Schiller joined the paramilitary Stormtroopers (Sturmabteilung) of the NSDAP in 1933 and the party itself in 1937. After World War II he joined the SPD in 1946.
From 1965 to 1972, he was a member of the Bundestag for the SPD, where he became assistant chairman of the SPD faction.
From 1948 to 1953, Schiller was Senator for economy in Hamburg and held the same office again from 1961 to 1965 in Berlin serving under mayor Willy Brandt in his second term of office.
In the first cabinet of Willy Brandt, Schiller continued to serve in the previous position, and was also Federal Minister of Finance from 1971 to 1972 after the resignation of Alex Möller. On 7 July 1972 Schiller resigned in protest against Brandt's economic decisions.[2] After stepping down, he soon left the SPD as well. In 1972, he participated together with Ludwig Erhard in a CDU campaign, whereby both acted as defenders of market economy. In 1980 he returned to the SPD. He died in Hamburg.
As Finance Minister Schiller travelled to the Soviet Union in 1970 and met with Alexei Kosygin, the Premier of the Soviet Union, to discuss a trade agreement between their two respective countries.
Take, Gunnar: Forschen für den Wirtschaftskrieg. Das Kieler Institut für Weltwirtschaft im Nationalsozialismus, Berlin: de Gruyter, 2019. ISBN978-3-11-065457-8.
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