Alfred Toepfer
Encyclopedia
Dr. Alfred Carl Toepfer was a German
entrepreneur, owner of the company Toepfer International and founder of the Alfred Toepfer Foundation
. He helped shaped the original internal markets of the European Coal and Steel Community
, and was a philanthropist known for his celebration of the arts, sciences, and nature.
, the son of a merchant. He lived on a farm and completed an apprenticeship while learning several languages at school. Early 1912, he joined the Wandervogel
, and was greatly influenced by the historian Julius Langbehn
. Its leader Hans Breuer shaped his thinking, especially his call for reflection on one's own folklore
. In 1913 Toepfer was one of the participants in the meeting of the first Free German Youth Day.
and participating in the Battle of Masurian, the Second Battle of Ypres
, the Battle of the Somme, and the Fourth Battle of Ypres. He was wounded several times and in January 1919 was discharged a highly decorated lieutenant.
, led by General Georg Ludwig Rudolf Maercker. As the leader of a mounted machine gun unit, he was first deployed in Weimar
to protect the Weimar National Assembly
. In the following months the Freikorps
was ordered to put down Bolshevik
insurrections, including in Halle, Magdeburg
, Brunswick
, Gotha
, Erfurt
and Eisenach
. With the integration of the country's fighter forces in the Reichswehr
, Toepfer left the Korps by the end of the year.
, he founded the trading company Alfred C. Toepfer Company, registered in January 1920. Specializing in agricultural products, particularly grain, and his company grew globally with trade to the United States
, Canada
, and Soviet Union
. He would also start a private bank and logistics operation. During the 20s he built up a sizeable fortune which he would direct most of the profits into private foundations.
He ran the companies successfully for many years after the interruption of the end of World War II
and his two year internment. During the 1950s, he opened branch offices in the original six members of the European Coal and Steel Community
, helping shape the internal markets of the infant trade zone. In 1979, Toepfer International was founded in Hamburg. He published the monthly "Market Reports."
From 1926 Toepfer began to support youth development projects guided by the idea of national renewal after years of demoralization following the defeat of World War I
. He funded the construction of youth hostels for wayfarers. Founded in 1931, the Alfred Toepfer Foundation
became a primary vehicle of his philanthrophy promoting the concept of European unity as well as the arts, sciences, and nature conservation. The same year he also created the Goethe Institute in Switzerland
and the Humboldt Foundation in New York City
, which would later become the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
awarding the Humboldt Research Award. He would also start the JWG Foundation, and in 1936 created the Hanseatic Scholarships, which allowed British students to study in Germany.
By 1973, his foundations awarded 30 cultural prizes and 75 scholarships. His European Prize for Statesmanship was first awarded in 1973 to British Prime Minister Edward Heath
. Other notable awards include the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism
, Shakespeare Prize
and Herder Prize
. Toepfer, a close friend of European Union
founding father Robert Schuman
, named a prize in his honor in 1966 called the Robert Schuman Prize.
In 1943, he commissioned Ernst Jünger
's work "Peace", which was a manifest to the youth of Europe of how to proceed after the war.
In 1952 his foundations oversaw the reconstruction of the Hamburg State Opera
. In 1953 as head of the Verein Naturschutzpark (VNP), he organized protests against the occupying British forces at Lüneburg Heath
. His foundations purchased the Hof Möhr for the VNP, which would house nature conservations. As President of the Association of German Nature Parks, a particular concern was the preservation Lüneburg Heath
and the creation of National Park
s in Germany.
In the 1970s, he commissioned the renovation of Hamburg's "Old Quarter."
, who published the magazine Resistance, focused on nationalism and revolution. Toepfer between 1928-1931 supported the magazine financially several times despite his opposition to National Bolshevism
and the policies of the Soviet Union which at that time which were creating a catastrophic humanitarian situation known as the Holodomor
. He was also introduced to work of Ernst Jünger
and his brother Friedrich Georg Jünger
.
, Amsterdam
, London
, and Liechtenstein
while avoiding regulations. They were also used for covert actions.
