Bernhard Stempfle

Bernhard Stempfle (around 1928).

Father Bernhard Rudolf Stempfle OSH (born April 17, 1882 in Munich ; † July 1, 1934 in Dachau concentration camp near Munich) (pseudonyms: Redivivus ; Spectator Germaniae ) was a German religious, theologian and publicist . He was best known as the editor of the anti-Semitic newspaper Miesbacher Anzeiger . Some research assumes that he was an important contributor to Adolf Hitler's book Mein Kampf .

Live and act

As a young man, Stempfle entered the Catholic Order of the Poor Hermits of St. Jerome . On the other hand, as Lapomarda has shown, his membership in the Jesuit order, which is often attributed to him in literature , is an error of the authors in question, which even his contemporaries often made and, according to Plöckinger, "liked to make fun of" the Stempfle. Due to a lack of members, the Order of the Hieronymites was later dissolved. From around 1923 onwards, Stempfle himself no longer wore any religious costume and no longer exercised any priestly functions, but confidants and acquaintances continued to refer to him as "Pater Stempfle". For this reason, Stempfle often still figures in literature as a pater when speaking of the years 1923 to 1934, for which this title no longer applies, strictly speaking. Helmut Heiber even describes him - as the only author and probably wrongly - as a prelate .

Against the background of Stemple's withdrawal from all clerical activities, Bronder's claim that Stempfle was at times the “confessor of Hitler who believes in God ” seems implausible . In contrast, Bronder's assessment that Stempfle was an intimate partner of Hitler is much more likely. Zamoisky's statement that Hitler met Stempfle as early as 1919 and was introduced to Freemasonry by him is unlikely.

Stempfle studied at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich , where he obtained the academic degree of Dr. phil. acquired.

Already during the First World War , Stempfle belonged to the extremely nationalistic organization Kanzler (Orka), which emerged from the resident service . For this he went to Austria at the end of 1918 to promote the idea of ​​an annexation of the German-speaking parts of the dual monarchy Austria-Hungary , which was falling apart at the end of the war, to the German Reich . The prohibition of such an affiliation in the peace treaty of St. Germain in the summer of 1919 made this idea irrelevant for the time being, which is why Stempfle returned to his Bavarian homeland. From February 1, 1920 to June 30, 1921 he took over the post of press officer of the Orka. In addition, Stempfle was involved in various female murders in the early 1920s, in particular he was later associated with the murder of Wilhelm Hörnlein .

In the first years after the First World War, Stempfle taught theology at Munich University, where he advocated parts of National Socialist ideas early on with his colleagues and students. While he was very close to National Socialism on an anti-Semitic and nationalist level, Stempfle firmly rejected Hitler's attitude towards Italy and the South Tyrol issue. In addition, he was bothered by the Nazi leader's tactical maneuverability over the question of the form of government, in which the strictly monarchist Stempfle demanded a clear commitment to the monarchy .

After he had already published articles in newspapers such as the Völkischer Beobachter and the Oberbayerische Landeszeitung under the pseudonyms Redivivus and Spectator Germaniae since 1919 , Stempfle acted from August 1922 to the end of 1925 as publisher and political editor of the "fanatically anti-Semitic" and "extremely white-blue" (ie Bavarian regional pride) or anti-Prussian newspaper Miesbacher Anzeiger . The editorial management, however, was taken care of by Klaus Eck . The Miesbacher Anzeiger was under Stemple's direction a "bad taste not to be surpassed" propaganda paper ( Werner Maser ) and had been working closely with the Völkischer Beobachter since 1921 , whose standpoints he took on many questions. According to Farrell, Stempfle was also a member of the Thule Society in the post-war period .

As a publicist and lecturer, Stempfle had a wide circle of friends in Munich in the early 1920s. In particular, he made new contacts with representatives of the extreme right. Anton Lehár mentions in his memoir that Stempfle already knew Ernst Röhm back then . Stempfle also acted as a liaison between the Munich police headquarters and the Bund Oberland and obtained passports for those involved in Fememorden. During this time Stempfle got to know the young Adolf Hitler - probably through the agency of the photographer Heinrich Hoffmann . Although Hitler initially mistrusted him - according to Hoffmann's memoirs - and suspected him of being a "Catholic spy", he accepted Stempfle into his "court": According to the memories of Hitler's foreign press chief Ernst Hanfstaengl , Stempfle was a permanent guest at Hitler's at the time Round table at Cafe Heck in Munich's Galeriestraße. After all, Stempfle took over the function of a liaison man for Hitler to the Vatican and the former Bavarian ruling house Wittelsbach .

