For the composer, please see Heinrich Albert (composer)

Heinrich Albert (composer)

Heinrich Albert, also Heinrich Alberti, was a German composer and poet of the 17th century. He was member of the Königsberg Poetic Society . As a song composer, he was strongly influenced by Heinrich Schütz.- Biography :Heinrich Albert was born in Lobenstein, principality of Reuss...

.

Heinrich Friedrich Albert (February 12, 1874, Magdeburg

Magdeburg

Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....

, Province of Saxony

Province of Saxony

The Province of Saxony was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1945. Its capital was Magdeburg.-History:The province was created in 1816 out of the following territories:...

 – November 1, 1960) was a German lawyer who served as commercial attaché to the Imperial German Ambassador to the United States Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff

Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff

Johann Heinrich Graf von Bernstorff was a German politician and the ambassador to the United States and Mexico from 1908 to 1917.- Early life :...

 during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. He was also the paymaster for German espionage and sabotage operations in the United States. In addition, he also arranged for forged passorts and documents for German-Americans who wanted to return to fight for the German armed forces.

Albert and Naval Intelligence Captain Franz von Rintelen

Franz von Rintelen

Captain Franz Dagobert Johannes von Rintelen was a German Naval Intelligence officer in the United States during World War I....

 established a cover firm called the Bridgeport Projectile Company to purchase and destroy munitions that would otherwise be shipped to the Allied Forces. This operation has become known as the Great Phenol Plot

Great Phenol Plot

The Great Phenol Plot was a conspiracy during the early years of World War I to divert American-produced phenol away from the manufacture of high explosives, and instead use it to produce Aspirin and bring profits to the German-owned Bayer company....

.

He was exposed as a spy because of his association with George Sylvester Viereck

George Sylvester Viereck

George Sylvester Viereck was a German-American poet, writer, and propagandist.-Biography:...

, the editor of The Fatherland, a pro-German publication, who was himself under surveillance. He left his briefcase, which contained sensitive documents, on a tram, and it was picked up by a counter-intelligence officer who was tailing him. The papers were published in the New York World

New York World

The New York World was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers...

. However, no official actions was taken against Albert, and he did not return to Germany until the U.S. entered the war.

Back in Germany, Albert was given responsibility for foreign assets in the country. After the war, he was charged with the sale of army surplus. He would become Treasury and Reconstruction Minister in Chancellor Wilhelm Cuno

Wilhelm Cuno

Wilhelm Carl Josef Cuno was a German politician who was the Chancellor of Germany from 1922 to 1923. He was born in Suhl, Prussian Saxony. Cuno's government is best known for its passive resistance of the French occupation of the Ruhr Area . Cuno's government was also responsible for its poor...

's government. In 1923, he was asked by Chancellor Gustav Stresemann

Gustav Stresemann

was a German politician and statesman who served as Chancellor and Foreign Minister during the Weimar Republic. He was co-laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926.Stresemann's politics defy easy categorization...

 to help form a government, but was unsuccessful.

He was a successful lawyer in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, representing many foreign corporations. After World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, he resumed his career in international business.

See also

• Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff
  Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff
  Johann Heinrich Graf von Bernstorff was a German politician and the ambassador to the United States and Mexico from 1908 to 1917.- Early life :...
  
  
• Black Tom explosion
  Black Tom explosion
  The Black Tom explosion on July 30, 1916 in Jersey City, New Jersey was an act of sabotage on American ammunition supplies by German agents to prevent the materiel from being used by the Allies in World War I.- Black Tom Island :...
  
  
• Hindu–German Conspiracy
  Hindu–German Conspiracy
  The Hindu–German Conspiracy was a series of plans formulated between 1914 and 1917 to initiate a Pan-Indian rebellion against the British Raj during World War I. The conspirators included radical nationalists in India, the Ghadar Party in the United States and the Indian independence committee in...