In 1936 Joseph Goebbels praised Toepfer in his diaries, calling him a "clever, generous and enthusiastic patron." His extensive real estate portfolio throughout Germany and surrounding countries served to host leading Nazis, including Rudolf Hess
, Paul Minke, Odilo Globocnik
, Friedrich Rainer
, Franz Hueber, Werner Best
, Werner Lorenz
, Franz Wehofsich, Konrad Henlein
, and Hans Friedrich Blunck, while serving as cadres and bases for operations. Many served on Toepfer's board of directors at his foundations.
His brother Ernst Toepfer was a U.S. citizen, and operated the New York branch of Alfred's business while being involved with pro-Nazi organisations in the country. He resided in Switzerland, employing Eugen Wildi of the Swiss National Front
as an agent in the country.
, Toepfer served with the Abwehr
. In July 1940 he was transferred to the control center in Paris, established in the Hôtel Lutetia
. In early summer 1941, Toepfer's unit issued the "French Report," which planned the reorganization of Europe under Nazi Germany in collaboration with the French. Toepfer had contacts with French separatists such as Hermann Bickler and Olier Mordrel
, whom he already knew from before the war, and would serve to help undermine resistance groups.
Toepfer, a captain by July 1942, joined the economics unit with the military commanders in France, which would employ his market expertise using him as an agent. This office was used to control the black market in the country and to procure foreign exchange by selling goods from occupied France to neutral countries, as well as secret barter
for the procurement of strategic raw materials from Spain
and Portugal
. He was also involved in generating foreign currency.
He would use the contacts he made through these operation in the postwar period. He was able to open new branches for his company in Posen, Krakow, and Lemberg during this period. In August 1944, Toepfer left Paris shortly before the liberation by the Allies. In April 1945, Toepfer was released from military service and saw the end of the war in Hamburg as a civilian.
Toepfer aided Hartmann Lauterbacher
's escape to Argentina through a letter of recommendation in 1950, and financed the legal defence of Werner Lorenz
at his tribunal. He offered employment to Hermann Bickler to help him escape the death penalty, and Edmund Veesenmayer
and Hans-Joachim Riecke worked at his companies well into the 1970s.
.
The Alfred Toepfer Foundation founded an independent commission of historians in 1997, led by Hans Mommsen
, which published a 488 page anthology in 2000 with a critical inventory of Toepfer Foundation biography and history. The commission concluded Toepfer had not shared the key objectives and motives of National Socialism, not even anti-Semitism, and was not enriched by the war.
In 2007 Hans Mommsen
praised Toepfer as an exemplary European. He was in accord with the establishment of West Germany, having close contact with leading representatives. The Alfred Toepfer Academy for Nature Conservation was founded in 1981 as part of Lower Saxony's Ministry of Environment.
Toepfer once said “after the terrible World Wars with the enormous sacrifices of human life and material loss, I am committed to European unity, the promotion of peace, general welfare and to cultural development.”
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
entrepreneur, owner of the company Toepfer International and founder of the Alfred Toepfer Foundation
Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S.
The Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S. is a German foundation established in 1931 by the Hamburg merchant Alfred Toepfer. The foundation is committed to promoting European unification and ensuring cultural diversity and understanding between the countries of Europe.- History :The rich industrialist...
. He helped shaped the original internal markets of the European Coal and Steel Community
European Coal and Steel Community
The European Coal and Steel Community was a six-nation international organisation serving to unify Western Europe during the Cold War and create the foundation for the modern-day developments of the European Union...
, and was a philanthropist known for his celebration of the arts, sciences, and nature.
Early life
Toepfer was born in 1894 in Lüneburg HeathLüneburg Heath
The Lüneburg Heath is a large area of heath, geest and woodland in northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover, and Bremen and is named after the town of Lüneburg. Most of the area is a nature reserve...
, the son of a merchant. He lived on a farm and completed an apprenticeship while learning several languages at school. Early 1912, he joined the Wandervogel
Wandervogel
Wandervogel is the name adopted by a popular movement of German youth groups from 1896 onward. The name can be translated as rambling, hiking or wandering bird and the ethos is to shake off the restrictions of society and get back to nature and freedom...
