Karl Harrer
Karl Harrer (born November 8, 1890 in Beilngries ; † September 5, 1926 in Munich ) was a German sports journalist and, alongside Anton Drexler and Gottfried Feder, a founding member of the German Workers 'Party (DAP), from which the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) emerged.
Life
Foundation of the German Workers' Party
Harrer was a sports journalist for the Munich observer , who had been in the possession of the anti-Semitic Thule Society since 1918 and described himself in its subtitle as the "Independent newspaper for national and national politics". In 1913 he joined the 2nd Bavarian Infantry Regiment as a one-year volunteer . During the First World War , Harrer was wounded near Vermandovillers (France) in 1914 , but did not return to the front and was discharged from the army at the end of June 1918. On behalf of the editor-in-chief and founder of the Thule Society, Rudolf von Sebottendorf , Harrer became involved in building the German Workers' Party after the war, which was to influence workers from social democratic and communist backgrounds with anti-Semitic and ethnic ideas. On January 5, 1919 he became the first chairman ("Reichsvorsitzender") of the DAP. Anton Drexler became chairman of the Munich local group. Around 24 people were present, mostly railway workers from Drexler's colleagues.
Power struggle with Drexler and Hitler
Karl Harrer had the plan to run the DAP like a secret society based on the model of the Thule Society. This clashed with the intentions of Adolf Hitler , who had joined the party in September 1919. According to his idea, the party should reach the masses. Towards the end of 1919 the rivalry between Harrer and Hitler became evident; Harrer accused Hitler of megalomania. He resigned from all party offices on January 5, 1920, after contradicting Hitler's intention to hold a mass event in early 1920 and suffering a defeat. The party chairmanship subsequently passed to Drexler and a few months later to Hitler.
Harrer died of natural causes on September 5, 1926, at the age of not even 36.
literature
- Roger Repplinger: Karl Harrer. How the NSDAP erased the founder of the DAP from memory. In: Journal of History . Volume 62, 2014, pp. 997-1012.
- Wolfram Selig : Harrer, Karl , in: Handbuch des Antisemitismus , Volume 2/1, 2009, pp. 331f.
Remarks
- ↑ Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv IV , war log roll 4432, entry 5006; digitized copy at ancestry.com, accessed July 1, 2018
- ^ Paul Hoser: Munich Observer. In: Historical Lexicon of Bavaria
- ↑ See Ian Kershaw : Hitler. 1889-1936. Stuttgart 1998, p. 184.
- ↑ See Ian Kershaw: Hitler. 1889-1936. Stuttgart 1998, p. 188 f.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Harrer, Karl |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German sports journalist and founding member of the German Workers' Party |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 8, 1890 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Beilngries |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 5, 1926 |
| Place of death | Munich |