Munich / München
Part 2 - Beer
Hall Putsch of 1923
In November 1923,
Hitler and the leadership of the new Nazi Party attempted to take over the
Bavarian government, as a starting point to an overthrow of the Weimar Republic
and establishment of the Nazi leadership in Berlin. Through a serious of clumsy
maneuvers, the Nazis took over the Bürgerbräukeller beer hall in Munich and
detained some of the Bavarian government leaders on the evening on 8 November
1923, but the putsch attempt almost fell apart during the
night. On the following day Hitler and the Nazi leadership determined to seize
the initiative by marching on downtown Munich, planning to take over the
Bavarian War Ministry.
Some 2000 Nazis marched
to the town square and north toward the War Ministry building on
Ludwigstraße on 9 November 1923. They were stopped by Bavarian police on
Residenzstraße by the side of the Feldherrnhalle, just before reaching the
Odeonsplatz. Shots rang out as both sides opened fire, leaving four policemen
and fourteen Nazis dead (two other Nazis were killed in another location).
Hitler himself was injured in the melee, and whisked away by his supporters into
hiding. One of the Nazi swastika banners was drenched with blood, and this flag
would later become the famous "Blutfahne" (Blood Banner) of the Nazi
movement.
Hitler was arrested and tried for treason,
and sentenced to five years in prison (he actually served only about nine months in
Landsberg Prison). After his release he
worked to rebuild the Nazi Party, leading to the Nazi takeover of power in
Berlin in 1933.

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The "spiritual" center
of Nazism was the Feldherrnhalle on the Odeonsplatz. Here, at the side
of this 1844 memorial to fallen German military leaders, the Nazi putsch
of 9 November 1923 came to an end when Bavarian police fired on the
marchers. (above - period postcard in author's collection;
below - Georg Schorer, "Deutsche Kunstbetrachtung"
Munich, 1941) |
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The climactic scene was
considerably embellished by a Nazi artist named Schmitt, who showed
Hitler heroically leading the charge in the center of the front rank. In
reality, Hitler was thrown to the ground by his guards as soon as the
firing started, then quickly spirited to safety. This
modern photo shows a similar view down Residenzstraße. (U.S.
Army collections)
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A memorial to the fallen putschists
was erected on the east side of the Feldherrnhalle, opposite the spot in
the street where the dead had fallen and the putsch had been
halted. The memorial, designed by architect Paul Ludwig Troost and
executed by sculptor Kurt Schmid-Ehmen, bore the names of
the sixteen "martyrs of the movement" who were killed on 9 November
1923 (fourteen here at the Feldherrnhalle and two others at the War Ministry).
The back of the monument bore the slogan "Und Ihr habt doch
gesiegt!," which was from a speech by Hitler and can be translated
"And yet you triumphed!" The memorial was guarded perpetually
by SS guards. ("Hauptstadt der Bewegung," 1939/40; Bundesarchiv) |

A popular period postcard (courtesy
Greg Walden)

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Somewhat
surprisingly, on the wall beneath the main memorial was a plaque
honoring the four policemen who were killed here on 9 November 1923,
opposing the putschists. (period postcard) |
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The
Feldherrnhalle memorial was the scene of annual ceremonies honoring the
dead of the putsch. Above left, Rudolf Hess salutes the memorial;
above right - SS chief Heinrich Himmler lays a wreath in 1934. Below
- The bodies of the Nazis killed during the Bürgerbräukeller
assassination attempt on 8 November 1939 (see
below) were displayed in front of the Feldherrnhalle. In the postcard art view at lower right, Hitler
salutes the memorial while Jakob Grimminger holds the Blutfahne in
front. (Bundesarchiv; period postcards) |
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All who passed the memorial were
required to give the "Hitler Gruß" salute. Legend holds that those
who wished to avoid this salute
took a shortcut through the Viscardigaße alley behind the Feldherrnhalle, which
came to be known as Drückeberger-Gaßl, "Shirkers Alley." (left
- from a period photo album; right - Bundesarchiv) |

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SS men guard a memorial
wreath placed on the steps of the Feldherrnhalle in this period
postcard. |