1925 Stempfle was reputed as a lecturer at the review of the proofs of the first volume of Hitler's book Mein Kampf involved. Together with Elsa Bruckmann , he is said to have checked and proofread the Hitler's manuscripts and edited the book before it was published by Max Amann .

In order to evade the testimony before the Fememord Investigation Committee of the Reichstag , Stempfle fled to Salzburg in October 1926, from where he mocked the Reichstag by referring to the excellent wine tavern that he enjoyed there. The exact time of his return to Germany can no longer be determined. However, Stempfles mother became seriously ill at the end of 1926 and he took care of her.

In 1929 Stempfle took over the management of the party archive of the NSDAP in Munich and became curator of a private museum of the NSDAP with party relics.

Stempfle and "Mein Kampf"

The role that Stempfle played in the creation of Hitler's political confession Mein Kampf is controversial in historical research and has not yet been finally clarified. Konrad Heiden , who in 1936 presented the first scientific biography of Hitler, stated in his work that Stempfle had read the proofs for Hitler's book together with Elsa Bruckmann, the wife of a Hitler friend. He made some changes to the original text and even completely rewritten some passages. Heiden's testimony is supported by a testimony from Hitler's adjutant Julius Schaub , who stated in 1961 that he had seen Stempfle holding the flags for “Mein Kampf” in his hand.

The renegade National Socialist Otto Strasser reported in 1942 in his book Hitler and I , published in American exile , that Stempfle had worked for months to organize the thoughts expressed in the manuscript of Mein Kampf . In addition, he started the legend that Hitler had Stempfle murdered because of his corrections to the book. The English Hitler biographer Alan Bullock later took up this hint . In his consideration of Hitler's vita, he stated that Stempfle had "stylistically cleaned up" ( pruned ) Hitler's manuscript and partially rewritten it. In his broad-based study of the history of Mein Kampf , Othmar Plöckinger shows that over the years numerous authors have taken up Bullock's assertion and thus further spread his view of Stemple's role in the creation of Mein Kampf .

Harry Schulze-Wilde went so far as to attribute the credit to Stempfle for having rewritten Mein Kampf in "reasonably understandable German". Riemeck claims that Stempfle, together with Josef Czerny, tried to bring some order to the thoughts in Hitler's book by giving structure to the ideas Hitler had thrown together and correcting the grammar and spelling of the manuscript.

Kern emphasizes that Stempfle - like the other "repeatedly named co-authors" of Mein Kampf - had nothing to do with the writing of the book. In contrast to this “legend”, Stemple's role was limited to “stylistic corrections”. Ernst Nolte agrees and also only attributes correction work to Hitler's original text to Stempfle.

Werner Maser quotes Hermann Hammer, who claimed in a study in 1956 that "Father Bernhard Stempfle [...] had a significant part", but adds that Ilse Hess, Rudolf Hess's wife , informed him in writing in 1965 that Neither Stempfle nor Karl Haushofer had worked on the Hitler Book, but they themselves and her husband “purely stylistically” ... fought “for weeks and months with this manuscript”. Seinfeldt ranks Stempfle (alongside Ilse Hess and Adolf Müller) in the group of people who would have given Hitler editorial help in editing his book.

Stempfle, who was one of the trial observers in Landsberg, was one of the first to review Mein Kampf a week after it was published. His knowledgeable, extremely critical review of the first volume of Hitler's work was published in the Miesbacher Anzeiger on July 29, 1925 . Relations with Hitler at this point were by no means friendly. This speaks against an influence.

Assassination (1934)

On the evening of July 1, 1934, Stempfle, who was officially accepted into the NSDAP on January 1, 1934, was arrested by members of the Secret State Police (or the Schutzstaffel ) in his Munich apartment as part of the Röhm affair and sent to the Dachau concentration camp carried off. A few days later, Stemple's body was found in the forest near Harlaching . There are various research reports about the nature of his death. Anton Lehár briefly states that Stempfle was slain. Höhne also mentions the “broken neck” of Stempfles as the cause of death, without giving any details. Konrad Heiden is waiting for more details : Stempfle was "hit in the neck with a heavy weapon" and died as a result. Bernt Engelmann and Robert George Lesson Waite, on the other hand, speak of the fact that Stempfle was shot with three bullets in the heart. Thornton in turn limits himself to mentioning that Stempfle was murdered under the pretext " shot while trying to escape ".

