The second Fuhrer

[davver]

Who became Fuhrer after Hitler committed suicide?

[TommyC]

No one - The post had been entirely artificial in any case, created by Hitler himself, for himself, when he succeeded Hindenburg as Reichschancellor in 1933. Eight days after his suicide, on 8th May 1945, Field-Marshal Montgomery on behalf of Allied forces, accepted the surrender of all remaining active Axis forces on the Western front, and greater Germany was promptly divided into three externally-governed sectors, under the unilateral control of the British, the Americans and the Russians. The Nazi party was then quickly declared illegal in Germany by all three, in an effort to deter the remaining faithful and impress on them that their war had been lost. The office of Fuhrer was thereby abolished under the new interim martial law, and most of the Generals and Chiefs of Staff who had remained in Berlin with Hitler to the end were either taken into custody by the Allies or chose to commit suicide first, so there could in any event be no legal successors.

[Quizmonster]

Admiral Karl Doenitz - although not exactly titled 'F�hrer' - became, briefly, the Head of State in Germany after Hitler's death. He it was who officially signed the surrender terms applied by the Allies. Click http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/biography/Doenitz
.html for more details about him.

[bernardo]

TommyC's answer is inaccurate in the sense that it misses the point, and does not account for the period from 30th April to 8th May. Quizmonster is correct in saying that Karl Doenitz was appointed by Hitler as his successor.

[rock1873]

I agree with Bernado Raeder