Freikorps Bahrenfeld
The Bahrenfeld Freikorps ("Die Bahrenfelder"), first the Bahrenfeld Voluntary Guard Department , and later the Groß-Hamburg volunteer corps , was a Hamburg Freikorps from Altona , which existed from 1919 to 1920. The Freikorps was deployed in June 1919 to suppress revolutionary unrest in Hamburg, the so-called " brawn riots ". This resulted in deaths on both sides.
history
The secret initiative to found the Freikorps came from a group of Hamburg merchants who had come together under the code name “Cloud”. This group included u. a. the brothers Richard and Otto Krogmann , the director of HAPAG , members of the Merck and Münchmeyer families , the industrialist Julius Schlinck , Oscar Godeffroy , the director of the Vereinsbank , the director of Dresdner Bank and Theodor Zeise . The aim of the foundation of the Freikorps was to prevent political overthrow attempts by the Left, since the garrison troops still in the city were too weak and the police were neither equipped nor militarily trained for the civil war.
The district commissioned former First Lieutenant Eduard Becker with the establishment and recruitment of volunteers. The Freikorps was founded in early 1919 in a barracks in Bahrenfeld on Luruper Chaussee, ostensibly to protect the ammunition depot there. The barracks previously served the 2nd Division of Field Artillery Regiment No. 45 . The Freikorps was largely made up of demobilized soldiers and students, mostly sons of the Hamburg bourgeoisie. The regular teams included in particular members of Infantry Regiment No. 76 . Although the Bahrenfeld Freikorps was still further to the right politically, it stood up for the Hamburg SPD government.
In addition to the Bahrenfeldern, there were other voluntary associations in the city that were being founded, which were brought together in March 1919 under the command of Greater Hamburg. On March 12, 1919, the commander of Greater Hamburg, Walther Lamp'l , gave his approval for the official establishment of the "Bahrenfeld Voluntary Guard Department". The department was initially under the command of Major Paul Fromm. On June 3, 1919, the Freikorps was taken over as an independent formation in the Reichswehr and was now called "Reichswehr Infantry Battalion Greater Hamburg". In June 1919 the active strength of the unit was about 600 men, plus about 800 reserve teams .
The Freikorps was deployed towards the end of June 1919 in the suppression of revolutionary unrest in Hamburg, which had arisen on suspicion of panhandling and persistent food shortages (" brawn riots "). Under the leadership of Captain Kurt Senftleben, who was in charge of guarding the barracks and the Bahrenfeld ammunition depot, a Bahrenfeld detachment marched to Hamburg City Hall . A demonstration was supposed to be put down there and a person was shot dead. The angry crowd then seized parts of the Freikorps, 14 members of the Bahrenfelder lost their lives, and another 42 were wounded.
From August 1919 the unit was called "Zeitfreiwilligenkorps Groß-Hamburg" and was under the leadership of Captain Wilhelm von Rauchhaupt, who was replaced by Captain Sieveking from October 1919. According to the terms of the Versailles Treaty , the Freikorps was dissolved on March 31, 1920.
Known members
- Bernhardt, Johannes (1897–1980), later ship owner and industrial representative
- Bierkamp, Walther (1901–1945) later a lawyer, SS brigade leader and major general of the police.
- Dähnhardt, Heinz (1897–1968), joined as a student in March 1919, later a journalist, functionary of the Bundische youth movement, civil servant in the Reich Ministry of Science
- Feser, Albert (1901–1993), graduated from high school, later painter and art teacher
- Jungheinrich, Friedrich (1899–1968), industrialist, founder of the Jungheinrich company
- Lankenau, Heinrich (1891–1983), joined as a soldier, later a police general with the rank of SS group leader
- Oetker, Karl (1896–1957), war volunteer in the 45 Field Artillery Regiment , released after being wounded. After the end of the war, member of the voluntary corps for a few weeks, later managing director.
- Ofterdinger, Friedrich (1896-1946), in 1919 as a lieutenant entered the reserve company commander in Bahr fields later Hamburg senator and National Socialist.
- Plaut, Theodor (1888–1948), later an economist
- Rothenberger, Curt (1896–1959), returned from the war and a student in 1919, later a lawyer and National Socialist politician in Hamburg, convicted in the Nuremberg legal process after the end of the war
- von Salomon, Ernst (1902–1972), later right-wing terrorist and writer
- Samuel, Herbert Walter (1901–1982), graduated from high school and later became an FDP politician
- Schramm, Percy (1894–1970), joined the Bahrenfeldern as a student and lieutenant in the reserve at the beginning of 1919, but left the corps before the "brawn riots" and later became a historian
- Icketsbach, Bruno (1902–1977), joined the senior prime minister in 1919, later SS group leader and lieutenant general of the Waffen SS
- Wessig, Curt (1896–1980), joined as an officer in 1919, later a lawyer
literature
Primary sources
- Heinz Dähnhardt : The Bahrenfelder: History of the time volunteer corps Gross-Hamburg in the years 1919/20 . Hamburg, Alster-Verlag 1925. (Representation from the perspective of the German national Freikorps member)
- Der Bahrenfelder: News bulletin of the time volunteer corps Groß-Hamburg . Hamburg 1919, 8 issues.
Secondary literature
- Loose, Hans-Dieter : Defense and response to the Kapp putsch in Hamburg . In: Journal of the Association for Hamburg History , ISSN 0083-5587 , vol. 56 (1970), pp. 65-96.
- Schulte-Varendorff, Uwe: The hunger riots in Hamburg in June 1919 - a second revolution? . Hamburg University Press, Hamburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-937816-63-0 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Eduard Becker's recordings are available as typescript in the Hamburg State Archives : History of the Bahrenfelder in the Revolution , Hamburg State Archives, call number A 320/0066.
- ↑ Hans-Günter Schmidt: Bahrenfeld's military past: the artillery barracks as well as the training and supply facilities . Harms Publishing House, Hamburg 2011.
- ↑ Jürgen Finger, Sven Keller, Andreas Wirsching: Dr. Oetker and National Socialism . Beck, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-406-64545-7 , pp. 442f. (Footnote 81)
- ^ Susanne Schott: Curt Rothenberger - a political biography . University of Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale) 2001, pp. 23-25. (Dissertation)