Kapp, Wolfgang, 1858-1922

Wolfgang Kapp (24 July 1858 – 12 June 1922) was a German conservative and nationalist political activist who is best known for his involvement in the eponymous 1920 Kapp Putsch. He spent most of his career working for the Prussian Ministry of Finance and then as director of the Agricultural Credit Institute in East Prussia. During World War I, Kapp was a vocal annexationist and critic of the government's policies, which he saw as not aggressive enough. His strong dislike of parliamentary government and the Weimar Republic led him to take a leading role in the 1920 putsch that bears his name. Following the putsch's failure to overthrow the German government, Kapp went into exile in Sweden. He returned to Germany in late 1921 to appear in court, but died while under medical care before he could testify.