Otto Steinbrinck
Encyclopedia
Brigadier General
Otto Steinbrinck (born 19 December 1888 in Lippstadt
, died 16 August 1949 in Landsberg am Lech
) was a German
industrialist and an accused in the Nuremberg
Flick Trial
.
As a highly decorated soldier
in World War I
, Steinbrinck had an astounding career in industry in the 1920s. Through the Freundeskreis Reichsführer SS he could fruitfully expand relationships with the Third Reich's leading circles. Steinbrinck's leading position within the Flick conglomerate and his rôle in integrating coal
mines and heavy industry
in occupied West European lands into the German war economy
were what in the end brought him before the court at Nuremberg.
s,. In World War I, Steinbrinck was the most successful U-boot
commandant; in 1916, he was decorated with the Pour le Mérite
(he sank 206 ships). However, in 1919, after the German Empire
had lost the war, no further use could be found for him in the reconstituted Reichswehr
, and so he was discharged with the rank of Kapitänleutnant.
First, Steinbrinck functioned as a company director of the Organization of German Iron and Steel Industrialists, until he found a new post in 1924 at the Flick
conglomerate
, where he became First Associate in Friedrich Flick's private secretariat by 1925 and later rose to vice president. Steinbrinck also worked as a board member in many companies.
(NSDAP) and soon became a Standartenführer
in the SS
, later becoming an SS Oberführer
in April 1935. Soon after that, he was a member in the so-called Freundeskreis der Reichsführer SS, a rather exclusive circle whose leader was Wilhelm Keppler
.
Between 1937 and 1939, Steinbrinck functioned as a general plenipotentiary for the Flick conglomerate. Moreover, he carried out various other functions, becoming in April 1938 a Wehrwirtschaftsführer – a title given industrialists who were important to Germany's armament industry – and as of January 1939 an SS Brigadeführer
.
In the summer of 1939, he resigned from Flick and as of December of the same year began work as a trustee at ThyssenKrupp
. Shortly before this, he had also been remobilized as a frigate
captain. From May 1940 until March 1942, Steinbrinck worked as a "general plenipotentiary for the steel industry in Luxembourg
, Belgium
and France
, and functioned in April 1941 as an associate in the presidium of the Reichsvereinigung Kohle (Reich Coal Association).
From March 1942 until the evacuation of the western occupation zones in the autumn of 1944, Steinbrinck was also general plenipotentiary for the Reichsvereinigung Kohle for mining and coal economy in the Netherlands
, Belgium and France, the so-called Beko (Befehlskommando) West. In April 1945 – World War II had by now long ago been lost – Steinbrinck operated as a link between Ruhr
industry and Army Group B under Generalfeldmarschall
Walter Model
.
and faced charges at the so-called Flick Trial in Nuremberg. On 22 December 1947, he was sentenced to 6 years in prison
. Shortly before the wave of general amnesty
began, Steinbrinck died in custody.
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
Otto Steinbrinck (born 19 December 1888 in Lippstadt
Lippstadt
Lippstadt is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest town within the district of Soest.-Geography:Lippstadt is situated in the Lippe valley, roughly 70 kilometres east of Dortmund and roughly 30 kilometres west of Paderborn...
, died 16 August 1949 in Landsberg am Lech
Landsberg am Lech
Landsberg am Lech is a town in southwest Bavaria, Germany, about 65 kilometers west of Munich and 35 kilometers south of Augsburg. It is the capital of the district of Landsberg am Lech....
) was a German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
industrialist and an accused in the Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
Flick Trial
Flick Trial
The United States of America vs. Friedrich Flick, et al. or Flick trial was the fifth of twelve Nazi war crimes trials held by United States authorities in their occupation zone Germany after World War II...
.
As a highly decorated soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
in World War I
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...
, Steinbrinck had an astounding career in industry in the 1920s. Through the Freundeskreis Reichsführer SS he could fruitfully expand relationships with the Third Reich's leading circles. Steinbrinck's leading position within the Flick conglomerate and his rôle in integrating coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
mines and heavy industry
Heavy industry
Heavy industry does not have a single fixed meaning as compared to light industry. It can mean production of products which are either heavy in weight or in the processes leading to their production. In general, it is a popular term used within the name of many Japanese and Korean firms, meaning...
in occupied West European lands into the German war economy
War economy
War economy is the term used to describe the contingencies undertaken by the modern state to mobilise its economy for war production. Philippe Le Billon describes a war economy as a "system of producing, mobilising and allocating resources to sustain the violence".Many states increase the degree of...
were what in the end brought him before the court at Nuremberg.
