Fritz von Kraußer

Fritz von Kraußer (1931)

Fritz von Kraußer

Friedrich Wilhelm Kraußer , since 1917 Knight of Kraußer , known as Fritz von Kraußer , (born April 29, 1888 in Nuremberg , † July 2, 1934 in Berlin-Lichterfelde ) was a German officer , politician (NSDAP) and SA leader. Krausser was a member of the Reichstag of the NSDAP and SA-Obergruppenführer and one of the victims of the so-called Röhm putsch .

Life

family

He was the son of the businessman Max Kraußer and his wife Pauline, nee Spitzer. Krausser married Gertrud Roth in 1923.

Bavarian Army

In his youth Krausser attended the Progymnasium in Rothenburg ob der Tauber before joining the cadet corps in Munich . In July 1908 he was transferred as an ensign to the 4th Infantry Regiment "King Wilhelm von Württemberg" of the Bavarian Army in Metz . After successfully completing military school, he was promoted to lieutenant on October 23, 1910 .

Krausser took part with his regiment at the beginning of the First World War in the Battle of Lorraine and the battles near Étain . On 24 August 1914 just three weeks after the war began, he was a platoon leader of the MG - Company seriously wounded. In January 1915 he switched to the air force as an aircraft observer . In March 1915 he returned to the field with the Bavarian Field Aviation Department 7b. He later became the leader of the Bavarian Schutzstaffel, the later Battle Squadron 23b. Krausser was with the squadron from August to November 1917 in the battle in Flanders . For his leadership in supporting the German infantry and 55 even carried out enemy flights during these battles, he was on September 20, 1917 by King Ludwig III. entrusted with the Knight's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order . Associated with this was the elevation to the personal nobility and he was allowed to call himself Ritter von Kraußer after his entry in the nobility register .

On November 4, 1917, Krausser was seriously wounded for the second time in Flanders . After his recovery he was appointed leader of the Bavarian Aviation Department 45 and in September 1918 he was assigned to the Group 2 battle squadron, which he remained with until the end of the war.

Weimar Republic

After the end of the war, Ritter von Kraußer took part in the suppression of the Munich Soviet Republic in 1919 as a member of the Epp Freikorps . In Gotha he set up the first aviation division of this volunteer corps.

In 1920 Krausser was taken over as captain in the provisional Reichswehr . Initially assigned to the Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 46, he soon did his service in the motor vehicle department 21 of the Reichswehr Rifle Brigade 21 and was then transferred to the Infantry Regiment 21 in Nuremberg before the Reichswehr was formed . On March 1, 1923, he moved to the staff of the 7th (Bavarian) Division in Munich. In 1922 Krausser also became a member of the " Reichsflagge " in Nuremberg , a military association with a regional focus on Franconia. The "Reichsflagge" founded a local group in Munich at the end of 1921, which Ernst Röhm took over. After internal disputes, the Reichsflagge split in October 1923, with a particularly radical group under Röhm becoming independent as the “ Reichskriegsflagge ”; Krausser joined the Reich War Flag in March 1923. Krausser's position on the Hitler putsch in November 1923 - in which the "Reich War Flag" was involved on the side of the putschists - led to his departure from the Reichswehr on February 14, 1924.

Krausser worked as a businessman in civilian life and was also a member of other military associations: from August 1924 to 1925 he was a member of the staff of the High Command of the Frontbann ; a reception organization of the SA, which was banned after the Hitler putsch, and commanded the front banning command in Munich. In September 1924, Krausser was arrested by order of the Bavarian Minister of the Interior, Stützel, and charged with violating the Republic Protection Act, but was released after just six weeks in custody. From 1924 to 1928 Krausser headed the Munich department of the national military association " Altreichsflagge ". This association split off from the "Reichsflagge" in 1923 and was headed by Willy Liebel . Due to his affiliation with the Old Reich flag, Krausser was refused admission to the NSDAP by Hitler around 1926, as the NSDAP claimed that people who belonged to the party were not allowed to be members of other associations at the same time. In addition, Krausser was a member of the German-Völkisch Officers' Association and the Tannenberg Association.

Krausser joined the NSDAP in 1928 and the SA in 1931 with the rank of Oberführer. From November 3, 1931 to April 14, 1932 he led the SA group "Hochland" in Munich. Promoted to SA group leader on March 15, 1932, Krausser was from July 1, 1932 head of Department I (Organization) of the Supreme SA Leadership (OSAF) ​​and at the same time deputy to the SA Chief of Staff, Ernst Röhm. On September 30, 1932 Krausser became "Chief of Aviation of the SA and SS " and was thus responsible for the air storms of these party organizations, which in 1933 became part of the German Air Sports Association .

Time of National Socialism and Death

After the " seizure of power " by the National Socialists, Krausser officiated from May 1 to December 31, 1933 as the representative of the commander of the auxiliary security police in Bavaria, which was also formed from SA members. He gave up his responsibility for aviation on May 15, 1933 with the formation of the German Air Sports Association (DLV). Promoted to SA-Obergruppenführer on June 27, 1933, he received a seat in the Reichstag in November 1933.

On June 30, 1934, Krausser was arrested in the course of the Röhm affair and taken to the Stadelheim prison. According to Erich Kempka , Hitler should first have declared that he had pardoned Krausser because of his medal and, unlike other SA leaders, did not intend to have him shot. In fact, Krausser was briefly released from prison on July 1, but then arrested again.

On July 1, 1934, on the orders of Hermann Göring, Krausser was transferred from Munich to Berlin with Georg von Detten, Hans-Joachim von Falkenhausen and Karl Schreyer in a special aircraft. There he was briefly detained with the other three men in the Columbiahaus on Tempelhofer Feld and finally transferred to the barracks of the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler in Berlin-Lichterfelde on the night of July 2, 1934, and shot there by SS commandos.

Krausser's mandate in the Reichstag was continued from July 1934 by SS officer Ludwig Oldach .

Promotions

Promotions in the SA :

• November 15, 1931: SA Oberführer
• July 1, 1932: SA group leader
• July 1, 1933: SA Obergruppenführer

Archival tradition

Late personnel records on Krausser have been preserved in the Federal Archives in the holdings of the former Berlin Document Center . An officer personnel file on him from his time in the Bavarian Army is kept in the War Archives Department of the Bavarian Main State Archives (OP 65134).

literature

• Joachim Lilla , Martin Döring, Andreas Schulz: extras in uniform: the members of the Reichstag 1933–1945. A biographical manual. Including the Volkish and National Socialist members of the Reichstag from May 1924 . Droste, Düsseldorf 2004, ISBN 3-7700-5254-4 , p. 338 f .

Web links

• Fritz von Kraußer in the database of members of the Reichstag

Individual evidence

1. ^ Registry office Nuremberg IV: Civil status register (C 27): Birth register for the year 1888: Birth register extract C 27 / IV No. 297 / Rge. 1485 (Lorenz Friedrich Kraußer).
2. ↑ For the military associations "Reichsflagge", "Reichskriegsflagge" and "Altreichsflagge" see Christoph Hübner: Reichsflagge, 1919-1927. In: Historisches Lexikon Bayerns (Version of May 3, 2007) and Christoph Huebner: Reichskriegsflagge, 1923-1925. In: Historisches Lexikon Bayerns (Version of May 3, 2007).
3. ↑ Georg Cordts: Young eagles. From air sports to air service. Bechtle Verlag, Esslingen 1988, ISBN 3-7628-0477-X , pp. 43, 77. Lilla, extras , stated that Krausser was "Chief of Aviation of the SA" from November 21, 1932 until his murder.