Albert Speer was a German architect who was, for part of World War II, Minister of Armaments and War Production for the Third Reich. Speer acted as Adolf Hitler's chief architect before he assumed ministerial office. Speer is known as "the Nazi who said sorry" as he accepted responsibility for his actions and those of the regime at the Nuremberg trials and in the memoirs for the crimes of the Nazi regime. His level of involvement in the persecution of the Jews and knowledge of the Holocaust remains disputed.

Speer joined the Nazi Party in 1931 and his architectural skills made him an increasingly prominent member within the party and he eventually became a member of Hitler's inner circle of advisor's. Speer was commissioned by Hitler to design and construct a number of different structures, including the Reich Chancellery and the Zeppelinfeld stadium where the Party rallies were held. Speer had also made plans to reconstruct Berlin on a grand scale, with huge buildings, wide streets and a new transportation system.

In his role as Hitler's Minister of Armaments and War Production, Speer was very successful and managed to increase Germany's war production even after the massive and devastating bombing by the Allies.

After the war Speer's was tried at the Nuremberg trials and sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in the Nazi regime, primarily for his use of forced labour. Speer's served his full sentence, most of it at Spandau Prison in West Berlin.

After being released from prison in 1966 Speer published two autobiographical works detailed his close relationship with Hitler and providing his readers with a new perspective on the workings of the Nazi regime. Later Speer's wrote a third book about the SS.

Speer died of natural causes in 1981 on a visit to London, England.