Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen zu Köningen (; 29 October 18792 May 1969) was a German
nobleman,
General Staff officer and politician. He served as
Chancellor of Germany in 1932 and as
Vice-Chancellor under
Adolf Hitler in 1933–1934. He belonged to the group of close advisers to president
Paul von Hindenburg in the late
Weimar Republic. It was largely Papen, believing that Hitler could be controlled once he was in the government, who persuaded Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as Chancellor in a cabinet not under
Nazi Party domination. However, Papen and his allies were quickly marginalized by Hitler and he left the government after the
Night of the Long Knives, during which some of his confidantes were killed by the Nazis.