Martin Faust

Martin Faust (born January 27, 1901 in Hemau , † November 9, 1923 in Munich ) was a German putschist . He became known as one of the 16 killed participants in the failed Hitler putsch , to which Adolf Hitler dedicated the first volume of his book Mein Kampf .

Live and act

The putschists killed on November 9, 1923 were honored between 1933 and 1945 as " martyrs of the movement " and at the same time instrumentalized by Nazi propaganda ; Faust 1st row from the top, 3rd from the left.

After attending school, Faust joined the Imperial Navy as a war volunteer in February 1918 . He was trained at the SMS Freya and then transferred to the SMS Großer Kurfürst . After the German surrender, Faust took part in the transfer of the German fleet to Scapa Flow at the end of 1918 , where he was interned by the Royal Navy . In 1919 Faust returned to Germany and attended a commercial college. Then worked as a bank clerk, most recently in Munich. Since 1920 Faust was involved in the nationalist military association Reichsflagge . After its split, he joined the Bund Reichskriegsflagge , led by Ernst Röhm , in which he received the post of platoon leader.

On November 9, 1923, he took part in the occupation of the building of the former Bavarian War Ministry as a member of a raiding party of the Reich War Flag led by Röhm . The company was initially successful, but when the main action of the putsch, the demonstration of the putschists to the Munich Feldherrnhalle , was disbanded by the state police and the putsch had thus failed, the occupiers in the war ministry building also gave up. When the Reichswehr took over the building, two rifle shots were fired from the building for unexplained reasons, which wounded two members of the Reichswehr. The army unit then returned fire. Faust is said to have been killed immediately, and the putschist Theodor Casella was also fatally injured when he tried to take Faust for cover. The remaining putschists, including Heinrich Himmler , Karl Osswald and Walther Lembert, recovered the two men and took them to the Josephinum Hospital via Schönfeldstrasse . Faust was pronounced dead on arrival and Cassella died of his injuries. According to another version - which possibly confuses Faust and Cassella - Faust was brought to his apartment and died there. Faust was buried in a Munich cemetery.

Hitler dedicated the first volume of his book Mein Kampf to Faust and 15 other killed coup participants in 1925 , where they were named in the foreword. After the seizure of power by the Nazis in 1933 was at the Feldherrnhalle a plaque with the names of such persons placed in Munich, before an honor guard of SS stationed. Every passer-by who passed this board was obliged to honor it with the Hitler salute. In 1935, two "Temples of Honor" were erected on Königsplatz as a common grave for this group of people. In the same year Faust was exhumed , taken there along with the rest of the dead and reburied in a bronze sarcophagus . Until 1945 they were included in the Nazi cult around the " martyrs of the movement ".

During the Nazi era , a number of streets in the German Reich were named after Faust: For example Martin-Faust-Straße in Bamberg (until 1946, then: Ferdinand-Tietz-Straße), Bayreuth , Breslau , Gelsenkirchen, Recklinghausen (1939–1945 ), Wuppertal (since 1935; previously Gerberstrasse) and Leipzig . A memorial dedicated to him was inaugurated by Hans Schemm on November 11, 1934 in Hemau, the town where Faust was born .

During the Nazi era, a memorial stone for Casella and Faust was installed in the courtyard of the former Bavarian War Ministry , bearing the inscription “Germany lives through your blood!”. Immediately before the November pogroms of 1938 , a commemoration ceremony in honor of Faust and Casella took place on the morning of November 9th, attended by Himmler and Adolf Hühnlein , among others .

Individual evidence

1. ^ John Dornberg: Munich 1923. 1983, p. 279.
2. ↑ Hellmut Schöner : Hitler putsch in the mirror of the press. 1974, p. Xvii.
3. ↑ https://www.verband-wohneigentum.de/bamberg/downloadmime/25185/CHRONIK+50+JAHRE+GARTENSTADT.pdf
4. ↑ Explanation of the street names of Bayreuth
5. ↑ Historical city maps of Wroclaw
6. ↑ lwl.org: The street naming practice in Westphalia and Lippe during National Socialism. Database of street names 1933–1945.
7. ^ Klaus Gobel: Wuppertal in the time of National Socialism. 1984, p. 47.
8. ^ Benedikt Lochmüller: Hans Schemm. 1940, p. 511.
9. ^ Peter Köpf : The Königsplatz in Munich. A German place. 2005, p. 102.
10. ^ Andreas Heusler: Kristallnacht. 1998, p. 42.