On July 12, 1934, Stempfle's sister, through her lawyer, arranged for the Munich public prosecutor to investigate the whereabouts of her brother - whose death was not yet publicly known at the time. The investigation was stopped after a short time on the instructions of the Bavarian Ministry of Justice. This informed the Munich public prosecutor that the killing of Stemple was "to be regarded as legal". This decision was justified with a form: The letter consisted of a preprinted text, which was also used to justify the termination of the investigations in several other murders in the Röhm affair. The name of the individual concerned was handwritten in a blank field. The letter stated that according to a communication from the Reich Minister for Justice of July 14, 1934, the killing of Stempfles as a " measure carried out to suppress attacks that were highly treasonable and treasonous " fell under the State Emergency Defense Act of July 3, 1934.

The question of who was responsible for Stemple's murder and the motives for the act

There is just as much disagreement in the literature about the motives for the murder of Stempfle as about its technical implementation. Konrad Heiden , George Creel, Heinz Höhne , Helmut Heiber , Renate Riemeck , Bernt Engelmann , Karl Dietrich Bracher and Hans-Ulrich Thamer assume that Stempfle was killed at Hitler's instigation because he knew too much about Hitler's past and private life. Roger Manvell and Heinrich Fraenkel Chris Bishop and Michael Williams, and Norbert Schaffeld argue in the same direction, but are a little more precise when naming the intimate knowledge that prompted Hitler to get Stempfle out of the world: They refer to the rumor by name, Stempfle knew too much about the death of Hitler's niece Geli Raubal (and, to some extent, about Hitler's involvement in it). Werner Maser, on the other hand, writes in “Hitler's Mein Kampf - History, Excerpts, Commentaries” that Hitler did not order Stempfle's death and that the SS later had people shot who had murdered Stempfle.

In his discussion of the case, the Hitler biographer Kershaw assumes that Stempfle was the victim of a misunderstanding and sees no reason to assume that Hitler was commissioned to murder.

For a non-involvement of Hitler in the death of Stempfle speak u. a. Statements by Hitler's adjutant Julius Schaub and his personal photographer Heinrich Hoffmann from the post-war period: According to a transcript by IfZ employee Franz about a questioning of Schaub on July 26, 1951, "among those murdered in Munich whose death Hitler regretted most, [...] above all the former pastor Stempfle [is] to be mentioned, with whom Hitler met almost every day. " Hoffmann wrote in his memoirs: "When I met Hitler for the first time after the catastrophe, he took my arm and complained, deeply shaken:" What do you think of that, Hoffmann, these pigs also killed my good Father Stempfle! " When I later asked about the context of the tragedy, Hitler cut me off with a brusque gesture: "Not a word more about it!" he said in a tone that brooked no contradiction. It stayed that way through the years ... "

Bruno Brehm blames Munich city councilor Christian Weber for the murder of Stempfles and refers to the polemics of Stempfles against Weber, who ran a brothel in Munich's Senefelderstrasse, which Stempfle considered unworthy of an " old fighter " and which is why he ridiculed Weber as a "Senefeld marshal" . Weber resented Stempfle and used the murder wave of June 30th as an opportunity to settle his personal bill with Stempfle. According to this, Stempfle was put on the death list of the Munich firing squads by Weber and without Hitler's intervention. The same view can also be found in Wilhelm Hoegner .

Fonts

• De Scriptis Editis Doctoris Philosophiae Maximiliani Faslinger Monacensis , s. l. 1918.
• "Prosecutor! Accuse them of class struggle! ” , Munich 1929.

literature

• Othmar Plöckinger: "Bernhard Stempfle", in: Ders .: History of a book. Adolf Hitler's “Mein Kampf” 1922–1945 , Oldenbourg, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-486-57956-8 , pp. 133–141.

