Organized Crime during the Weimar Republic

by disgruntledhobgoblin

The State of the Republic with its often fractured political landscape, ideological infighting, weak centralized control, changing societal attitudes that just wanted to forget the horrors of war and a growing black market due to financial uncertainty seems like the perfect breeding ground for organized Crime to spring up.

Was it rampant and if so who was leading it? Were there Cartels and how did these people earn their money? Which was their racket and did they meddle in politics? Did the political groups themselves resort to illegal activities to finance themselves? What did the state do to fight those activities and why have I never heard of a German "Al Capone?"

mikedash

Organised crime certainly did exist in Weimar Germany, much of it in the form of groups known as Ringvereine.

You can read more about them, how they were organised and what happened to them in these earlier responses, with u/commiespaceinvader:

Fritz Lang's "M" (1931) gives the impression of a large organized crime network in Weimar Germany. Was organized crime a large factor in in Nazi Germany as well?

and with u/Abrytan:

Were there famous gangsters during the Third Reich? Or was the totalitarian nature of the regime a good deterrent for organized criminal activities?