, and was greatly influenced by the historian Julius Langbehn
Julius Langbehn
Julius Langbehn was a German conservative art historian and philosopher. He was born in Hadersleben, Schleswig .-Work:* Rembrandt als Erzieher * 40 Lieder von einem Deutschen...
. Its leader Hans Breuer shaped his thinking, especially his call for reflection on one's own folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
. In 1913 Toepfer was one of the participants in the meeting of the first Free German Youth Day.
World War One
The following year he joined the Army as an infantryman, serving in World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and participating in the Battle of Masurian, the Second Battle of Ypres
Second Battle of Ypres
The Second Battle of Ypres was the first time Germany used poison gas on a large scale on the Western Front in the First World War and the first time a former colonial force pushed back a major European power on European soil, which occurred in the battle of St...
, the Battle of the Somme, and the Fourth Battle of Ypres. He was wounded several times and in January 1919 was discharged a highly decorated lieutenant.
Freikorps
The year Toepfer left the military he joined the FreikorpsFreikorps
Freikorps are German volunteer military or paramilitary units. The term was originally applied to voluntary armies formed in German lands from the middle of the 18th century onwards. Between World War I and World War II the term was also used for the paramilitary organizations that arose during...
, led by General Georg Ludwig Rudolf Maercker. As the leader of a mounted machine gun unit, he was first deployed in Weimar
Weimar
Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...
to protect the Weimar National Assembly
Weimar National Assembly
The Weimar National Assembly governed Germany from February 6, 1919 to June 6, 1920 and drew up the new constitution which governed Germany from 1919 to 1933, technically remaining in effect even until the end of Nazi rule in 1945...
. In the following months the Freikorps
Freikorps
Freikorps are German volunteer military or paramilitary units. The term was originally applied to voluntary armies formed in German lands from the middle of the 18th century onwards. Between World War I and World War II the term was also used for the paramilitary organizations that arose during...
was ordered to put down Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
insurrections, including in Halle, Magdeburg
Magdeburg
Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....
, Brunswick
Braunschweig
Braunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....
, Gotha
Gotha (town)
Gotha is a town in Thuringia, within the central core of Germany. It is the capital of the district of Gotha.- History :The town has existed at least since the 8th century, when it was mentioned in a document signed by Charlemagne as Villa Gotaha . Its importance derives from having been chosen in...
, Erfurt
Erfurt
Erfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...
and Eisenach
Eisenach
Eisenach is a city in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated between the northern foothills of the Thuringian Forest and the Hainich National Park. Its population in 2006 was 43,626.-History:...
. With the integration of the country's fighter forces in the Reichswehr
Reichswehr
The Reichswehr formed the military organisation of Germany from 1919 until 1935, when it was renamed the Wehrmacht ....
, Toepfer left the Korps by the end of the year.
Alfred C. Toepfer Company
Back in HamburgHamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, he founded the trading company Alfred C. Toepfer Company, registered in January 1920. Specializing in agricultural products, particularly grain, and his company grew globally with trade to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. He would also start a private bank and logistics operation. During the 20s he built up a sizeable fortune which he would direct most of the profits into private foundations.
He ran the companies successfully for many years after the interruption of the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and his two year internment. During the 1950s, he opened branch offices in the original six members of the European Coal and Steel Community
European Coal and Steel Community
The European Coal and Steel Community was a six-nation international organisation serving to unify Western Europe during the Cold War and create the foundation for the modern-day developments of the European Union...
, helping shape the internal markets of the infant trade zone. In 1979, Toepfer International was founded in Hamburg. He published the monthly "Market Reports."
Philanthrophy
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He funded the construction of youth hostels for wayfarers. Founded in 1931, the Alfred Toepfer Foundation
Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S.
The Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S. is a German foundation established in 1931 by the Hamburg merchant Alfred Toepfer. The foundation is committed to promoting European unification and ensuring cultural diversity and understanding between the countries of Europe.- History :The rich industrialist...
became a primary vehicle of his philanthrophy promoting the concept of European unity as well as the arts, sciences, and nature conservation. The same year he also created the Goethe Institute in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and the Humboldt Foundation in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, which would later become the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation is a foundation set-up by the government of the Federal Republic and funded by the German Foreign Office, the Ministry of Education and Research, the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development and others for the promotion of international co-operation...
awarding the Humboldt Research Award. He would also start the JWG Foundation, and in 1936 created the Hanseatic Scholarships, which allowed British students to study in Germany.
By 1973, his foundations awarded 30 cultural prizes and 75 scholarships. His European Prize for Statesmanship was first awarded in 1973 to British Prime Minister Edward Heath
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
. Other notable awards include the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism
Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism
The Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism is a prize given to people who made exemplary contributions to humanity and the environment. The goal of the prize is to advance the cause of humanitarianism. The prize was established in 1986 by Albert Toepfer, an international grain merchant from...
, Shakespeare Prize
Shakespeare Prize
The Shakespeare Prize was an annual prize for writing or performance awarded to a British citizen by the Hamburg Alfred Toepfer Foundation. First given by Alfred Toepfer in 1937 as an expression of his Anglophilia in the face of tense international conditions, the prize was awarded only twice...
and Herder Prize
Herder Prize
The Herder Prize, established in 1963 and named for Johann Gottfried von Herder, was a prestigious international prize dedicated to the promotion of scientific, art and literature relations, and presented to scholars and artists from Central and Southeastern Europe whose life and work have improved...
. Toepfer, a close friend of European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
founding father Robert Schuman
Robert Schuman
Robert Schuman was a noted Luxembourgish-born French statesman. Schuman was a Christian Democrat and an independent political thinker and activist...
, named a prize in his honor in 1966 called the Robert Schuman Prize.
In 1943, he commissioned Ernst Jünger
Ernst Jünger
Ernst Jünger was a German writer. In addition to his novels and diaries, he is well known for Storm of Steel, an account of his experience during World War I. Some say he was one of Germany's greatest modern writers and a hero of the conservative revolutionary movement following World War I...
's work "Peace", which was a manifest to the youth of Europe of how to proceed after the war.
In 1952 his foundations oversaw the reconstruction of the Hamburg State Opera
Hamburg State Opera
The Hamburg State Opera is one of the leading opera companies in Germany.Opera in Hamburg dates back to 2 January 1678 when the "Opern-Theatrum" was inaugurated with a performance of a biblical Singspiel by Johann Theile...
. In 1953 as head of the Verein Naturschutzpark (VNP), he organized protests against the occupying British forces at Lüneburg Heath
Lüneburg Heath
The Lüneburg Heath is a large area of heath, geest and woodland in northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover, and Bremen and is named after the town of Lüneburg. Most of the area is a nature reserve...
. His foundations purchased the Hof Möhr for the VNP, which would house nature conservations. As President of the Association of German Nature Parks, a particular concern was the preservation Lüneburg Heath
Lüneburg Heath
The Lüneburg Heath is a large area of heath, geest and woodland in northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover, and Bremen and is named after the town of Lüneburg. Most of the area is a nature reserve...
and the creation of National Park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
s in Germany.
In the 1970s, he commissioned the renovation of Hamburg's "Old Quarter."
Politics
A member of the Hamburg National Club since its founding in 1919, Toepfer was introduced to Ernst NiekischErnst Niekisch
Ernst Niekisch was a German politician. Initially associated with mainstream left-wing politics he later became a Prominent exponent of National Bolshevism.-Bavaria:...
, who published the magazine Resistance, focused on nationalism and revolution. Toepfer between 1928-1931 supported the magazine financially several times despite his opposition to National Bolshevism
National Bolshevism
National Bolshevism is a political movement that claims to combine elements of nationalism and Bolshevism. It is often anti-capitalist in tone, and sympathetic towards certain nationalist forms of communism and socialism...
and the policies of the Soviet Union which at that time which were creating a catastrophic humanitarian situation known as the Holodomor
Holodomor
The Holodomor was a man-made famine in the Ukrainian SSR between 1932 and 1933. During the famine, which is also known as the "terror-famine in Ukraine" and "famine-genocide in Ukraine", millions of Ukrainians died of starvation in a peacetime catastrophe unprecedented in the history of...
