Joachim von Ribbentrop

Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (30 April 1893 - 16 October 1946) was the foreign minister of the German Third Reich in Nazi Germany between 1938 and 1945. He was found guilty of war crimes at the Nuremberg Trials and executed by hanging.

Joachim von Ribbentrop in 1938 as a SS officer while still a Nazi ambassador and foreign minister

Early life

Ribbentrop ("von" was added only later) was born in Wesel, Rhine Province, Prussia, Germany.

He served as an infantry soldier in the Imperial German Army of the German Empire from 1914-1918 in Europe.

Nazi career

Ribbentrop joined the National Socialist German Workers Party in 1932. He became an SS officer in 1933 and held the following ranks:

• 1933: SS Junior Officer rank of Standartenfuhrer/Oberfuher (Colonel)

• 1933-1935: Senior SS Officer with the rank Obergruppenfuhrer (General)
• 1936-1938: Ambassador to the United Kingdom

He remained a member of the SS, run by Heinrich Himmler, until World War II ended in 1945.

Trial and execution

Von Ribbentrop was found guilty of war crimes at the Nuremberg Trials. He was executed on 16 October 1946 in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany.

SS Officer rank dates of Ribbentrop

SS Rank equivalent	German Army Officer Rank Equivalent
SS-Standartenfuhrer	Colonel (1933-1934)
SS-Oberfuhrer	Colonel (1934-1935)
SS-Obergruppenfuhrer	General (1935-1945)

Related pages

• World War II
• Nazi Germany
• The Holocaust
• Nuremberg Trials
• War crimes
• Schutzstaffel (SS)

Other websites

Media related to Joachim von Ribbentrop at Wikimedia Commons