| 1. | While the National Socialists presented their seizure of power in 1933 during the first weeks as a continuation of the Weimar Republic, in fact, they broke radically with traditional models of professional civil service and public administration. Against this background, civil service was politicised and brought into line with National Socialist ideology. From then on, the NSDAP could count on widespread loyalty among civil servants. This became evident, among other things, in the large number of members who joined the NSDAP and other National Socialist organisations (par. 1–3). |
| 2. | The National Socialist period was characterised by a contrast between traditional administrations, which mostly continued previous administrative work, and newly created institutions, which served a more ideological function. For the most part, the latter were largely detached from the law, and they played a key role in conceptualising and implementing the racist ideology of National Socialism (par. 4). |
| 3. | The “Führer principle”, the personality principle, and the principle of “working towards the Führer” (Ian Kershaw), were central guiding principles of the administration under National Socialism (par. 5 et seq.) |
| 4. | Although state and party institutions competed with each other in the National Socialist polycracy, this dualism should not be overemphasized. Party and state were interwoven in many ways. It is not sufficient simply to contrast the state’s rule-governed administrative action and party institutions’ criminal and arbitrary actions, as doing so does not accurately reflect the reality. For example, the Reich’s tax authority was closely involved in the anti-Semitic policy of persecuting and plundering Jews (par. 7–9). |
| 5. | At first, administrative law scholarship broadly approved of the National Socialist takeover in 1933. However, shortly thereafter, most scholars withdrew from the political arena. They attempted to incorporate the new political guidelines into their existing system of scholarship. Even though this meant using the regime’s language, there were still ideological differences. To a great extent, administrative law scholarship lost its importance and suffered a decline during the National Socialist period (par. 10–12, 15). |
| 6. | The turn away from the positivist tradition of the rule of law and towards the reality of administration stimulated the further development of administrative law scholarship. Ernst Forsthoff, for example, emphasised the importance of benefit and service administration with his concept of Daseinsvorsorge. Thus, he coined a term that was to become significant for the discipline in the Federal Republic (par. 13 et seq.). |
| 7. | During World War II, the administration was supposed to play the role of a “fighting administration” (Reinhard Heydrich). This meant that it was expected to subordinate itself completely to the objective of final victory and the ideological goals of the regime. The polycracy of competing institutions intensified, destroying the prevailing order. As staffing continued to be reduced, it became necessary to simplify administrative work. Despite all adverse circumstances, the administration continued to function to the end, thereby bolstering the National Socialist regime (par. 16–18). |
| 8. | The majority of administrative employees from the period before 1945 were able to continue their careers in the administration of the Federal Republic. Their ongoing employment highlights the continuities between the National Socialist period and the early Federal Republic (par. 19). |
