Story Highlights
- Historical event:
- 31 May 1960
- At the time, Walther Funk was president of the Reichsbank - the central monetary authority of the Third Reich. The Reichsbank introduced the Reichsmark banknotes, and also printed them.
Walther Funk, who was the president of the Reichsbank during Hitler’s regime, died on this day in 1960.
The Reichsbank was headquartered in Berlin. It was a large building, which later served as the seat of the Central Committee, and Politburo of the ruling party in East Germany.
Walther Funk was president of the Reichsbank (German: Reichsbankpräsident) from 1939 to the end of World War II. He also served in Hitler’s government as Reich Minister of Economics (Reichswirtschaftsminister).
After World War II Walther Funk was arrested, and tried at the Nuremberg Trials. He was accused of conspiracy to commit war crimes, crimes against humanity, and planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression.
Walther Funk was sentenced to life imprisonment, and held at Spandau Prison near Berlin. He was released in 1957 due to poor health. Funk died in Düsseldorf in 1960.
