Oberfinanzpräsidium (Superior Finance Presidium)

The Oberfinanzpräsidien (Superior Finance Presidiums) held a key position under National Socialist rule in the systematic financial plundering of the Jews . The mass murder of the Jews was essentially preceded by a “fiscal final solution” (Friedenberger, p. 273). The biggest beneficiary of ‘Aryanization‘ was the German state.

As part of the Financial Administration, the Munich Oberfinanzpräsidium supervised the tax offices that implemented the gigantic theft of Jewish assets, primarily with the help of the ‘Reich Flight Tax‘ and the ‘Jewish wealth contribution‘. From the early 1940s, the authority was also responsible for expropriated Jewish property. In November 1941, the Eleventh Decree of the Reich Citizenship Law stripped all deported and emigrated Jews of their citizenship and thus their entire property. This was administrated by ‘asset disposal offices’ run by the Oberfinanzpräsidien. In 1941, the Munich Oberfinanzpräsidium alone was responsible for the ‘disposal‘ of around 7800 Jewish assets.

The Munich Oberfinanzpräsidium at Sophienstraße 6 on the edge of the Party district was built from 1938 according to plans by Franz Stadler. The building is currently the headquarters of the Munich office of the Bavarian State Tax Office. A large imperial eagle on the façade – the swastika has been removed - serves as a reminder of the history of the building.