Styrian Homeland Security

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Assembly of the formations of the Heimwehr on the Neuklosterwiese during the deployment of the Heimwehr and the Schutzbund in Wiener Neustadt on October 7, 1928
Country Leader Walter Pfrimer (right) in Heimwehr uniform next to the Federal Leader of the Austrian Homeland Security Richard Steidle (left) on the Heimwehr grandstand on the Neuklosterwiese on October 7, 1928
The federal leader of the Austrian Heimwehr Richard Steidle (center), the deputy Styrian leader Reinhart Bachofen von Echt (left) and the Styrian district leader Hans von Pranckh (right back), photo on the Heimwehr grandstand on the Neuklosterwiese on October 7, 1928

The Styrian Heimatschutz (official Heimatschutzverband Steiermark , from January 9, 1933 German-Austrian Heimatschutz ) was a paramilitary organization in Austria in the interwar period and as such a part of the Heimwehr . Under the leadership of Walter Pfrimer and later Konstantin Kammerhofer , homeland security was numerically the largest and most important segment of the Austrian Home Guard movement. The Heimatschutz represented a radical German national and soon anti-Semitic line from the start, turned against parliamentarism and democracy, attempted a violent overthrow in 1931 and finally moved closer and closer to the NSDAP , with which it formed a combat community. In 1933 there was a split into a pro-government and a revolutionary wing; the latter was banned in the same year and was finally absorbed into the National Socialist Party a year later.

Origin and development

The Heimatschutz arose from various self-protection associations that had formed in 1918/19 to resist the separation of Lower Styria and to ward off a possible socialist revolution. Initially there was the Lower Styrian Farmers Command in Straden , which was founded by the doctor Willibald Brodmann , the Central and West Styrian Home Guard and the Homeland Security in Ennstal and the German People's Council in Judenburg , which was led by the local lawyer Walter Pfrimer . The Central Styrian Home Guard in Graz and the surrounding area united in August 1920 with the significant participation of the Christian Social Governor Anton Rintelen and made contact with similar associations in western Austria as well as with the Bavarian organization Kanzler . In the summer of 1921, under pressure from the bourgeois parties, all Styrian self-protection associations came to a temporary agreement, but this all-Styrian home guard soon broke up again. In April 1922, the folk- oriented organizations united to form a unified association, which was initially called the Styrian Self-Protection Association . In the autumn of the next year, Pfrimer was elected its country leader. The movement experienced a further strengthening when the combat groups of the Graz and Leoben students joined them. Their leader, Hanns Albin Rauter , became the head of the homeland security department.

As early as May 1927, the Heimatschutzführer Pfrimer, Rauter and August Edler von Meyszner met Adolf Hitler for the first time in Freilassing , and it was established that the Heimatschutz was largely in agreement with the NSDAP. In the course of the unrest following the fire in the Palace of Justice, the Republican Protection Association mobilized its units in Styria: roadblocks were erected in Graz and the telephone lines to Vienna were cut; In Bruck an der Mur a "workers executive committee" under Koloman Wallisch declared a state of emergency, governor Hans Paul fled with his government to Feldbach . However, Pfrimer was able to persuade the Schutzbund to withdraw through the threat of violence. From this point on, Pfrimer was regarded as the “strong man” of Styria; the passivity of the armed forces on this occasion led both bourgeois and peasant circles to regard Pfrimer's homeland security as the only effective law enforcement agency in the country. Between October and December 1927, a smaller, Christian-social-oriented group called "Styrian Home Guard ", which had been founded by Jakob Ahrer , as well as other splinter groups joined the Heimatschutz.

The organization experienced a strong boom and membership growth and was subsequently given massive organizational and financial support from the Alpine Montangesellschaft . At its peak in the summer of 1929, the Styrian Homeland Security had around 54,000 members, including 25,000 supporting members. In Upper Styria, efforts were made with some success to win supporters from the workforce, among other things, under the leadership of the metalworker Josef Lengauer and the Alpine engineer Josef Oberegger, the independent trade union was founded in 1928 to set up a homeland security workers' representation for the social democratic and Christian social organizations to oppose. The independent trade union turned out to be very cooperative towards employers - in accordance with its basic orientation as an economically peaceful workers' association. It was therefore also promoted by various entrepreneurs and, according to its own statements, had 20,000 members in Styria in 1929.