. He was also introduced to work of Ernst Jünger
Ernst Jünger
Ernst Jünger was a German writer. In addition to his novels and diaries, he is well known for Storm of Steel, an account of his experience during World War I. Some say he was one of Germany's greatest modern writers and a hero of the conservative revolutionary movement following World War I...
and his brother Friedrich Georg Jünger
Friedrich Georg Jünger
Friedrich Georg Jünger was a German poet, author, and cultural critic essayist. The younger brother of Ernst Jünger, he volunteered for military service in 1916 and was seriously wounded in the Battle of Langemarck...
.
Nazis
Toepfer was never a Nazi party member himself, and spent a period in 1937-1938 in confinement after being arrested. A supporter of economic liberalism, he never aligned himself with any particular political ideology. However, he financially supported individuals, objectives, and organisations within the Nationalist Socialist system through his businesses and foundations, moving currency through exchanges in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein
The Principality of Liechtenstein is a doubly landlocked alpine country in Central Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and by Austria to the east. Its area is just over , and it has an estimated population of 35,000. Its capital is Vaduz. The biggest town is Schaan...
while avoiding regulations. They were also used for covert actions.
In 1936 Joseph Goebbels praised Toepfer in his diaries, calling him a "clever, generous and enthusiastic patron." His extensive real estate portfolio throughout Germany and surrounding countries served to host leading Nazis, including Rudolf Hess
Rudolf Hess
Rudolf Walter Richard Hess was a prominent Nazi politician who was Adolf Hitler's deputy in the Nazi Party during the 1930s and early 1940s...
, Paul Minke, Odilo Globocnik
Odilo Globocnik
Odilo Lotario Globocnik was a prominent Austrian Nazi and later an SS leader. He was an acquaintance of Adolf Eichmann, who played a major role in the extermination of Jews and others during the Holocaust...
, Friedrich Rainer
Friedrich Rainer
Friedrich W. Rainer was a leader in the Nazi Party, as well as an Austrian State governor of Salzburg and Carinthia. He is the only Austrian governor who has ever held the same office in two separate states...
, Franz Hueber, Werner Best
Werner Best
Dr. Werner Best was a German Nazi, jurist, police chief, SS-Obergruppenführer and Nazi Party leader from Darmstadt, Hesse. He studied law and in 1927 obtained his doctorate degree at Heidelberg...
, Werner Lorenz
Werner Lorenz
Werner Lorenz was SS head of the Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle an organization charged with settling ethnic Germans in the German Reich from other parts of Europe.-Early life:...
, Franz Wehofsich, Konrad Henlein
Konrad Henlein
Konrad Ernst Eduard Henlein was a leading pro-Nazi ethnic German politician in Czechoslovakia and leader of Sudeten German separatists...
, and Hans Friedrich Blunck, while serving as cadres and bases for operations. Many served on Toepfer's board of directors at his foundations.
His brother Ernst Toepfer was a U.S. citizen, and operated the New York branch of Alfred's business while being involved with pro-Nazi organisations in the country. He resided in Switzerland, employing Eugen Wildi of the Swiss National Front
National Front (Switzerland)
The National Front was a far right political party in Switzerland that flourished during the 1930s.The party began life amongst a number of debating clubs at the University of Zurich, where anti-Semitism, Swiss nationalism and support for ideas similar to those later adopted in the racial policy of...
as an agent in the country.
World War Two
With the outbreak of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Toepfer served with the Abwehr
Abwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
. In July 1940 he was transferred to the control center in Paris, established in the Hôtel Lutetia
Hôtel Lutetia
The Hôtel Lutetia, located at 45 Boulevard Raspail, in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés area of the 6th Arrondissement of Paris, is one of the best-known hotels on the Left Bank...
