Goerdeler was a conservative German politician. He studied law, and
after World War I he joined the conservative German National People's
Party (DNVP).
He was elected mayor of Leipzig in 1930.
Goerdeler opposed the racial ideology of the national socialist. When
DNVP began to cooperate with the Nazi party in 1931 he left the party.
He was one of very few politicians in opposition to the ruling NSDAP
after 1933.
Goerdeler was heavily criticized for his resistance to a plot to kill Hitler, for his will to reintroduce the monarchy in Germany, for his anti-Semitism, and for his extremely anti-Communist ideology.
In the autumn of 1943, Goerdeler first met Colonel Count Claus von Stauffenberg. The two men took an immediate dislike to each other.