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(Chief of the Sub-section "Technical and Artistic Arrangements forPublic Mass Danonst rat ions and Official Meetings" of the ReichPropaganda Ministry). Another early appointment was to the newlycreated office cf the General Bauinspekteur der Reichshauptstadt(Inspector General of Construction for the Reich Capital). Althoughthis office was mainly concerned with the remodelling of BERLIN froman aesthetic point of view, it represented an important increaseof SPEER f S functions and powers. For one thing, it led to thecreation of the Baustab SEEBR (Construction Staff SEEER). For another,it put SEEER in control of the Binnenflotte or Inland Waterways Fleet,which he promptly renamed Transport-Flotte""sF!EER,^yIt was, however, not until the outbreak of war, and through hiscontact with GOERING, that his stature as a functionary began toincrease appreciably, and eventually placed him in a position to becomeTCDT's successor, if not actually his rival, during the former'slifetime. Bie Baustab SEEER was enlarged to form a constructionorganisation of somewhat over 100,000 men, specialising in constructionof airports and airport installations within Germany, The number ofNSKK (National SozialistischeKraftfahr Korps or National SocialistMotor Corps) Units, or NSKK-Baustab SEEER as they were called, whichhad always provided transportation for the organisation, were likewiseincreased and renamed the NSKK Motor Transport Standarte SEEER (NSKKMotor Transport Regiment SPEER). As already mentioned, on T0DT'S deathon 9th February 1942, SEEER inherited not only the leadership of the0T but also all of the former's Party and government offices andfunctions. The most Important of these numerous government functionsis naturally that of head of the "SEEER Ministry 11 or Ministry ofArmament and War Production, (which under swwHfr underwent are-organisation during the summer and autumn of 1943, and anotherin the late summer of 1944)* He is besides a member of the ZentralePlanting (Central Planning Board), the functions of which are comparableto that of a War Bconony Cabinet responsible directly to GGERINGunder the Four Tear Plan. His most important Party rank is that ofReichsleiter (Member of the Nazi Party Supreme Directorate). Toreturn to the 0T, SPEER incorporated his Baustab into theOrganisation when he took over its control. Most if not all, of theoriginal NSKK Motor Transport Standarte SPEER was attached to theDAK (Deutsche Afrika Korps) and to the Army units in Russia. It isnevertheless from the transport aspect that SPEER*s name has becomdmost prominently connected with OT: the various stages by means ofwhich the Legion SHhlfiK (the present transportation unit of the 0T)was created, are described in the section on Services (II F b)»The Transportflotte SPEER, was likewise attached to the 0T and performssimilar services in bringing up supplies by waterways to coastaland canal sectors of the Organisation.10. Comparison of TQDT with SPEERIn a comparative estimate of the two men, Fritz TQDT and Albert SEEER,there is a decided temptation to describe the former in favourableterms at the expense of the latter. TCDT, was from all accounts,a dynamic personality, impatient with administrative regulations.One might almost say that he executed a job by executing it. He hadthe true technician's ability of adapting the method of execution tothe nature of ths operation. Without detracting from TQDT'sabilities in this respect, SEEER obviously is a skilled politician.His abilities as an organiser seem to be on the administrative,rather than on the operational, side. He is said to be a good judgeof men as far as picking executive assistants is concerned. Whetherany one man, however, even of TCDT's stature, could have metGermany's critical problem of war production with anything like theefficiency with which at one time TQDT built the Siegfried Line isquite problematical.-1V