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The Odeonsplatz in front of the
Feldherrnhalle served as a parade field for the SS, who often staged
nighttime rallies there. New SS recruits took their oath of loyalty to
Hitler during these formations. On the left above is a 1941 painting by
Paul Hermann. Below, the SA parade on the Odeonsplatz in 1938. (above
left - HDK postcard collection; above right - Life Collection;
below - Munich City Museum) |
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The Feldherrnhalle and
Odeonsplatz figured in an earlier incident in Adolf Hitler's
life. On 2 August 1914 Hitler was in the crowd in
front of the Feldherrnhalle, celebrating the announcement of the
beginning of World War I. Years later, Hitler mentioned to his
photographer Heinrich Hoffmann that he had been in the crowd, and as
Hoffmann had photographed the scene, he examined his photos until he was
able to pick Hitler out of the crowd. On the left below,
photographer Hoffmann points out Hitler in the crowd. On the right below is a colorized
enlargement of the area circled in the period photo, showing
Hitler in the crowd. (above - Heinrich
Hoffmann, "Hitler, wie ihn keiner kennt," Berlin, 1932; below left -
Hoffmann Collection, U.S. National Archives, RG242; below right -
"Kampf um's Dritte Reich," Altona-Behrenfeld, 1933) |
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After
the U.S. Army captured the city at the end of World War II, the Nazi
monument was ordered to be removed in May 1945, but the Feldherrnhalle
remained a popular spot for GI tourists to visit. My father, Army Air
Forces Lt. Delbert R. Walden, took the photo on the right in 1946. The
surrounding area had been badly bombed. (left - U.S. Army
Signal Corps photo; right - collection of G.A. and G.R. Walden) |
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The putsch march began on
9 November 1923 at the Bürgerbräukeller, a beer hall on the southeast
side of the Isar River. Hitler's attempted takeover of the Bavarian
government began here on the evening of 8 November, and the march the
following day had the goals of gaining recruits and possibly rescuing
Nazis who had taken over the Bavarian War Ministry building, but were
under siege by local forces and police. On 8 November 1939, on the
occasion of Hitler's annual commemorative speech, one Georg Elser
planted a time bomb in the Bürgerbräukeller in an attempt on Hitler's
life. Hitler left the hall early, some minutes before the bomb exploded
with severe damage to the beer hall, eight Nazis killed, and several wounded.
Elser
was captured and spent the rest of the war in prison, being executed in
Dachau in April 1945. A memorial plaque to Elser is in a pedestrian
area near the site of
the Bürgerbräukeller, off Rosenheimerstraße at the City Hilton hotel.
The plaque to Elser is
near the actual site of the Bürgerbräukeller main hall, but not the
main entry that is familiar from period photos, which was located on
Rosenheimerstraße - the entrance was in the area where the covered S-Bahn
entrance stands today next to the Hilton Hotel building (near the right
center of the photo on the right below). The Bürgerbräukeller itself
and the surrounding buildings were demolished in the 1970s. (U.S.
National Archives, RG 243HMA) |
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On the left, one of the
annual 9th November commemorative marches about to start at the Bürgerbräukeller
beer garden gate (down the street from the main entry seen above). On
the right, the annual march begins on 9 November 1936. Hitler is greeted
by Julius Streicher, the "Frankenführer," who always led the
parade. Next came Jakob Grimminger with the Blutfahne (Blood
Flag). On the right in this view is “Old Fighter” Christian Weber. ("Illustrierter
Beobachter," 12 Nov. 1938)
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The march route left the
Bürgerbräukeller on Rosenheimerstraße and crossed the Isar River by the
Ludwigsbrücke bridge. On the left is a view of the 1936 march. ("Illustrierter Beobachter," 12 Nov.
1936) |

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Julius Streicher led the march,
followed by Jakob Grimminger with the Blutfahne. The entire route was lined by tall red pylons with torch bowls
on the top, bearing the names of the dead putschists. Only one of
the columns at this end of the Ludwigsbrücke remains today. (Bundesarchiv) |

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Julius Streicher leads the route
through the Isartor city gate, along Zweibrückenstraße onto Tal. The hanging banner
shows the swastika and three Eihwaz runes, which originally
signified a yew or oak tree. This symbolism was often used in the
Third Reich to honor sacrifice. ("Illustrierter Beobachter," 12 Nov. 1938) |

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The remaining route led up Tal
to Marienplatz, then up Weinstraße/Theatinerstraße, across
Perusastraße, and up Residenzstraße, to
its end at the Feldherrnhalle. The original goal of the marchers
may have been to relieve their comrades who were under siege at the
Bavarian War Ministry on Ludwigstraße. On the left is a photo of some of these putschists
who have barricaded themselves at the War Ministry; in the foreground
from left to right: Paul Magnus Weickert, Kitzinger, Heinrich Himmler
(later chief of the SS; carrying the Reichskriegsflagge banner),
Seidel-Dittmarsch and Ernst Röhm (later head of the SA, seen here
wearing a coat with a fur collar and face partially
obscured by the barricade). (The modern photo does not duplicate the 1923
view, as the building façades were changed after the war.)
("Deutschland Erwacht," 1933;
personnel identifications courtesy Helly Angel) |
Continue
to Part 3, Nazi Party buildings on the Königsplatz
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