Das Deutsche Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung im Zweiten Weltkrieg

Abstract

Abstract The German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin), the largest institute of its kind in Germany, will celebrate its centenary in 2025. It was founded as the Institute for Business Cycle Research (IfK) on July 16 1925 by Ernst Wagemann, then President of the German Statistical Office. The Institute’s research on the war economy 1939 to 1945 has not yet been examined in a well-founded manner. As the DIW itself does not possess the necessary archival records, the secret studies had first to be made accessible from various archives of the authorities which had requested this research. Only then could the studies and reports which the IfK/DIW had done on the war economy be presented here. With Wagemann losing his dual function as head of the Institute and as President of the German Statistical Office in 1933, the IfK/DIW had no longer a smooth direct access to internal statistics of the Statistical Office. In order to be able to work in an expert capacity, the Institute and its President had to secure their clients’ trust through convincing professional competence. The article elaborates on the Institute’s struggle for the status of vital importance for the war, which awarded a special position compared with other institutes, e.g. in the Reich’s Research Council (Reichsforschungsrat). Wagemann’s skill in presenting his Institute as an indispensable economic research institute certainly contributed to its prominent status. He also asserted and made himself indispensable to the National Socialist system.