Walter Pfrimer
Walter Pfrimer (* December 22, 1881 in Marburg an der Drau , Duchy of Styria , Austria-Hungary ; † May 31, 1968 in Judenburg ) was an Austrian lawyer and fraternity member as well as founding father and long-time head of the Styrian Homeland Security , the largest and most important segment of the Austrian Home Defense Movement . In 1931 he initiated the Pfrimer Putsch , which wanted to bring the Heimwehr to power in Austria.
Life
During his studies in 1902 he became a member of the Ostmark Graz fraternity . Growing up and politically socialized in a strongly German national environment , Pfrimer was a staunch German national and an avowed opponent of social democracy . He strictly rejected political parties and parliamentarianism and openly advocated an authoritarian political system and the annexation of Austria to the German Reich .
Pfrimer founded the German People's Council in Judenburg in 1918 and transferred this organization to the Styrian Homeland Security in 1922. His political ascent was mainly due to his organizational skills, otherwise he was not very suitable as a leader:
"Walter Pfrimer had no charisma: Compared to other political leaders of his time, he was for years, also obese, physically unattractive, almost deaf and a bad speaker."
As head of the Styrian Homeland Security, Pfrimer was largely responsible for the radical German national anti-Semitic course within the Styrian Homeland Security and - related to this - the increasing internal political radicalization in Styria during the interwar period. Pfrimer used his position of power as the federal leader of the Austrian Home Guard movement in September 1931 for a coup d'état against the government of Chancellor Karl Buresch , whose goal was to bring a "home guard government" to power in Austria, which fundamentally changed the Austrian political system in terms of home guard should have remodeled. The failure of this coup, which is called the Pfrimer Putsch after its author , left the Austrian Heimwehr movement in a largely shattered state and promoted those forces within the Styrian Homeland Security who advocated political cooperation with the aspiring National Socialists . Pfrimer himself first fled across the border to Marburg in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia , but then faced a court case in Austria and was acquitted in December 1931.
Although he was not originally a National Socialist, Pfrimer, due to his ideological proximity to National Socialism and his political activities, had contributed significantly to preparing the ground for the NSDAP politically. Disappointed by the corporate state, he became a member of the NSDAP in 1933. After the “Anschluss” (1938), Pfrimer was elected to the Greater German Reichstag - a body that at that time no longer had any political power - but otherwise rarely appeared in public. After the Second World War he was imprisoned from 1945 to 1947. Then he worked as a lawyer again. He spent his old age in Judenburg, where he also died and was buried.
literature
- Helge Dvorak: Biographical Lexicon of the German Burschenschaft. Volume I: Politicians. Sub-Volume 4: M-Q. Winter, Heidelberg 2000, ISBN 3-8253-1118-X , pp. 316-317.
- Christian Zechner: Walter Pfrimer. A German national homeland security leader as a pioneer of National Socialism in Styria. Phil. Dipl., Graz 2004.
- Wiltschegg Walter: The Home Guard. An irresistible popular movement? Verlag für Geschichte und Politik, Vienna 1985, ISBN 3-7028-0221-5 . (= Studies and Sources on Austrian Contemporary History, Vol. 7)
Individual evidence
- ^ Bruce F. Pauley: Cocktail and Swastika. The Styrian Homeland Security and Austrian National Socialism 1918–1934. Europa Verlag, Vienna a. a. 1972, ISBN 3-203-50383-9 .
Web links
- Entry on Walter Pfrimer in the Austria Forum (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )
- Walter Pfrimer in the database of members of the Reichstag
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Pfrimer, Walter |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian Heimwehr leader and politician (NSDAP), MdR |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 22, 1881 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Marburg on the Drau |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 31, 1968 |
| Place of death | Judenburg |