Walter von Keudell


Walter von Keudell was a German forest expert and politician. He served as interior minister of Germany between 1927 and 1928 during the period of the Weimar Republic.

Early life

Von Keudell was born in Castellamare di Stabia, Naples, Italy, on 17 July 1884. He was the oldest son of Robert von Keudell, German diplomat and member of the Reichstag. His mother was Alexandra von Grünhof. He had a brother, Otto von Keudell, and a sister, Hedwig von Keudell.

Career

Von Keudell started his career in the forest administration in Frankfurt/Oder in 1908. From 1915 he worked at the Reichsgetreidestelle. From 1916 to 1920 von Keudell was Landrat at Königsberg . As a result of the failed Kapp Putsch, which he supported, von Keudell had to retire and worked as a farmer at Gut Hohenlübbichow.
However, he returned to politics and was elected as a member of the Reichstag for the German National People's Party from 1924 to 1930.
On 31 January 1927, he was appointed Reichsinnenminister in the fourth cabinet of chancellor Wilhelm Marx. Von Keudell was one of three nationalist cabinet members.
The cabinet resigned on 12 June 1928 and Carl Severing replaced von Keudell as interior minister on 29 June 1928, when the new government headed by Hermann Müller took office.
Von Keudell joined the NSDAP in 1933 and from that year was Oberlandforstmeister and head of the Prussian Landesforstverwaltung in Brandenburg.
In 1934, von Keudell became Generalforstmeister. In 1936, Reichsforstmeister Hermann Göring appointed von Keudell as his Staatssekretär and deputy at the Reichsforstamt. He served in this capacity until 1937. That year he also was a member of the Reichsverkehrsrat.
He was removed from office in 1937 when he refused to implement the forest policy of Göring which advocated the use of the mandatory cutting quota in private forests as in public forests. Friedrich Alpers succeeded von Keudell in the post.
In 1948, von Keudell joined the Christian Democratic Union.

Personal life and death

Walter von Keudell was a devout Protestant. He died in Bonn on 7 May 1973.