http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Freiherr_von_Schr%C3%B6der

&: http://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz107293.html

Kurt Freiherr von Schröder (* 24. November 1889 in Hamburg; † 4. November 1966 ebenda) war ein deutscher Bankier, NSDAP-Gauwirtschaftsberater und SS-Brigadeführer.

Schröder, great-grandson of the entrepreneur Johann Heinrich Schröder , was the second of four sons of the banker Frederick Freiherr von Schröder and his wife Harriet, née Milberg. He completed his school days at high schools in Hamburg and Gütersloh. In 1907, Schröder began studying law at the University of Bonn . During this time he became a member of the Corps Borussia Bonn . His corps brothers in Bonn included the later diplomat Kurt von Lersner. In the long term, this relationship turned out to be highly significant, as it formed the foundation for the momentous political role that Schröder played in 1932/1933 as an intermediary between the NSDAP leadership and the conservative politician Franz von Papen, who was also friends with Lersner. In 1932 Lersner brokered the contact between Papen and Schröder, so that he could take on the aforementioned mediating role.

In 1909 Schröder broke off his studies, which, according to Soenius, he had probably only started because of the desired membership in the student union, without seriously wanting to graduate or embark on an administrative career. Instead, he became a professional officer in the Hussar Regiment "King Wilhelm I" (1st Rheinisches) No. 7 in Bonn. [1] During the First World War , Schröder was used on the Western Front. He was awarded the Iron Cross of both classes and in 1917 was transferred to the replacement squadron of his regiment in Bonn for health reasons. From early 1918 to early 1919 he served as a captain on the General Staff. In the course of the general demobilization in 1919, he retired from the army.

In April 1913, Schröder married Ottilie Marie Edith Schnitzler (1892–1951). At her father's request, Schröder became a partner in the J. H. Stein bank in Cologne in 1921 . In 1919 this bank became a center of the Rhenish separatists with significant participation by Schröder : In that year Schröder signed an appeal by the separatists calling for the separation of the Rhineland from the German Reich. In addition, conferences of industrialists and bankers took place in the Schröder banking house. One of these conferences even elected him to the economic committee, which should prepare the formation of the aforementioned Rhenish separate state.

From 1928 von Schröder became politically active and joined the German People's Party . He was a member of the German Men's Club . In November 1932, Schröder was one of the signatories of the “ industrialists' submission ” to Reich President Paul von Hindenburg , in which industrialists, bankers and farmers demanded Hitler's appointment as Reich Chancellor .

Von Schröder also belonged to the study group for economic issues ("Keppler-Kreis"), the later Freundeskreis Reichsführer SS , and administered the "Sonderkonto S" of his bank, to which the members of the Freundeskreis paid one million Reichsmarks annually for special tasks by Heinrich Himmler . With Wilhelm Keppler he organized a secret meeting on January 4, 1933 in his villa (Stadtwaldgürtel 35) in Cologne-Lindenthal [2] , in which Hitler and Franz von Papen agreed on preparations for taking over government. Hitler was at this meeting of Wilhelm Keppler, Heinrich Himmler and Rudolf Hessaccompanied. At this meeting, Hitler and Papen agreed to overthrow Kurt von Schleicher 's government and jointly form a Hitler-Papen-Hugenberg right-wing coalition.

Third Reich One day after Hitler came to power , von Schröder joined the NSDAP on February 1, 1933 ( membership number 1.475.919) and over the years donated millions to it. At the end of April 1933 he became President of the Cologne Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and subsequently Vice-President of the German Industry and Trade Congress , Chairman of the Foreign Trade Office for the Rhineland and holder of numerous other offices in the economy.

Schröder personally ensured that the representatives of Bank Sal. Oppenheim were no longer invited to the meetings of the Rheinisch-Westfälische Bankenvereinigung, of which their father was a co-founder. After Schröder had eliminated his competitor Paul Silverberg , who was also of Jewish origin, as president of the Cologne Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he himself took over the chairmanship of this institution. As one of his first official acts, he had a ban on inviting non-Aryan members to the general meetings, which meant above all the Oppenheims. Schröder also ensured that the Oppenheims lost most of their supervisory board positions in the companies they oversee. Appointment as head of private banks in the Reichsgruppe Banken in 1934 was followed by 1935 as head of the Rhineland Chamber of Commerce. In 1943, the journal Die Bankwirtschaft honored his work as head of the specialist groups for private banks: In particular, under his leadership the Aryanization , which was an extremely difficult task in the private banking sector, was carried out with determination but with the preservation of the company's valuable assets. ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Baron_von_Schr%C3%B6der

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treffen_Papens_mit_Hitler_im_Haus_des...