Konstantin Hierl

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Konstantin Hierl
Here while pacing a front of the Reich Labor Service on the Tempelhofer Feld on May 1, 1934, photo from the Federal Archives
Hierl next to Hans Frank on February 8, 1939 (sitting at the table)
Arbeitsmaiden and Hierl in Bad Doberan (1939)

Konstantin Hierl (born February 24, 1875 in Parsberg , † September 23, 1955 in Heidelberg ) was a German officer as well as a National Socialist politician and functionary.

Military career

After attending the Humanist High School in Burghausen and Regensburg in 1893, Hierl joined the 11th Infantry Regiment "von der Tann" of the Bavarian Army as a flag junior . In 1895 he was promoted to lieutenant . From 1899 to 1902 Hierl graduated from the War Academy , which gave him the qualification for the general staff, the higher adjutantage and the subject ( tactics , war history ). In 1903 he was transferred to the Central Office of the General Staff and in 1907 he was assigned to the General Staff in Berlin . Since 1908 a captain , Hierl was then from 1909 to 1911 company commander in the 17th Infantry Regiment "Orff" . Then Hierl worked as a teacher for war history and the history of the art of war at the War Academy until the outbreak of war.

In the First World War he rose as a general staff officer in the Army Group of Crown Prince Rupprecht to lieutenant colonel . Among other things, he was chief of staff of the 1st Bavarian Reserve Corps and battalion commander in the 23rd infantry regiment "King Ferdinand of the Bulgarians" . For his achievements, Hierl was awarded with both classes of the Iron Cross , the Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords and the Bavarian Military Merit Order III. Excellent with swords.

After the German defeat and the November Revolution of 1918, he organized a free corps under his name, with which he participated in the suppression of the Bavarian Soviet Republic in Augsburg, Munich and the surrounding area. For a time he was city ​​commandant of Munich , where he met Adolf Hitler in 1919/20 and supported the German Workers' Party .

Hierl continued his military career first in the Reichswehr Ministry and in Group Command 1 of the Reichswehr and in the organization of the " Black Reichswehr ". On September 30, 1924, however, he was retired from active service because he had supported Erich Ludendorff during the Hitler-Ludendorff putsch on November 9 . It is still unclear whether he was directly involved in the coup . In addition, there were personal, professional and political differences between him and General Hans von Seeckt that made further cooperation impossible. For example, he called for the Reichswehr to interfere significantly in the political process of the Weimar Republic , for greater support for paramilitary groups and clubs, and for a more aggressive stance towards the victorious powers of Versailles.

Tannenbergbund

Until autumn 1927 he was the Bavarian state chairman and chief organizer throughout the Reich, leading Erich Ludendorff's Tannenbergbund , until it developed into an esoteric sect under the influence of Ludendorff's wife Mathilde . At the same time he was chairman of the "German National Officers Association" (DVÖ).

NSDAP and NS state

In 1929 Hierl joined the NSDAP ( membership number 126.752), between September 1930 and the end of the war he was a member of the Reichstag . Hierl was Reich Organization Leader II of the NSDAP from 1929 to 1932. Hierl was one of the founding members of Hans Frank's National Socialist Academy for German Law in 1933 .

1931-1935 he was head of the voluntary labor service of the NSDAP. After the “ seizure of power ” he was appointed State Secretary in the Reich Ministry of Labor in March 1933 and a year later Reich Commissioner for Voluntary Labor Service . When compulsory labor service was introduced on June 26, 1935, Hierl took over the management of the Reich Labor Service (RAD) as " Reich Labor Leader " , which was in his hands until the end of National Socialist rule. In 1933, Hierl declared about the political goals of the RAD:

“There is no better means of overcoming social divisions, class hatred and class arrogance than if the son of the factory director and the young factory worker, the young academic and the farmhand in the same coat for the same food do the same service than honorary service for that common people and fatherland to all of them. "

In 1936 Hierl was appointed Reichsleiter of the NSDAP and received the golden party badge of the NSDAP . In addition, Hierl had on May 14, 1936 character as major general received. From 1943 to 1945 he was Reich Minister without portfolio .

