ABSTRACT

The paper analyzes the role of the Reich Economic Council (Reichswirtschaftsrat, RWR) in Weimar Germany and intends to highlight its ambiguous position between organized interests, political loyalties, public expectations and economic needs. In contrast to the prevailing historiographical narrative of the RWR’s insignificance, the paper argues for a closer look at its practice in economic policy to gain deeper insight into its role within the political system.

Referring to the heated public debates on consumer policy and cartels in the late 1920s, the findings indicate that the RWR formed a platform for economic actors at the intersection of state and economy to influence or even pre-formulate economic policy within the protected sphere of an institutionalized 'back-room', and beyond party politics. But on the other hand, the refusal of taking sides in political controversies may have triggered the RWR's successive marginalization in the early 1930s.

Thus, the RWR’s ambiguous position mirrors the contested and undecided nature of economic order in the 1920s, and therefore allows us to see behind the curtain of the complex relations between economy, politics and state in Weimar Germany.

摘要

本文分析了德国魏玛市的德国经济委员会（Reichswirtschaftsrat，RWR）的作用，并试图强调其在有组织的利益，政治忠诚，公众期望和经济需求之间的模棱两可立场。与RWR的微不足道的流行史学叙述相反，本文主张对RWR在经济政策中的实践进行仔细研究，以更深入地了解其在政治系统中的作用。

关于1920年代后期关于消费者政策和卡特尔的激烈辩论，研究结果表明，RWR为国家和经济交汇处的经济参与者提供了一个平台，以影响甚至预先制定受保护国家范围内的经济政策。制度化的“后台”，以及超越党派政治的范围。但另一方面，拒绝在政治争议中表示支持可能会触发RWR在1930年代初的接连边缘化。

因此，RWR的模棱两可的立场反映了1920年代经济秩序有争议和不确定的性质，因此使我们能够看到魏玛德国经济，政治和国家之间复杂关系的幕后故事。