Küstriner putsch

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The Küstriner Putsch of October 1, 1923 , also known as the Buchrucker Putsch after the leader , was an attempt by the Black Reichswehr to overthrow the German Reich government after it had ended passive resistance against the Ruhr occupation on September 26, 1923.

The illegal associations set up by Major Bruno Ernst Buchrucker wanted to overthrow the Reich government under Chancellor Gustav Stresemann and to eliminate the parliamentary-democratic republic through a national dictatorship. The reason for the putsch was the end of the passive resistance against the occupation of the Ruhr, the arrest warrant against Buchrucker and the dissolution of the work details ordered by the Reichswehr leadership, which threatened the economic existence of many of their members.

According to his own account, Buchrucker learned of the arrest warrant issued against him on September 30th and ordered that the work details housed in the outer fort of the Küstrin Fortress should move into the fortress in the old town of Küstrin on the morning of October 1st, 1923 . The Küstriner putsch began with a speech by Buchrucker to the work details.

Buchrucker then went to the fortress commander, pointed out the superiority of his units and asked the commander, “He shouldn't stand in his way, the great national moment has now come. He also declared that he would not only strike here in Cüstrin, but everywhere at the same time. ” The commandant did not want to join Buchrucker, not even when several non-commissioned officers devoted to Buchrucker, including the later NSDAP member of the Reichstag, Hans Hayn , forced their way into the commandant's office. When asked to give instructions by his subordinates, Buchrucker was not in a position to give them. This was the reason for some of the NCOs to submit to the fortress commander again. Later, regular Reich defense units used weapons against a command of the Black Reichswehr in Küstrin , in which one person died and seven others were wounded.

The attempt to occupy the garrison town of Küstrin was prevented by units of the Reichswehr. Putschists briefly controlled the citadel and Fort Hahneberg in Berlin-Spandau , but then had to surrender to the Reichswehr. Buchrucker u. a. were arrested, but only 14 putschists were tried in court, of which 10 were convicted. The process should also clarify what role the Reichstag MP von Graefe had played in the preparations for the coup. Graefe did not appear, however. Buchrucker was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and 10 gold marks, Hans Hayn to 8 months in prison. Of the remaining eight convicted, seven received prison terms of less than six months. The trial took place in camera because of the threat to public order. The bulk of the putschists, including the officer Walther Stennes , went unpunished.

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Harold J. Gordon: The Reichswehr and the German republic 1919-1926 . Univ. Press, Princeton 1957, pp. 233 .
  2. ^ Emil Julius Gumbel: Conspirators: on the history and sociology of the German nationalist secret societies 1918-1924 . 2nd Edition. Verlag Das Wunderhorn, Heidelberg 1979, ISBN 3-88423-003-4 , p. 110-111 .