The Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) is an important player in the political landscape of the Federal Republic of Germany. This project examines for the first time in detail the central role played by the BMF in the history of German finance and administration. The BMF is one of the central ministries and has numerous responsibilities, including the supervision of various federal authorities, the tax and budgetary policy, as well as the European financial policy.
After the Second World War, financial administration was constituted at the level of the federal states before the BMF was re-established with the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. In the initial phase of West Germany, under the leadership of Fritz Schäffer, the ministry was primarily concerned with the consequences of the war, economic reconstruction and stabilization of the currency. In this context, the project analyzes the institutional and personnel continuities in the financial administration from National Socialism to West Germany and the decisions in fiscal policy during the first postwar years.