Web links

• Literature by and about Bernhard Stempfle in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Otto Gritscheder: "The Führer has sentenced you to death ..." Hitler's "Röhm Putsch" murders in court. Verlag CH Beck, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-406-37651-7 , p. 145. Günther Gerstenberg's year of birth: Freedom! Social Democratic Self-Protection in Munich in the Twenties , 1997, p. 291. Alternatively, there is Hans-Günter Richardi: School of violence. The Beginnings of the Dachau Concentration Camp 1933-1934 , 1983, p. 331, 17 April 1888 as the date of birth. The year of birth 1882 is also supported by a NSDAP index card for Stempfle from 1934, which can be found in the NSDAP party correspondence in the Federal Archives in Lichterfelde. With regard to the place of birth, Richardi and Gerstenberg agree, Gritscheder does not give any information.
2. ↑ Othmar Plöckinger: History of a book. Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" 1922-1945 , p. 134.
3. ↑ Gritscheder: Leader. P. 145. See also So far from fear, so near to death ' .
4. ^ For example in Edmond Paris: Historie Secrete des Jesuites , 1970, p. 231, Edouard Calic : Reinhard Heydrich. Key figure of the Third Reich , 1982, p. 155, Heinrich Hoffmann: Hitler as I saw him , p. 70 books.google ("former Jesuit priest"), or in David Clay Large: Hitler's Munich. The rise and fall of the capital of the movement , Verlag CH Beck, PT330 books.google (“the former Jesuit priest”); Original edition: Where Ghosts Walked. Munich's Road to the Third Reich , 1997, p. 153.
5. ↑ Vincent A. Lapomarda: The Jesuits and the Third Reich , 1989, p. 36
6. ↑ Othmar Plöckinger: History of a book. Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" 1922-1945 , p. 134.
7. ↑ Helmut Heiber: Adolf Hitler. A biography , 1960, p. 47.
8. ↑ Dietrich Bronder: Before Hitler came. A Historical Study , 1964, p. 240; 2nd, expanded edition 1975, p. 272 ​​archive.org .
9. ↑ Lolly Zamoisky: Behind the Facade of the Masonic Temple , Moscow 1989, p 128th
10. ↑ Othmar Plöckinger: History of a book. Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" 1922-1945 , p. 134.
11. ^ Elisabeth Kraus: The University of Munich in the Third Reich. Essays. 2006, p. 17.
12. ↑ Werner Maser: Early history of the NSDAP. Hitler's way to 1924 , 1965, p. 320. See also: Karl Dietrich Bracher: Die Deutsche Diktatur. Origin, structure, consequences of National Socialism , 1979, p. 139.
13. ↑ Paul Hoser: The Political, Economic and Social Backgrounds of the Munich ... , 1990, p. 474.
14. ↑ Werner Maser: The early history of the NSDAP Hitler's way to 1924 , 1965, p. 320.
15. ^ Joseph P. Farrell: The SS Brotherhood of the Bell. The Nazis Incredible Secret Technology , 2006, 108.
16. ^ Anton Lehár: Memories. Counter-revolution and attempts at restoration in Hungary 1918-1921 , 1973, p. 236. Lehár mentions at the said passage that Stempfle introduced him, Lehár, to Röhm.
17. ↑ Gritschneder: Führer , p. 145.
18. ^ Ernst Hanfstaengl / John Toland: Hitler. The Missing Years , 1994, p. 132. David Irving: The War Path. Hitler's Germany, 1933-1939 , 1978, p. 39 confirms that in these early years Stempfle had dealings with Hitler almost every day.
19. ↑ Othmar Plöckinger: History of a book. Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" 1922-1945 , p. 138.
20. ↑ Konrad Heiden: The Fuehrer. Hitler's Rise to Power , 1944, p. 305.
21. ^ Konrad Heiden: Adolf Hitler. The age of irresponsibility. A biography , 1936, p. 455.
22. ^ IfZ archive, Munich ZS 137.
23. ^ Alan Bullock: Hitler. A Study in Tyranny , 1960, p. 120.
24. ↑ Othmar Plöckinger: History of a book. Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" 1922-1945 , Munich 2006.
