Hans "Hanns" Martin Schleyer was a German business executive, and employer and industry representative, and SS officer who served as president of two powerful commercial organizations, the Confederation of German Employers' Associations and the Federation of German Industries. Schleyer became a target for radical elements of the German student movement in the 1970s for his role in those business organisations, positions in the labour disputes, aggressive appearance on television, conservative anti-communist views, position as a prominent member of the Christian Democratic Union, and past as an enthusiastic member of the Nazi student movement and a former SS officer.

The kidnapping and murder of Hanns Martin Schleyer marked the end of the German Autumn in 1977.