Karl Kuhn (waiter)

Karl Georg Kuhn (born July 25, 1897 in Heilbronn , † November 9, 1923 in Munich ) was a German waiter who died in the Hitler coup . He was shot dead on Odeonsplatz as an uninvolved bystander . The Nazi movement stylized him as a so-called “ martyr ”.

Life

Kuhn had moved from Heilbronn to Munich in 1913 and worked there as a waiter. According to Nazi sources, he was employed in a London hotel in 1914 and returned to Germany to take part in the First World War. Allegedly he took part in the Hitler-Ludendorff Putsch as a member of the federal Oberland and suffered a fatal gunshot wound on Odeonsplatz in front of the Feldherrnhalle . In fact, Kuhn was a waiter at Café Annast at Odeonsplatz 18 and was hit when he stepped outside the door carelessly. In addition to Kuhn, several other passers-by were shot and some seriously injured.

Under National Socialism , Kuhn was honored as one of the movement's “martyrs”. Streets were named after him, including in Heilbronn, but also in many other cities such as Gelsenkirchen , Recklinghausen , Stralsund , Dresden , Freising and Greifswald . In Heilbronn his name was immortalized in 1934 on a monument “for the deeds of the movement”. In 1935 his body was transferred to one of the newly built "Temple of Honor" on Munich's Königsplatz , along with 15 other putschists who had been killed .

Web links

Entry on Karl Kuhn in the HEUSS database of the Heilbronn City Archives

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Friedrich Dürr , Karl Wulle, Willy Dürr, Helmut Schmolz, Werner Föll: Chronicle of the City of Heilbronn. Volume III: 1922–1933 (= publications of the Heilbronn City Archives . Volume 29 ). Heilbronn City Archives, Heilbronn 1986, DNB 870345036 , p. 103 .
↑ Kuhn, Karl. In: Marcus Weidner: The street naming practice in Westphalia and Lippe during National Socialism. Database of street names 1933-1945 . Münster 2013ff. (As of December 11, 2015).
↑ ^a ^b Hanns Hubert Hofmann : The Hitler putsch. Years of crisis in German history 1920–1924 . Nymphenburger Verlagshandlung, Munich 1961, pp. 211, 272; as Karl Kulm with Hans Günter Hockerts : “Capital of Movement” . In: Richard Bauer et al. (Ed.): Munich - "Capital of Movement". Bavaria's metropolis and National Socialism . 2nd Edition. Edition Minerva, Munich 2002, p. 355 f.

personal data
SURNAME	Kuhn, Karl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Kuhn, Karl Georg (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German waiter and victim of the Hitler coup
DATE OF BIRTH	July 25, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH	Heilbronn
DATE OF DEATH	November 9, 1923
Place of death	Munich

[H1-1] Friedrich Dürr , Karl Wulle, Willy Dürr, Helmut Schmolz, Werner Föll: Chronicle of the City of Heilbronn. Volume III: 1922–1933 (= publications of the Heilbronn City Archives . Volume 29 ). Heilbronn City Archives, Heilbronn 1986, DNB 870345036 , p. 103 .

[2] Kuhn, Karl. In: Marcus Weidner: The street naming practice in Westphalia and Lippe during National Socialism. Database of street names 1933-1945 . Münster 2013ff. (As of December 11, 2015).

[H2-3] Hanns Hubert Hofmann : The Hitler putsch. Years of crisis in German history 1920–1924 . Nymphenburger Verlagshandlung, Munich 1961, pp. 211, 272; as Karl Kulm with Hans Günter Hockerts : “Capital of Movement” . In: Richard Bauer et al. (Ed.): Munich - "Capital of Movement". Bavaria's metropolis and National Socialism . 2nd Edition. Edition Minerva, Munich 2002, p. 355 f.