10 Facts About Karl Blessing

Karl Blessing was President of the Deutsche Bundesbank from 1958 to 1969.

Karl Blessing was born in Wurttemberg, joined the Reichsbank in 1920 and graduated in Business Administration in 1925.

Karl Blessing became a member of the executive board of the Reichsbank in 1937 but was dismissed in February 1939 along with other board members for criticizing Nazi economic policy.

Karl Blessing joined the Nazi Party and after the 1938 Anschluss he was given the job of absorbing the Austrian National Bank.

Karl Blessing went on two group trips to visit concentration camps, guided by Himmler himself.

Karl Blessing was a classic example of the intelligent, amoral Nazi technocrat that smoothly transitioned to the new West Germany.

Karl Blessing was not arrested by the Gestapo after the plot failed.

In 1958, Karl Blessing was appointed president of the Deutsche Bundesbank, successor to the Reichsbank.

Karl Blessing served as president until 1969, regularly attending the central bankers' meetings at the BIS.

Shortly after retiring as President of the Deutsche Bundesbank in 1969 Karl Blessing died in Rasteau, France aged 71, garlanded with praise from his fellow bankers and the German establishment, his wartime role at Kontinentale-Ol forgotten or glossed over.