On 11 March 1930, Luther was appointed as Hjalmar Schacht's successor as president of the Reichsbank. To ensure his independence, he gave up all other offices and also left the DVP. Luther supported Heinrich Brüning's deflation policy out of loyalty and conviction. During the crisis in German banking in June/July 1931, he stretched the envelope—both legally and in terms of the Reichsbank's financial means—to help the banks repay the short-term loans called in by foreign creditors. Criticism by the banks including the demand for his resignation were without foundation and served mainly to hide the banks' responsibility for their own situation. On the evening of April 9, 1932 Hans Luther was shot at on the platform of the Potsdam station. He was injured at the shoulder. The assailants had written a letter before in which they criticized Luther's monetary policy.