Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf

{{short description|German politician}}

image:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F046120-0016, Koblenz, "Rittersturz-Konferenz", Kopf.jpg

Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf (6 May 1893{{cite book |title=Neues Archiv für Niedersachsen 2.2021: 75 Jahre Niedersachsen |date=7 February 2022 |publisher=Wachholtz Verlag |isbn=978-3-529-09615-0 |page=71 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Neues_Archiv_f%C3%BCr_Niedersachsen_2_2021/AVnIEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Hinrich+Wilhelm+Kopf+%226+mai+1893%22&pg=PA71&printsec=frontcover |access-date=2 January 2025 |language=de}} – 21 December 1961{{cite news |title=HINRICH WILHELM KOPF 6.V.1893 - 21.XII.1961 |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/hinrich-wilhelm-kopf-6-v-1893-21-xii-1961-a-c307bb6c-0002-0001-0000-000043367893?context=issue |access-date=2 January 2025 |work=Der Spiegel |date=26 December 1961 |language=de}}) was a German politician (SPD).

He joined the SPD in 1919.{{cite book |last1=Vogelsang |first1=Thilo |title=Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf und Niedersachsen |date=1963 |publisher=Verlag für Literatur und Zeitgeschehen |page=24 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Hinrich_Wilhelm_Kopf_und_Niedersachsen/CAQ8AAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Hinrich+Wilhelm+Kopf+%226+mai+1893%22&dq=Hinrich+Wilhelm+Kopf+%226+mai+1893%22&printsec=frontcover |access-date=2 January 2025 |language=de}} Kopf worked from 1939 to 1943 on behalf of the Nazi government as an asset manager in occupied Poland, initially with his own company together with the lawyer Edmund Bohne, later for the Haupttreuhandstelle Ost[https://upgr.bv-opfer-ns-militaerjustiz.de/uploads/Dateien/Buchtipps/Bericht_Historische_Kommission.pdf Report entitled Die NS-Vergangenheit späterer niedersächsischer Landtagsabgeordneter Stephan A. Glienke. Druckfassung Hannover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, Hannover 2012.] and was "trustee of confiscated Polish and Jewish goods" and worked as an expropriation commissioner in the Lubliniec region.{{cite news |title=Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf: Gründervater mit Schattenseiten |url=https://www.ndr.de/geschichte/koepfe/Hinrich-Wilhelm-Kopf-Gruendervater-mit-Schattenseiten,hinrichkopf100.html |access-date=2 January 2025 |work=NDR |date=21 December 2021 |language=de}} In 1948, Polish authorities requested his extradition for being involved in deportations, harassing and abusing Polish workers, and confiscating Jewish property, but Military Governor Robertson dismissed the allegations saying they were "insufficient".{{cite news |last1=Jung |first1=Hagen |title=Landesvater als Kriegsverbrecher? |url=https://www.nd-aktuell.de/artikel/216311.landesvater-als-kriegsverbrecher.html |access-date=2 January 2025 |work=ND |date=23 January 2023 |language=de}}

He served as Prime Minister of the short-lived State of Hanover in 1946 and then as Minister President of Lower Saxony from 1946 to 1955 and from 1959 to 1961.{{cite web |title=Kopf, Hinrich Wilhelm - Deutsche Biographie |url=https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/gnd118565265.html#ndbcontent |website=www.deutsche-biographie.de |access-date=2 January 2025 |language=de}} He served as the third President of the Bundesrat from 7 September 1951 to 6 September 1952.{{cite book |title=Verhandlungen: Stenographische Berichte |date=1955 |publisher=Bundesrat |page=133 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Verhandlungen/aq8ooB0Nz1wC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Hinrich+Wilhelm+Kopf+%226+september+1952%22&dq=Hinrich+Wilhelm+Kopf+%226+september+1952%22&printsec=frontcover |access-date=2 January 2025 |language=de}}

Kopf was born in Neuenkirchen, Hanover, and died in Göttingen.{{cite book |title=Lebensläufe zwischen Elbe und Weser: ein biographisches Lexikon |date=2002 |publisher=Landschaftsverband der ehemaligen Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden |isbn=978-3-931879-08-2 |page=193 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Lebensl%C3%A4ufe_zwischen_Elbe_und_Weser/y3gYAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Hinrich+Wilhelm+Kopf+G%C3%B6ttingen+%221961%22+Neuenkirchen&dq=Hinrich+Wilhelm+Kopf+G%C3%B6ttingen+%221961%22+Neuenkirchen&printsec=frontcover |access-date=2 January 2025 |language=de}}{{cite web |title=Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf - Munzinger Biographie |url=https://www.munzinger.de/register/portrait/biographien/Hinrich%20Wilhelm%20Kopf/00/495 |website=www.munzinger.de |access-date=2 January 2025}}

His grave is located in the Stöcken city cemetery in Hanover and was a so-called honorary grave of the city of Hanover until 2015, whose administration decorated it with flowers and cared for it.Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, Ausgabe Stadt Hannover, 13. Juni 2015, S. 15