Reich Ministry for Reconstruction

In 1919 Germany had plans for direct participation in reconstruction of the areas of Belgium and France devastated by the war.

[3] In the end, Germany supplied only reparation goods such as building materials, furnishings, industrial equipment and especially coal.

The remnants of the German merchant fleet, almost half of which had been lost to enemy action and seizure during the First World War, were ceded almost entirely to the Allied and Associated Powers in the course of the extension of the Armistice and under the Treaty of Versailles.

The refugees and displaced persons had to be adequately compensated for their losses in order to enable them to make a new start in Germany, a task which was also assigned to the Reich Ministry for Reconstruction.

The Treaty of Versailles therefore laid down a compensation procedure for claims and debts, the execution of which was transferred to the Ministry of Reconstruction.

The Reich Ministry for Reconstruction was housed in the former headquarters of the Imperial Colonial Office at Wilhelmstraße 62 in Berlin.