
Hans Globke (10 September 1898 – 13 February 1973) was the German Chancellery Chief of Staff from 28 October 1953 to 15 October 1963, succeeding Otto Lenz and preceding Ludger Westrick.
Biography[]
Hans Globke was born in Dusseldorf, German Empire on 10 September 1898 to a devout Catholic family, and he earned a doctorate in law in 1922 and became a senior legal adviser in the Interior Ministry of Prussia, serving from 1929 to 1945. Globke was a Nazi Party member during this time, drafting laws that confiscated Jewish property; after World War II, however, he claimed to be an opponent of the Nazis, and he was not subjected to Denazification. Globke became a member of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, serving as Chief of Staff of the German Chancellery from 1953 to 1963. He was a powerful eminence grise in West Germany, recommending people for cabinet positions, managed the country's connections with NATO and the CIA, and was responsible for passing several anti-communist laws. Globke helped in shaping West Germany's course and structure, and he left office with the Konrad Adenauer administration in 1963. He died in 1973 at the age of 74.