Walther Rathenau

Born in Berlin on September 29, 1867, Walther Rathenau was the son of industrialist Emil Rathenau, founder of AEG. Trained in science and engineering, he built a career as an industrialist and also became known as an essayist and thinker, writing about modern industry, society, and politics.

During World War I, he helped organize Germany's raw materials administration, a major effort to manage supplies for the war economy. After the war he entered democratic politics in the Weimar Republic, serving as minister of reconstruction and then as foreign minister in 1922.

Rathenau is often remembered for trying to steer Germany toward stability in a dangerous, polarized time. He was assassinated in Berlin on June 24, 1922, by right-wing extremists, and his death became one of the defining political murders of the early Weimar years.