post war period

In 1948, Hierl was sentenced to five years in a labor camp as the main culprit in the denazification process . In addition, his property has been confiscated. While the Reich Labor Service has not been proven to have committed any direct war crimes , its involvement in the Tannenbergbund and the educational system of the Reich Labor Service have been seen as aggravating. After being released from various internment camps and being banned from writing for several years, he worked as a publicist. According to the local history researcher Fritz Barth, he lived in Neuenbürg in Württemberg until 1955 and was buried in the local cemetery. According to Barth, he received financial support from the Senator of the University of Stuttgart Metzger and from the Neuenbürger chief physicians Maisch and Seitz. The memoirs, published in 1954, entitled In Service for Germany 1918–1945 , met with criticism because of their nationalistic tendencies. They did little to research the history of the Reich Labor Service.

family

Hierl was married to Euphrosine Gloß in his first marriage and to the actress Vera Hartegg in his second marriage . The marriages were childless. His brother was the writer Ernst Hierl , his cousin was Johann Baptist Hierl , auxiliary bishop in Regensburg (1911–1936).

Others

The municipality of Hierlshagen was established on January 3, 1936 in the Sprottebruch near Primkenau in the Sprottau district, Lower Silesia. Today it is called Ostaszów and is located in the Przemków municipality . Hierlshagen was built by the Reich Labor Service and was named after Konstantin Hierl at that time.

Fonts

  • Foreword. In: Singing we want to march ... Songbook of the Reich Labor Service. Edited by Thilo Scheller on behalf of the Reich Labor Leader, Oberstfeldmeister in the Reich leadership of the Reich Labor Service. Second, modified edition. “The national construction” Verlag, Leipzig [1937], p. 3; on p. 6 a list of titles of the 10 "compulsory songs in the Reich Labor Service" determined by Hierl.
  • Selected writings and speeches. Herbert von Stetten-Erb (Ed.), 2 volumes, Eher, Munich 1941. (2nd edition 1942/43)
  • Guilt or fate? Study of the origin and outcome of the 2nd World War. Vowinckel-Verlag , Heidelberg 1954.
  • Thoughts behind barbed wire. A view of life. Kurt Vowinckel Verlag, Heidelberg 1953.
  • In service for Germany 1918–1945. Kurt Vowinckel Verlag, Heidelberg 1954.

literature

Web links

Commons : Konstantin Hierl  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Othmar Hackl : The Bavarian War Academy (1867-1914). CH Beck´sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-406-10490-8 , p. 471.
  2. ^ V (ed.): Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1924, p. 114.
  3. ^ Yearbook of the Academy for German Law, 1st year 1933/34. Edited by Hans Frank. (Munich, Berlin, Leipzig: Schweitzer Verlag), p. 254.
  4. ↑ K. Hierl, Der Arbeitsdienst, the educational school for German socialism, in: ders., Selected writings and speeches. Vol. 2. Munich 1943. p. 96.
  5. ↑ Klaus D. Patzwall : The golden party badge and its honorary awards 1934-1944, studies of the history of awards Volume 4. Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt 2004, ISBN 3-931533-50-6 , p. 71.
  6. ↑ Dermot Bradley (ed.): The Generals of the Army 1921–1945. The military careers of the generals, as well as the doctors, veterinarians, intendants, judges and ministerial officials with the rank of general. Volume 5: v. Haack-Hitzfeld. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1999, ISBN 3-7648-2538-3 , p. 422.
  7. ↑ Fritz Barth: Hope, War, Not. The 3rd Reich and the occupation. Episodes from Calmbach and the Upper Enz Valley. 1995. (Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart, call number 45/9400) In the revised edition from 2010, a handwritten thank you letter from Hierl is printed on p. 298.
  8. ↑ Bürkle de la Camp (ed.): Surgeons directory. 5th edition, Springer, 1969. (Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart, call number Z 13600)
  9. ↑ JB Lehner: Excellenz Auxiliary Bishop JB Hierl 80 years old. In: The Upper Palatinate. Volume 30 (1936). Pp. 14-15.
personal data
SURNAME Hierl, Constantine
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer, politician (NSDAP), MdR
DATE OF BIRTH February 24, 1875
PLACE OF BIRTH Parsberg
DATE OF DEATH September 23, 1955
Place of death Heidelberg