Osthilfe (Eastern Aid) was a policy of the
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
Government of the
Weimar RepublicThe Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government, named after Weimar, the place where the constitutional assembly took place. Its official name was still Deutsches Reich , however...
(1919-1933) to give financial support from Government funds to bankrupt estates in
East PrussiaEast Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia...
.
The policy was implemented beginning in 1929-1930, in spite of the generally dire economic situation and the lack of government funds, because of the overwhelming need of the Government of the German Republic to retain the support of the influential
JunkerA Junker was a member of the landed nobility of Prussia and eastern Germany. These families were mostly part of the German Uradel and carried on the colonization and Christianization of the northeastern European territories during the medieval Ostsiedlung. Today "Junker" is often used as an...
owners of these estates, although it was opposed by such important politicians as general and
Chancellor of Germany Kurt von Schleicher' was a German general and the last Chancellor of Germany during the era of the Weimar Republic.-Biography:...
.
This policy produced a major scandal in Germany in December 1932 and January 1933, the
Osthilfeskandal.
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Osthilfe (Eastern Aid) was a policy of the
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
Government of the
Weimar RepublicThe Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government, named after Weimar, the place where the constitutional assembly took place. Its official name was still Deutsches Reich , however...
(1919-1933) to give financial support from Government funds to bankrupt estates in
East PrussiaEast Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia...
.
The policy was implemented beginning in 1929-1930, in spite of the generally dire economic situation and the lack of government funds, because of the overwhelming need of the Government of the German Republic to retain the support of the influential
JunkerA Junker was a member of the landed nobility of Prussia and eastern Germany. These families were mostly part of the German Uradel and carried on the colonization and Christianization of the northeastern European territories during the medieval Ostsiedlung. Today "Junker" is often used as an...
owners of these estates, although it was opposed by such important politicians as general and
Chancellor of Germany Kurt von Schleicher' was a German general and the last Chancellor of Germany during the era of the Weimar Republic.-Biography:...
.
This policy produced a major scandal in Germany in December 1932 and January 1933, the
Osthilfeskandal. A considerable number of Junkers were found out to have wasted the money on what was considered to be luxury items, such as cars and vacations. The ensuing investigations into the scandal also implicated the President of the Republic, General
Paul von HindenburgPaul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg , known universally as Paul von Hindenburg was a German field marshal and statesman....
. It came to the light that the Hindenburg family's highly indebted estate in East Prussia at
NeudeckOgrodzieniec is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Kisielice, within Iława County, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It lies approximately east of Kisielice, west of Iława, and west of the regional capital Olsztyn....
(owned by the president's brother) had been clandestinely bought in 1927 by a number of industrialists and given to the president as a gift, seemingly in exchange for political influence. Some historians believe that the scandal was instrumental in weakening Hindenburg's position to the point where he caved in to industrialist pressure to appoint
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
as chancellor at the end of January 1933.
After the donation of a further to this property, and after the Nazis came to power, the matter ceased to command attention in the censored press of the Third Reich.