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Dorpmüller, Julius

Date of birth:
July 24th, 1869 (Elberfeld//North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany)
Date of death:
June 5th, 1945 (Malente/Schleswig-Holstein, Germany)
Nationality:
German

Biography

Dr. Ing. Julius Dorpmuller (1869-1945) acted as Reich Minister of Transport from 1937 to 1945. Born in Elberfeld on July 24, 1869, Dorpmuller studied engineering at Aachen Technical College and eventually worked with the Prussian railway service from 1893 to 1908. During World War I he spent time working with the railway systems in China. However, in 1917 when China declared war on Germany, he fled back to Germany by way of Russia. Finally returning to Germany, he was named President of the national railroad office in Oppeln in 1922 and appointed as Director General of German State Railways in 1926. Hitler thought very highly of his engineering expertise and named him Chairman of the Autobahn Management Committee. The Nazi Party frequently recognized and awarded Dorpmuller for his work and by 1937 he was nominated Reichsverkehrminister (Reich Minister of Transport). He held his office as Reichsverkehrminister until the end of the war when the Allies asked him to rebuild the German rail system. However, he died on June 5, 1945 in Malente, Schleswig-Holstein.

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Period:
Second World War (1939-1945)
Awarded on:
July 24th, 1939
Adlerschild des Deutschen Reiches
Period:
Second World War (1939-1945)
Awarded on:
December 7th, 1940
Goldenes Ehrenzeichen der NSDAP
Period:
Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:
Reichsminister
Unit:
Reichsverkehrsminister
Awarded on:
September 18th, 1943
Ritterkreuz des Kriegsverdienstkreuzes
Period:
Second World War (1939-1945)
Awarded on:
May 1st, 1944
Ehrenzeichen Pionier der Arbeit
Period:
Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:
Reichsminister
Unit:
Reichsverkehrsminister
Awarded on:
July 24th, 1944
Ritterkreuz des Kriegsverdienstkreuzes mit Schwertern
Period:
Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:
Reichsverkehrsminister
Awarded on:
July 24th, 1944

Sources