Hans Luther

Hans Luther rose from municipal administration to national economic leadership. As finance minister in 1923, he helped stabilize Germany’s currency after hyperinflation, and he participated in the London conference on the Dawes Plan. As chancellor in 1925–1926, he worked with Gustav Stresemann on the Locarno agreements and concluded a friendship and neutrality treaty with the Soviet Union. ¹

After serving as Reichsbank president, Luther became German ambassador to the United States in 1933 and remained until 1937, representing the Nazi government. Following the Second World War, he worked on rebuilding the banking system in western Germany and chaired a committee considering the Federal Republic’s territorial organization. He also taught political science in Munich and published his memoirs, Politiker ohne Partei, in 1960. ¹