author
Karl Helfferich
1872–1924
A brilliant and controversial figure in imperial and early Weimar Germany, he moved from academia and high finance into the center of wartime politics. His life ended suddenly in 1924, but his role in debates over money, power, and the fate of Germany still makes him a striking historical character.
3 Audiobooks
Der Weltkrieg, III. Band Vom Eingreifen Amerikas bis zum Zusammenbruch
by Karl Helfferich
Der Weltkrieg, I. Band Die Vorgeschichte des Weltkrieges
by Karl Helfferich
About the author
Born in 1872, Karl Helfferich was a German economist, banker, and politician. He studied law and political economy, taught at the University of Berlin, and later worked with Deutsche Bank and the Anatolian Railway before entering high office during the First World War.
During the war he served as State Secretary of the Imperial Treasury, then as State Secretary of the Interior, and also as Vice Chancellor. He became closely associated with German wartime finance and economic policy, which made him both influential and divisive.
After the war, Helfferich remained active in politics as a prominent conservative nationalist voice in the early Weimar Republic. He died in 1924 in a railway accident near Bellinzona, Switzerland.