25. ↑ Harry Schulze-Wilde: The Reich Chancellery 1933-1945. Beginning and End of the Third Reich , 1966, p. 176.
26. ^ Renate Riemeck: Central Europe. Balance of a Century , 1981, p. 112.
27. ↑ Erich Kern: Adolf Hitler and his movement. The party leader , 1970, p. 178.
28. ↑ Hildegard Kruse: Structures and narrative methods in the novels of Richard Hughes, 1983, p. 173.
29. ^ Werner Maser: Hitler's Mein Kampf - history, excerpts from comments , Bechtle Verlag, 7th edition 1983, ISBN 3-7628-0409-5 , p. 31 f.
30. ↑ Mark Seinfelt: Final Drafts. Suicides of World-famous Authors , 1999, p. 178. He also identifies him as a friend of the Hess family.
31. ↑ Plöckinger: History of a book. Adolf Hitler's “Mein Kampf” 1922–1945, pp. 135–137.
32. ↑ Heiden: Hitler, 1936, p. 455.
33. ^ Anton Lehár: Memories. Counter-revolution and attempts at restoration in Hungary 1918-1921 , 1973, p. 236.
34. ^ Heinz Höhne : The Order of the Death's Head. The Story of Hitler's SS , 1969, p. 115.
35. ^ Konrad Heiden: Adolf Hitler. The age of irresponsibility. A biography , 1936, p. 455.
36. ↑ Bernt Engelmann: Auf Gut Deutsch. A Bernt Engelmann reading book , 1981, p. 108.
37. ^ Robert George Lesson Waite: Adolf Hitler. The Psychopathic God, p. 239.
38. ^ MJ Thornton: Nazism, 1918-1945 , 1966, p. 77.
39. ↑ Gruchmann: Justiz, p. 459.
40. ^ Konrad Heiden: Adolf Hitler. The age of irresponsibility. Eine Biographie , 1936, p. 455. Heiden suggestively emphasizes at this point that Stempfle had “deep” insights into “Hitler's private affairs”.
41. ↑ George Creel: War Criminals and Punishment , 1944, p. 230. Creel relies on Heiden's report that Stempfle was murdered because of his knowledge.
42. ^ Heinz Höhne: The Order of the Death's Head. The Story of Hitler's SS , 1969, p. 115. “[Stempfle] knew too many of Hitler's secrets”. In the German version he speaks of Stempfle as a "confidant of private Hitler secrets" (Höhne: Order under the Totenkopf , 1967, p. 110.)
43. ↑ Helmut Heiber: Adolf Hitler. A Short Biography , 1972, p. 56. Heiber thinks that Stempfle "may have forfeited" his life because of his "intimate knowledge" of Hitler's privateers.
44. ^ Renate Riemeck: Central Europe. Balance of a Century , 1981, p. 112.
45. ↑ Bernt Engelmann: In step march. How we experienced the Nazi era 1933-1939 , 1982, p. 65. Engelmann writes that Stempfle was killed because he was one of those who knew “too much about Hitler's past and private life”.
46. ^ Karl Dietrich Bracher: The German dictatorship. Origin, Structure, Consequences of National Socialism, 1979, p. 139. Bracher assumes that Stempfle was killed for "an all too confidential service" to Hitler on June 30th.
47. ↑ Hans-Ulrich Thamer: Seduction and violence. Germany 1933-1945 , 1986, p. 72. Thamer says briefly that Hitler had Stempfle killed.
48. ^ Roger Manvell / Heinrich Fraenkel : Hermann Göring , 1968, p. 95.
49. ↑ Chris Bishop / Michael Williams: SS. Hell on the Western Front , 2003, p. 19. They state that Stempfle was murdered because he "knew the truth about Hitler's relationship with his niece Geli."
50. ↑ Norbert Schaffeld: The representation of National Socialist Germany in the English novel , 1987, p. 117. Schaffeld speaks of the “about the affair of Hitler and his niece” Father Stempfle.
51. ↑ Werner Maser: Hitler's Mein Kampf - History, excerpts from comments , Bechtle Verlag, 7th edition 1983, ISBN 3-7628-0409-5 , p. 31.
52. ↑ IfZ. ZS Schaub, sheet 5: Conversation with Mr. Julius Schaub with IfZ employee Franz, on July 26, 1951 ( digitized version ).
53. ↑ Heinrich Hoffmann: Hitler as I saw him , p. 71 f. books.google
54. ↑ Bruno Brehm: The twelve years of the Reich , 1963, p. 71.
55. ^ Wilhelm Hoegner: Der Politische Radikalismus in Deutschland, 1919-1933 , 1966, p. 236. “Put on with Weber”.