Rupprecht Gerngross

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Rupprecht Gerngross (born June 21, 1915 in Shanghai ; † February 25, 1996 in Deisenhofen near Munich ) was a German lawyer and leader of the " Freedom Campaign Bavaria ", a resistance group against National Socialism that tried in April 1945 - shortly before the end of the war, to surrender the city of Munich to the US troops without a fight.

Life

Gerngross was born in China as the son of the German doctor Dr. Richard Gerngross and his wife Katharina geb. Type born and spent his childhood there. In 1926 the family returned to Germany. He attended school in Munich and began studying law after graduating from high school. In 1934 he joined the Reichswehr , where he served for a year. In 1935 he returned to the University back further studied law, went for two semesters at the London School of Economics and was in 1942 with the work of protecting the obligations against third parties who are involved in the debt ratio neither as creditor nor as a debtor at the University of Erlangen doctorate .

During the Second World War, Gerngross was a reserve officer in charge of the interpreting company of Military District VII.

In April 1945 the military situation of the Wehrmacht was hopeless. Large parts of the empire were already occupied by Allied troops. The 7th US Army occupied Nuremberg - 150 km north of Munich - on April 20 and was advancing towards Munich from several sides.

The "Bavarian Freedom Campaign" led by Captain Gerngross succeeded in occupying the radio stations in Ismaning and Freimann on the night of April 27-28, 1945 . The slogan "Pheasant hunt" ("gold pheasants" were called leaders within the NSDAP structure because of their gold-worn uniforms) was proclaimed over the radio, the overthrow of the Nazi regime in Munich was announced and an uprising was called for. The putsch failed because the Reichsstatthalter Franz Ritter von Epp refused to support and SS units led by Paul Giesler intervened. Gerngross gave up and was able to save himself in a mountain hut . Shortly before the occupation of Munich by US troops, over 40 insurgents were murdered by fanatical National Socialists. At the same time, several thousand concentration camp prisoners were on the way from the Dachau concentration camp to South Tyrol during the “death march”. Believing that the Nazi rule was actually over, the SS men fled and left the prisoners to their own devices. During the 48 hours they were able to scatter and hide and survive.

On the afternoon of April 30, 1945, soldiers of the 7th US Army moved into the city from all directions. They met hardly any resistance; SS soldiers offered resistance in Freimann . Mayor Karl Fiehler (1895–1969) and Gauleiter Paul Giesler (1895–1945) had previously fled.

Gerngross survived the war. In 1963 he had a junk called "Mau Yee - Münchner Freiheit" built in China , with which he commemorated the "Bavarian Freedom Campaign". After a stormy crossing through the Indian Ocean, Gerngross came by ship to the Adriatic Sea , which he sailed for the next 20 years.

Honors

In 1947, in memory of the FAB's campaign, the former “Feilitzschplatz” in Munich was renamed “ Münchner Freiheit ”.

Works

  • As editor: That's how it was back in 1945 with the Freedom Campaign Bavaria, FAB. Memories of a historical event on the occasion of the 25th return of the day of the last uprising against Hitler. Self-published, Munich 1970.
  • Rebellion of the Bavarian Freedom Campaign in 1945. “Pheasant hunt” and how the Munich freedom got its name. Memories of Rupprecht Gerngross. Heidrich-Verlag, Augsburg 1995, ISBN 3-930455-92-7 .
  • Felix Heidenberger: Mau Yee. Münchner Freiheit. Factual novel. Pro Business, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-938262-30-3 ; describes the history of the FAB after an insight into the estate of Rupprecht Gerngross. The framework story is the fate of the junk “Mau Yee”, which Gerngross had built after the war in Hong Kong and named “Münchner Freiheit” in memory of the Bavarian freedom campaign, which is what the Chinese name Mau Yee stands for. After the death of Gerngross, the Schwabing artist Johannes Schacht took over the junk and has been carrying out educational trips for youth groups in the Adriatic for twenty years in memory of the FAB's struggle for freedom. During the civil war that marked the end of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, the junk "Münchner Freiheit" brought food and aid to refugee camps in Slovenia and Croatia as an ambassador for freedom and democracy in the spirit of Rupprecht Gerngross and his fellow fighters against National Socialism.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Melvin J. Lasky : And everything was quiet. German diary 1945. Rowohlt, Berlin 2014, pp. 227–231.
  2. ^ Karl Koller : The diary entry of the former Chief of the General Staff of the German Air Force from April 14 to May 27, 1945. Wohlgemuth Verlag, Mannheim 1949, p. 65 ff.
  3. ↑ Wolfgang Falck: Falcon Years. Memories 1910–2003 . Ed .: Kurt Braatz. 3. Edition. Twenty-nine six publishing house, Moosburg 2004, ISBN 3-9807935-2-4 , pp. 307 .
  4. ↑ sueddeutsche.de: When the Americans liberated Munich
  5. ↑ taz archive: History sails with you
  6. ^ Estate of Captain Rupprecht Gerngross (1915-96) ( Link )
personal data
SURNAME Gerngross, Rupprecht
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gerngroß, Rupprecht; Gerngross, Ruprecht
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German lawyer, leader of the "Freedom Campaign Bavaria"
DATE OF BIRTH June 21, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Shanghai
DATE OF DEATH February 25, 1996
Place of death Deisenhofen near Munich