Carl Friedrich Goerdeler: Conservative Civilian Leader

Carl Friedrich Goerdeler

A conservative German politician, lawyer, administrator, and economic policymaker. He served as Mayor of Leipzig from 1930 to 1937, gradually shifting from a position of cooperation with the Nazi Party regime to the opposition during the 1930s. Opposing Nazi rearmament, dictatorship, and the persecution of Jews, he organized the German resistance movement together with military personnel such as Ludwig Beck and Hans Oster, as well as conservative politicians. From 1938 onward, he materialized concepts for a new government following the overthrow of the Hitler regime, and was slated to become the Chancellor of the new government if the July 20, 1944 assassination and coup plan succeeded. He went into hiding after the plan failed, but was arrested on August 12, 1944, and sentenced to death by the People's Court. On February 2, 1945, he was executed by hanging at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin.

Timeline

Category
Element

Year	Carl Friedrich Goerdeler
1884	Birth of Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (Period: July 31, 1884, Location: Piła (now Poland))
1902	Law and Economics Studies at the University of Tübingen (Age: 17 years old, Period: 1902–1905, Location: Tübingen, Germany)
1911	Service in the Solingen City Administration (Age: 26 years old, Period: From 1911 onwards, Location: Solingen, Germany) Marriage (Karl Friedrich Goerdeler, Anneliese Ulrich, Age: 26 years old, Period: 1911, Location: Exact location unconfirmed)
1914	World War I (Age: 29 years old, Period: 1914–1918, Location: Western Front, Belgium and France) Military Duty on the Eastern Front (Age: 29 years old, Period: 1914–1918, Location: Eastern Front, Minsk, etc.)
1918	German Revolution and Establishment of the Weimar Republic (Age: 33 years old, Period: 1918–1919, Location: Germany)
1919	Polish-Soviet War (Age: 34 years old, Period: 1919–1921, Location: Eastern Europe, including Poland and Ukraine)
1922	Appointment as Mayor of Königsberg (Karl Friedrich Goerdeler, Age: 37 years old, Period: 1922–1930, Location: Königsberg (present-day Kaliningrad, Russia))
1929	Great Depression and Political Crisis of the Weimar Republic (Age: 44 years old, Period: 1929–1932, Location: Germany)
1930	Appointment as Mayor of Leipzig (Karl Friedrich Goerdeler, Age: 45 years old, Period: May 22, 1930 – March 31, 1937, Location: Leipzig, Germany)
1931	Appointment as Reich Price Commissioner (Karl Friedrich Goerdeler, Age: 47 years old, Period: December 1931 – 1932, Reappointed 1934–1935, Location: Berlin, Germany)
1933	Establishing of Nazi Regime and Leipzig Municipal Administration (Age: 48 years old, Period: 1933–1937, Location: Leipzig, Germany)
1935	Clarification of Anti-Nazi Stance (Age: 50 years old, Period: 1935–1937, Location: Leipzig, Germany)
1936	Mendelssohn Monument Removal Issue (Age: 51 years old, Period: 1936, Location: Leipzig, Germany)
1937	Activities as Advisor to the Bosch Company (Age: 52 years old, Period: Around 1937–1939, Location: Various locations in Germany and Europe)
1938	1938 Anti-Hitler Plot (Age: 53 years old, Period: 1938, Location: Various locations in Germany including Berlin) Becoming Civil Leader of the German Resistance (Age: 53 years old, Period: 1938–1944, Location: Various locations in Germany including Berlin)
1939	World War II (Age: 54 years old, Period: 1939–1945, Location: UK, France, North Africa, Mediterranean, Atlantic, etc.) Zossen Coup Plan (Age: 55 years old, Period: November 1939, Location: Various locations in Germany including Zossen and Berlin)
1942	Secret Negotiations by Goerdeler on the Eastern Front (Age: 58 years old, Period: November 1942, Location: Smolensk, Soviet-occupied territory)
1943	Becoming Candidate for Chancellor of the New German Government (Age: 58 years old, Period: 1943–1944, Location: Various locations in Germany including Berlin)
1944	Last Family Visit (Age: 59 years old, Period: July 16, 1944, Location: Leipzig, Germany) Flight and Arrest after the July 20 Plot (Age: 59 years old, Period: July 17 – August 12, 1944, Location: Berlin, Marienwerder, etc.) July 20 Plot (Attempted Assassination and Coup d'État, Age: 59 years old, Period: July 20, 1944, Location: Wolf's Lair, East Prussia / Berlin) Arrest of Goerdeler (Age: 60 years old, Period: August 12, 1944, Location: Marienwerder (present-day Kwidzyn, Poland)) Trial at the People's Court and Death Sentence (Age: 60 years old, Period: September 9, 1944, Location: Berlin, People's Court)
1945	Death of Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (Age: 60 years old, Period: February 2, 1945) Execution at Plötzensee Prison (Age: 60 years old, Period: February 2, 1945, Location: Plötzensee Prison, Berlin)

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Category
Element

Europe World

Group	List
Nazi Germany	Adolf Hitler Paul von Hindenburg Hermann Göring Joseph Goebbels Heinrich Himmler Rudolf Hess Martin Ludwig Bormann Joachim von Ribbentrop Albert Speer Hermann Wilhelm Göring Paul Joseph Goebbels
Weimar Republic	Friedrich Ebert Gustav Stresemann Wilhelm Marx Heinrich Brüning Hermann Müller Friedrich Naumann Matthias Erzberger Walther Rathenau
German Anti-Nazis	Dietrich Bonhoeffer Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg Hans Oster Ludwig Beck Carl Friedrich Goerdeler Erwin von Witzleben Hans Scholl Sophie Scholl Alexander Schmorell Christoph Probst
Warsaw Ghetto	Mordechai Anielewicz Marek Edelman Tuvia Bielski Abba Kovner Henryk Goldszmit Emanuel Ringelblum
Arts & Music	Pablo Picasso Paul Klee Wassily Kandinsky Käthe Schmidt Oskar Kokoschka Egon Schiele Arnold Schoenberg Alban Berg Anton Webern

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Carl Friedrich Goerdeler: Conservative Civilian Leader

Carl Friedrich Goerdeler

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