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Julius Dorpmüller (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Jul 24, 1869, died Jul 5, 1945.1

Companies

Early life and education

  • Date not recordedKaiser-Karls-Gymnasium, Aachen3
  • Date not recordedRWTH Aachen University rail construction, road construction3

Career

Occupation: business executive, railway worker, politician, engineer, railway engineer.9

Nazi career

After the Nazi seizure of power Dorpmüller replaced nearly all "non-Aryan" workers with Nazis. Dorpmüller became Reich Transport Minister on 2 February 1937 after the resignation of his predecessor Paul Freiherr von Eltz-Rübenach. In April 1938, when a Berlin train stopped in Passau, Dorpmüller was ceremonially welcomed and escorted to the Danube, where he continued his trip to Linz and Vienna on board the Austrian Wotan.

On 11 July 1939 the "law concerning the Deutsche Reichsbahn" (German Reich Railway) was issued and Dorpmüller was confirmed as transport minister and also General Manager of the Deutsche Reichsbahn.

According to Albert Speer, Dorpmüller confessed that "The Reichsbahn has so few cars and locomotives available for the German area that it can no longer assume responsibility for meeting the most urgent transportation needs." Speer then convinced Hitler to name Albert Ganzenmüller as State Secretary in place of Dorpmüller's long-time deputy, Wilhelm Kleinmann. Though he had entered the cabinet with no party affiliation, Dorpmüller was awarded the Golden Party Badge on 7 December 1940 and joined the Nazi Party on 1 February 1941 (membership number 7,883,826). Dorpmüller was not mentioned in Hitler's will and was therefore not in the Goebbels cabinet. But was in the Flensburg Government as he was named Minister for Transport, Communications and Posts.

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Post war career

After the end of the war, the British then asked Dorpmueller to take over reconstruction of the German railways: Dorpmueller and his representative Albert Ganzenmüller were brought by air, by the United States, to Chesnay in Paris, in order to meet for negotiations over the reorganization of German transport. American general Carl R. Gray Jr. had expressly recommended Dorpmueller to General Dwight D Eisenhower for "re-instatement to his old office", because he—as also "our secret service confirms"—had been neither a "Nazi sympathizer nor activist". With difficulty, as he was suffering from cancer, Dorpmueller returned on 13 June 1945 to Malente and from there, gave advice on reconstruction. On 23 June 1945 he was operated on—again—but his digestive system no longer functioned, so his health deteriorated rapidly. Despite this, he led official discussions, in full coherence, until two days before his death.

Dorpmueller died on 5 July 1945 and was buried in Malente.

From Wikipedia’s article on Julius Dorpmüller (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

  • BornJul 24, 1869, Wuppertal10
  • DiedJul 5, 1945, Malente11
  • CitizenshipGermany12

Awards

  • 1943Ehrenzeichen Pionier der Arbeit13
  • 1940Golden Party Badge13
  • 1940War Merit Cross13
  • 1939Adlerschild des Deutschen Reiches13
  • 1939Adlerschild des Deutschen Reiches13
  • 1938Karmarsch Medal13
  • 1936Grashof Commemorative Medal13
  • 1925honorary doctor of the RWTH Aachen University13
  • 1913Order of the Red Eagle 4th Class13

Sources

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