Early life
The schoolteacher's son was from 1907 a professional soldier in the Imperial German Navy, and as of 1911 saw service on several submarineSubmarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s,. In World War I, Steinbrinck was the most successful U-boot
U-boot
U-boot can refer to:* U-boats, military submarines operated by Germany during World War I and World War II* Das U-Boot, also known simply as U-Boot, a computer software which serves as a bootstrap loader in many embedded systems....
commandant; in 1916, he was decorated with the Pour le Mérite
Pour le Mérite
The Pour le Mérite, known informally as the Blue Max , was the Kingdom of Prussia's highest military order for German soldiers until the end of World War I....
(he sank 206 ships). However, in 1919, after the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
had lost the war, no further use could be found for him in the reconstituted Reichswehr
Reichswehr
The Reichswehr formed the military organisation of Germany from 1919 until 1935, when it was renamed the Wehrmacht ....
, and so he was discharged with the rank of Kapitänleutnant.
First, Steinbrinck functioned as a company director of the Organization of German Iron and Steel Industrialists, until he found a new post in 1924 at the Flick
Flick family
The Flick family is a wealthy German industrial and political dynasty, heir to an industrial empire that formerly embraced holding in companies involved in coal, steel and a minority holding in Daimler AG...
conglomerate
Conglomerate (company)
A conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate structure , usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries. Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company...
, where he became First Associate in Friedrich Flick's private secretariat by 1925 and later rose to vice president. Steinbrinck also worked as a board member in many companies.
Nazi career
In May 1933, Steinbrinck joined the National Socialist German Workers PartyNational Socialist German Workers Party
The National Socialist German Workers' Party , commonly known in English as the Nazi Party, was a political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945. Its predecessor, the German Workers' Party , existed from 1919 to 1920...
(NSDAP) and soon became a Standartenführer
Standartenführer
Standartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in the so-called Nazi combat-organisations: SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK...
in the SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
, later becoming an SS Oberführer
Oberführer
Oberführer was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party dating back to 1921. Translated as “Senior Leader”, an Oberführer was typically a Nazi Party member in charge of a group of paramilitary units in a particular geographical region...
in April 1935. Soon after that, he was a member in the so-called Freundeskreis der Reichsführer SS, a rather exclusive circle whose leader was Wilhelm Keppler
Wilhelm Keppler
Wilhelm Karl Keppler was a German businessman and one of Adolf Hitler's early financial backers. Introduced to Hitler by Heinrich Himmler, Keppler helped to finance the Nazi Party....
.
Between 1937 and 1939, Steinbrinck functioned as a general plenipotentiary for the Flick conglomerate. Moreover, he carried out various other functions, becoming in April 1938 a Wehrwirtschaftsführer – a title given industrialists who were important to Germany's armament industry – and as of January 1939 an SS Brigadeführer
Brigadeführer
SS-Brigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadeführer was also an SA rank....
.
In the summer of 1939, he resigned from Flick and as of December of the same year began work as a trustee at ThyssenKrupp
ThyssenKrupp
ThyssenKrupp AG is a German multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Duisburg Essen, Germany. The corporation consists of 670 companies worldwide. While ThyssenKrupp is one of the world's largest steel producers, the company also provides components and systems for the automotive...
. Shortly before this, he had also been remobilized as a frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
captain. From May 1940 until March 1942, Steinbrinck worked as a "general plenipotentiary for the steel industry in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and functioned in April 1941 as an associate in the presidium of the Reichsvereinigung Kohle (Reich Coal Association).
From March 1942 until the evacuation of the western occupation zones in the autumn of 1944, Steinbrinck was also general plenipotentiary for the Reichsvereinigung Kohle for mining and coal economy in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Belgium and France, the so-called Beko (Befehlskommando) West. In April 1945 – World War II had by now long ago been lost – Steinbrinck operated as a link between Ruhr
Ruhr Area
The Ruhr, by German-speaking geographers and historians more accurately called Ruhr district or Ruhr region , is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With 4435 km² and a population of some 5.2 million , it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany...
industry and Army Group B under Generalfeldmarschall
Generalfeldmarschall
Field Marshal or Generalfeldmarschall in German, was a rank in the armies of several German states and the Holy Roman Empire; in the Austrian Empire, the rank Feldmarschall was used...
Walter Model
Walter Model
Otto Moritz Walter Model was a German general and later field marshal during World War II. He is noted for his defensive battles in the latter half of the war, mostly on the Eastern Front but also in the west, and for his close association with Adolf Hitler and Nazism...
.
Flick Trial
In August 1945, Steinbrinck was arrested by the AmericansUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and faced charges at the so-called Flick Trial in Nuremberg. On 22 December 1947, he was sentenced to 6 years in prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
. Shortly before the wave of general amnesty
Amnesty
Amnesty is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent people, without changing the laws defining the offense. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the...
began, Steinbrinck died in custody.