Carl Vincent Krogmann

Carl Vincent Krogmann (3 March 1889, in Hamburg – 14 March 1978, in Hamburg) was a German banker, industrialist and Nazi Party politician. He served as Mayor of Hamburg for the majority of the Nazi period of government. Early years Krogmann was born into one of Hamburg's old Huguenot and married Emerentia Krogmann, who was noted for her antisemitic views. He came from a leading shipping family and inherited one of the city's leading maritime concerns as a result. Krogmann was a founder member of the Freundeskreis der Wirtschaft, an influential group of far right industrialists established in 1932 by Wilhelm Keppler. Unlike Keppler he was not a member of the Nazi Party until 1933, a fact that left him with little influence within the movement in later years. Mayor He was appointed mayor of Hamburg on 8 March 1933 after being endorsed by a new coalition controlling the city made up of 8 Nazis, four members of the German National People's Party and one each from the German People's Party and the German State Party. His power was increased soon afterwards when the Nazis dissolved the Hamburg Parliament and awarded Krogmann power of decree. His appointment was ratified in no small degree because of his status as a member of one of Hamburg's pre-eminent mercantile families and as such it was hoped that he would appeal to the business community in the city, much of which was sceptical about the Nazis. However, Krogmann had an early rival in the form of Reichstatthalter (Governor) Karl Kaufmann, and by 1936, he had been named Führer of Hamburg, denting Krogmann's power. Initially mayor, he had been given the stronger title Regierender Bürgermeister following the dissolution of the Hamburg Parliament. However, as Kaufmann's power grew so Krogmann's status diminished so as by 1937 he had been demoted to the lesser title of First Councillor of the Municipal Authority.