| “ | Placeholder | ” |
–Rudolf Hess | ||
| Reichsleiter Rudolf Hess | |
|---|---|
 Official photo | |
| Deputy Führer of the Nazi Party | |
| In office 21 April 1933 – 10 May 1941 | |
| Führer | Adolf Hitler |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Martin Bormann (Chief of the Party Chancellery) |
| Reichsminister without portfolio | |
| In office 1 December 1933 – 10 May 1941 | |
| Chancellor | Adolf Hitler |
| Chief of the Nazi Party Liaison Office | |
| In office 20 March 1933 – 10 May 1941 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Martin Bormann |
| Private Secretary to the Führer of the Nazi Party | |
| In office 1925–1935 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Martin Bormann |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Rudolf Walter Richard Hess 26 April 1894 Alexandria, Khedivate of Egypt |
| Died | 10 May 1941 (aged 47) Scottish Highlands, United Kingdom |
| Cause of death | Plane crash |
| Nationality | German |
| Political party | Nazi Party (1920–1941) |
| Spouse(s) | Ilse Pröhl (m. 1927) |
| Children | Wolf Rüdiger Hess |
| Alma mater | University of Munich |
| Signature | Rudolf Hess (Dies Irae)'s signature |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | German Empire |
| Service/branch | Imperial German Army |
| Years of service | 1914–1918 |
| Rank | de: Leutnant der Reserve |
| Unit |
|
| Battles/wars |
|
| Awards | Iron Cross, 2nd Class |
}}Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German; 26 April 1894– 10 May 1941) was a German politician and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler in 1933, Hess held that position until 1941, when he died flying solo to Scotland in an attempt to negotiate the United Kingdom's exit from the Second World War.
Hess enlisted as an infantryman in the Imperial German Army at the outbreak of World War I. He was wounded several times during the war and was awarded the Iron Cross, 2nd Class, in 1915. Shortly before the war ended, Hess enrolled to train as an aviator, but he saw no action in that role. He left the armed forces in December 1918 with the rank of Leutnant der Reserve. In 1919, Hess enrolled in the University of Munich, where he studied geopolitics under Karl Haushofer, a proponent of the concept of Lebensraum ('living space'), which became one of the pillars of Nazi ideology. Hess joined the Nazi Party on 1 July 1920 and was at Hitler's side on 8 November 1923 for the Beer Hall Putsch, a failed Nazi attempt to seize control of the government of Bavaria. While serving a prison sentence for this attempted coup, he assisted Hitler with Mein Kampf, which became a foundation of the political platform of the Nazi Party.
After Hitler became Chancellor in January 1933, Hess was appointed Deputy Führer of the Nazi Party in April. He was elected to the Reichstag in the March elections, was made a Reichsleiter of the Nazi Party in June and in December 1933 he became Minister without Portfolio in Hitler's cabinet. He was also appointed in 1938 to the Cabinet Council and in August 1939 to the Council of Ministers for Defence of the Reich. Hitler decreed on the outbreak of war on 1 September 1939 that Hermann Göring was his official successor, and named Hess as next in line. In addition to appearing on Hitler's behalf at speaking engagements and rallies, Hess signed into law much of the government's legislation, including the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, which stripped the Jews of Germany of their rights in the lead-up to the Holocaust.
By the start of the war, Hess was sidelined from most important decisions, and many in Hitler's inner circle thought him to be mad. On 10 May 1941, Hess made a solo flight to Scotland, where he hoped to arrange peace talks with the Duke of Hamilton, whom he believed to be a prominent opponent of the British government's war policy. However, he would end up crashing in the Scottish Highlands. British authorities later recovered his body.