Relationship to the federal association

In October 1927 the Heimwehr associations in Austria merged to form the Federation of Austrian Self-Protection Associations and elected the Tyrolean Richard Steidle as federal leader, Pfrimer became his deputy. On September 2, 1930, Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg was elected as the new federal leader; As a result, there were more and more disagreements about questions of ideology and political strategy: while Starhemberg advocated a separate Heimwehr list in the National Council election in 1930 , the Styrian Homeland Security refused. Pfrimer was fundamentally against running for the election, while his chief of staff Rauter pursued the idea of ​​an electoral alliance with the National Socialists. At the beginning of October 1930, Rauter met the head of the NSDAP organization, Gregor Strasser , to discuss such a collaboration . Finally, the home block list appeared separately from Christian Socialists and National Socialists. In the election, the list only received 6.25 percent of the vote, but in parts of Styria significantly more: In the constituency of Upper Styria they achieved 16.9 percent and were the second strongest in the political districts of Bruck an der Mur , Mürzzuschlag , Leoben and Judenburg . In this constituency, the home block also won its only basic mandate in Austria . Two out of eight mandates from the home bloc went to Styrian representatives, but overall the results for the alleged popular movement were disappointing. In the state elections in Styria, which took place at the same time, the home bloc was much more successful and achieved 12.5 percent (6 seats). August Meyszner was elected regional councilor.

The German national orientation of homeland security and the opposition to the party system as a whole separated the organization more and more from the federal association, which in terms of content leaned more towards Christian socials. The internal cohesion of the movement grew weaker and weaker, finally Starhemberg resigned from his office and on May 2, 1931 left Pfrimer in charge of the Austrian Home Guard.

Structure and organization

Like the Republican Protection Association , the Styrian Homeland Security was divided into a political and a military department. The political structure of homeland security was largely modeled on state politics, the state leader corresponded to the state governor , followed by district leaders (according to district captains ), as well as district and local group leaders . In the military sector, the ranking was similar, but the functional designations were designated with the respective title of leader (i.e. country leader, district leader, etc.) In addition to the independent trade union , other preparatory organizations were founded, such as the women's aid groups (from 1929), the white-green young people and the Homeland Security College Groups, both organized in 1932. From May 1, 1930, the weekly newspaper “Der Panther - Steirische Heimatschutzzeitung” appeared, with a circulation of up to 18,000 copies. The Styrian Homeland Security was due to its radical agitation and organizationally and financially superior position outside the country's borders supporters, there were also "Styrian" minded Home Guard chapters in Lower Austria , Vienna and Burgenland . In the early days, the Styrian Homeland Security used the colors black-white-red and the swastika as symbols . Later the state coat of arms, the Styrian panther , supplemented by a steel helmet, became the official badge. The swastika was reintroduced in the phase of the fighting community with the NSDAP.

Ideological orientation

Initially, Heimatschutz saw itself as a purely defensive organization, which was supposed to defend the existing order against revolutionary movements from the left (including Austromarxism ), but otherwise be organized in a non-partisan way. In addition, there were various ethnic ideas that came in particular from the area around the Südmark school association . From 1928 Pfrimer was in contact with the social philosopher Othmar Spann , whose thinking the Styrian Homeland Security soon largely adopted. Spann and his students, especially Walter Heinrich and Hans Riehl , gave lectures and published in the Graz Heimatschutz Verlag. At the center of Spann's social concept were the opposition to Marxism , liberalism and democracy as well as the commitment to a corporate state structure and a corporatist economy. The Korneuburg oath of the Heimwehr was mainly formulated by Walter Heinrich. In the summer of 1931, the Styrian Homeland Security initiated a referendum against the rescue of the Creditanstalt with tax money, which was signed by 620,000 people. The "twelve principles of Styrian homeland security" from June 1932 also emphasize the revolutionary, ethnic and defensive attitude of the association and contain more clearly racist and anti-Semitic content than before .