. In early summer 1941, Toepfer's unit issued the "French Report," which planned the reorganization of Europe under Nazi Germany in collaboration with the French. Toepfer had contacts with French separatists such as Hermann Bickler and Olier Mordrel
Olier Mordrel
Olier Mordrel is the Breton language version of Olivier Mordrelle, a Breton nationalist and wartime collaborator with the Third Reich who founded the separatist Breton National Party. Before the war he worked as an architect. His architectural work was influenced by Art Deco and the International...
, whom he already knew from before the war, and would serve to help undermine resistance groups.
Toepfer, a captain by July 1942, joined the economics unit with the military commanders in France, which would employ his market expertise using him as an agent. This office was used to control the black market in the country and to procure foreign exchange by selling goods from occupied France to neutral countries, as well as secret barter
Barter
Barter is a method of exchange by which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. It is usually bilateral, but may be multilateral, and usually exists parallel to monetary systems in most developed countries, though to a...
for the procurement of strategic raw materials from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. He was also involved in generating foreign currency.
He would use the contacts he made through these operation in the postwar period. He was able to open new branches for his company in Posen, Krakow, and Lemberg during this period. In August 1944, Toepfer left Paris shortly before the liberation by the Allies. In April 1945, Toepfer was released from military service and saw the end of the war in Hamburg as a civilian.
Post war
Toepfer was eventually captured and interned until 1947, when he was released primarily based on his arrest in 1937 by the Nazis, indicating his ability to be "de-Nazified."Toepfer aided Hartmann Lauterbacher
Hartmann Lauterbacher
Hartmann Lauterbacher was a high area leader of the Hitler Youth, as well as Nazi Gauleiter of the Gau of South Hanover-Braunschweig and an SS Gruppenführer....
's escape to Argentina through a letter of recommendation in 1950, and financed the legal defence of Werner Lorenz
Werner Lorenz
Werner Lorenz was SS head of the Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle an organization charged with settling ethnic Germans in the German Reich from other parts of Europe.-Early life:...
at his tribunal. He offered employment to Hermann Bickler to help him escape the death penalty, and Edmund Veesenmayer
Edmund Veesenmayer
Edmund Veesenmayer was a German politician, officer and war criminal. He significantly contributed to The Holocaust in Hungary and Croatia...
and Hans-Joachim Riecke worked at his companies well into the 1970s.
Legacy
In 1959, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of KielUniversity of Kiel
The University of Kiel is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the Academia Holsatorum Chiloniensis by Christian Albert, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and has approximately 23,000 students today...
.
The Alfred Toepfer Foundation founded an independent commission of historians in 1997, led by Hans Mommsen
Hans Mommsen
Hans Mommsen is a left-wing German historian. He is the twin brother of the late Wolfgang Mommsen.-Biography:He was born in Marburg, the son of the historian Wilhelm Mommsen and great-grandson of the Roman historian Theodor Mommsen. He studied German, history and philosophy at the University of...
, which published a 488 page anthology in 2000 with a critical inventory of Toepfer Foundation biography and history. The commission concluded Toepfer had not shared the key objectives and motives of National Socialism, not even anti-Semitism, and was not enriched by the war.
In 2007 Hans Mommsen
Hans Mommsen
Hans Mommsen is a left-wing German historian. He is the twin brother of the late Wolfgang Mommsen.-Biography:He was born in Marburg, the son of the historian Wilhelm Mommsen and great-grandson of the Roman historian Theodor Mommsen. He studied German, history and philosophy at the University of...
praised Toepfer as an exemplary European. He was in accord with the establishment of West Germany, having close contact with leading representatives. The Alfred Toepfer Academy for Nature Conservation was founded in 1981 as part of Lower Saxony's Ministry of Environment.
Toepfer once said “after the terrible World Wars with the enormous sacrifices of human life and material loss, I am committed to European unity, the promotion of peace, general welfare and to cultural development.”
Further reading
- Zimmermann, Jan. Alfred Toepfer. Ellert & Richter Publishers, 2008.
- Zimmermann, Jan. The Cultural Prizes of the F.V.S. Foundation 1933–1945. Christians-Verlag, 2000.
- Kreis, George. Krumeich, Gerd. Ménudier, Henri. Mommsen, Hans. Sywottek, Arnold. Christians-Verlag, 2000.