As with many right-wing extremist organizations of the time, the relationship between idea and practice remained unresolved. Which ideas Spanns adopted by Styrian Homeland Security and which not, was primarily determined by practical considerations (such as consideration for support from industry).

Pfrimer Putsch 1931

The progressive disintegration of the Heimwehr movement in Austria, the worsening of the economic situation (the collapse of Creditanstalt in May 1931) and the failure of a customs union between Austria and the German Reich prompted Pfrimer to launch a putsch , which he based on the model of Mussolini's march on Rome on December 12th. and September 13, 1931 tried. Although the Styrian Homeland Security mobilized over 14,000 men and was able to achieve considerable initial success, especially in Upper Styria, the putsch collapsed when it became apparent that no support was to be expected from other Home Guard associations, the population or the armed forces. The putsch more or less dissolved by itself, Pfrimer and his co-conspirators were able to flee abroad, then returned to Austria. They were brought to trial in Graz, the trial from December 14th to 18th, 1931 ended with a unanimous acquittal, which is not least due to the support of the eight defendants by Governor Anton Rintelen , who also testified as a witness. Even before the trial, Pfrimer had been made Honorary Country Leader, and Sepp Hainzl and Meyszner, who, as elected mandataries, were safe from arrest , initially took over the leadership .

Cooperation with the NSDAP

Shortly after the coup in autumn 1931 there was a first “combat community” of Heimatschutz and the Austrian NSDAP; however, it was dissolved again at the end of 1931. On May 8, 1932, Walter Pfrimer resigned all functions and his membership in the homeland security, founded his own German homeland security , in whose name he joined the SA shortly afterwards . Konstantin Kammerhofer was elected as the new country leader, who finally broke away from the federal association and tried to embark on a more anti-Semitic and national revolutionary course in order to keep membership losses to the NSDAP and SA as low as possible. On May 27th, the Styrian Homeland Security published a 12-point program, which already had a clearly National Socialist character. The parliamentary debate on the League of Nations - bond of Lausanne imposed in August 1932 final breakup of the home block as a political force; the two Styrian MPs and a mandate from Carinthia turned against the government bill, which was supported by the other MPs.

Wedged between Pfrimer's Nazi-friendly course and the Austrian corporate state ideology of Starhemberg, homeland security increasingly lost its importance. The Styrian industrialists, who had meanwhile gone over to support the NSDAP, also pushed for an understanding between the two ideologically similar groups. On April 22, 1933, Kammerhofer concluded an agreement with the Nazi leadership to renew the combat community. Homeland Security confessed

"While maintaining full organizational independence [...] from Adolf Hitler, the leader of the German nation [...] The homeland security leadership is not subordinate to the leadership of the National Socialist Workers' Party or vice versa, but it does exist with regard to the common goal the duty to work closely and smoothly. "

On June 19, 1933, at the instigation of Security Minister Emil Fey , the NSDAP and Heimatschutz were officially banned, and the mandates of Heimatschutz at all levels - over 1200 in total - were revoked. On November 23, 1933, another formal cooperation agreement was signed in Venice. With the Munich Agreement of March 2, 1934, the Styrian Homeland Security finally joined the National Socialists; at Easter of the same year this was officially carried out at a conference in Budapest . Former homeland security functionaries of all ranks then also played an essential role in the illegal NSDAP, including in the July coup against the Dollfuss government . For example, Konstantin Kammerhofer led the SA brigade "Upper Styria" from the end of 1933, and August Edler von Meyszner led the brigade that covered the rest of the Styrian districts. As a member of the National Socialist leadership for Austria in Munich, Rauter was involved in the preparation of the insurrection movement in close coordination with Theo Habicht . In addition, there were extensive strikes in the factories of the Alpine Montangesellschaft in Donawitz during the July coup . The planning of the putsch in Styria was taken over directly from the Pfrimer putsch of 1931 with only minor adjustments.

A fierce dispute broke out within the NSDAP over the exact interpretation of the various agreements, in particular the Venice Agreement, which continued with interruptions until 1942. The main controversial question was whether the time of membership in the Styrian Homeland Security should be counted towards party membership - this would have made " old fighters " out of many former homeland security activists , along with all the advantages and privileges resulting from them. Finally, the Reich Treasurer Franz Xaver Schwarz decided to ignore the corresponding point of the Venice Agreement: Party membership was only counted from the time the Homeland Security was dissolved.

A minority under the leadership of Egon Berger-Waldenegg left the Styrian Homeland Security in March 1933 and founded the “Austrian Homeland Security in Styria”, which politically supported Starhemberg and Dollfuss and which lasted until the entire Heimwehr movement was dissolved in 1936. Over 80 percent of the members of the Styrian Homeland Security, however, converted to the NSDAP.

Known members

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Edmondson (1978), p. 178
  2. ↑ Lauridsen (2007), pp. 138ff.
  3. ↑ Christa Schillinger in Straden, Ed. Marktgemeinde Straden 1999, p. 134ff
  4. ↑ Karner (2000), pp. 135f.
  5. ↑ Wiltschegg (1985), p. 172f.
  6. ↑ Carsten (1977), p. 42
  7. ↑ Schafranek (2006), p. 13
  8. ↑ Karner (2000), p. 140
  9. ^ Pauley (1972), p. 51
  10. ↑ Edmondson (1978), pp. 54f.
  11. ^ Pauley (1972), p. 65
  12. ↑ Carsten (1977), p. 123
  13. ↑ Wiltschegg (1985), p. 175 and p. 281f.
  14. ↑ Pauley (1972), pp. 82f.
  15. ↑ Karner (2000), p. 594 and 599.
  16. ↑ Pauley (1972), pp. 63ff.
  17. ↑ Wiltschegg (1985), p. 371
  18. ^ Pauley (1972), p. 53
  19. ↑ Wiltschegg (1992), p. 147
  20. ^ Edmondson (1978), p. 73.
  21. ↑ Lauridsen (2007), p. 197ff.
  22. ^ Edmondson (1978), p. 98.
  23. ↑ Lauridsen (2007), p. 225
  24. ↑ Pauley (1972), pp. 146f.
  25. ^ Pauley (1972), p. 70
  26. ↑ Hofmann (1965), p. 76ff.
  27. ↑ Wiltschegg (1985), p. 180
  28. ^ Edmondson (1978), p. 297
  29. ↑ Robert Kriechbaumer : The great stories of politics: political culture and parties in Austria from the turn of the century to 1945 . Böhlau, Vienna 2001, ISBN 978-3-205-99400-8 , page 692 et seq. (= Series of the Research Institute of political and historical studies of the Dr. Wilfried Haslauer-Library , ed. Robert Kriechbaumer, Hubert Weinberger, Franz Schausberger , Vol. 12)
  30. ↑ Edmondson (1978), pp. 162f.
  31. ↑ Lauridsen (2007), p. 247.
  32. ↑ Kriechbaumer (2001), p. 573
  33. ↑ ÖNB-ALEX - Federal Law Gazette 1920-1934 . In: alex.onb.ac.at .
  34. ↑ Wiltschegg (1985), p. 182
  35. ↑ Schafranek (2006), p. 55
  36. ↑ Carsten (1977), p. 244
  37. ↑ Schafranek (2006), p. 15.
  38. ^ Pauley (1972), pp. 177ff.
  39. ↑ Wiltschegg (1985), pp. 181f.

literature

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  • Lothar Höbelt: The Heimwehren 1927-1929: Styria and the federal government. in: Journal of the Historisches Verein für Steiermark , No. 104, Graz 2013, pp. 219–264
  • Andreas Fraydenegg-Monzello: People's state and social order. The economic policy of the Styrian Home Guard 1927-1933 . (= Research on the historical regional studies of Styria, vol. 65). Böhlau Verlag, Vienna 2015 ISBN 978-3-205-79599-5
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  • Martin Prieschl: Homeland Security in Upper Austria. In: OÖ Landesarchiv [Hg]: Upper Austria 1918–1938 III. Linz 2015 pp. 187–229.
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