Freikorps Oberland
Encyclopedia
The Freikorps
Oberland (also Bund Oberland or Kameradschaft Freikorps und Bund Oberland) was a free corps
in the early years of the Weimar Republic
, fighting against Communist and Polish insurgents. It was successful in the 1921 Battle of Annaberg
and became the core of the Sturmabteilung
(SA) in Bavaria
while several members later turned against the Nazi
s.
Freikorps
Freikorps are German volunteer military or paramilitary units. The term was originally applied to voluntary armies formed in German lands from the middle of the 18th century onwards. Between World War I and World War II the term was also used for the paramilitary organizations that arose during...
Oberland (also Bund Oberland or Kameradschaft Freikorps und Bund Oberland) was a free corps
Freikorps
Freikorps are German volunteer military or paramilitary units. The term was originally applied to voluntary armies formed in German lands from the middle of the 18th century onwards. Between World War I and World War II the term was also used for the paramilitary organizations that arose during...
in the early years of the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
, fighting against Communist and Polish insurgents. It was successful in the 1921 Battle of Annaberg
Battle of Annaberg
The Battle of Annaberg or Storming of Annaberg was the biggest battle of the Silesian Uprisings. The battle, which took place between May 21–26, 1921, was fought at the Annaberg , a strategic hill near the village of Annaberg O.S. , located southeast of Oppeln in Upper Silesia, Weimar...
and became the core of the Sturmabteilung
Sturmabteilung
The Sturmabteilung functioned as a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party . It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s...
(SA) in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
while several members later turned against the Nazi
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
s.
Members
- Karl AstelKarl AstelKarl Astel was a Nazi racial scientist and involved in the Nazi Eugenics program.He was born on 26 February 1898 in Schweinfurt. After finishing the Gymnasium he fought in World War I in 1917 and 1918. Astel took part at the Kapp Putsch and also the Beer Hall Putsch, as a member of the Freikorps...
- Eleonore Baur, SS-Oberführer in KZ Dachau
- Albert Ritter von Beckh, SS-Gruppenführer
- Kurt BensonKurt BensonKurt Benson is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Jeremy Edwards. He debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 23 October 1995. He was created by Phil Redmond as one of the serial's original characters....
, SS-Oberführer - Josef Dietrich, SS-Oberstgruppenführer and Generaloberst der Waffen-SS
- Fritz Fischer, Historian, SA- and NSDAP-member
- Karl GebhardtKarl GebhardtKarl Gebhardt was a German medical doctor; personal physician of Heinrich Himmler; and one of the main coordinators and perpetrators of surgical experiments performed on inmates of the concentration camps at Ravensbrück and Auschwitz.-Career in the Third Reich:Gebhardt's Nazi career began with his...
, SS-Gruppenführer, physician in Ravensbrück concentration campRavensbrück concentration campRavensbrück was a notorious women's concentration camp during World War II, located in northern Germany, 90 km north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück .... - Franz Gutsmiedl, Reichstag delegate
- Wilhelm HarsterWilhelm HarsterWilhelm Harster was an SS and Police Leader. He was twice convicted of war crimes, by the Dutch and later by West Germany...
, SS-Brigadeführer - Franz HaylerFranz HaylerFranz Hayler was a German self-employed salesman who rose during the Third Reich to State Secretary and acting Reich Economics Minister as a member of the NSDAP and the SS.-Career:...
, SS-Gruppenführer - Richard HildebrandtRichard HildebrandtRichard Hermann Hildebrandt was a politician in Nazi Germany and member of the Reichstag, and an SS-Obergruppenführer. From 1943 until his capture in 1945, he led the SS-Rasse und Siedlungshauptamt , the Office of Race and Settlement of the SS...
, SS-Obergruppenführer - Heinrich HimmlerHeinrich HimmlerHeinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
, Reichsführer SS and Chef of German Police - Hans HinkelHans HinkelHans Hinkel was a German journalist and ministerial official in Nazi Germany....
, SS-Gruppenführe, Reichstag delegate - Ernst Horadam, SA-Obersturmbannführer
- Max Humps, SS-Oberführer
- Friedrich Gustav JaegerFriedrich Gustav JaegerFriedrich Gustav Jaeger was a resistance fighter in Nazi Germany and a member of the July 20 Plot.-Life:...
, Officer and resistance leader in 20 July plot - Rudolf Jordan, SA-Obergruppenführer, Gauleiter of Magdeburg
- Gerhard KrügerGerhard KrügerGerhard Krüger was a Nazi Party student leader and later a leading figure within the neo-Nazi movement.-Early years:...
, student leader - Max Lebsche, physician, opponent of the Nazi regime
- Emil MauriceEmil MauriceEmil Maurice was an early member of the Nazi Party and is regarded by historians as the founder of the SS. A watchmaker by trade, Maurice was a close associate of Adolf Hitler with a personal friendship dating back to at least 1919...
, SS-Standartenführer - Carl von Oberkamp, SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor der Waffen-SS
- Ludwig Oestreicher
- Maximilian du Prel, Baron, Nazi author and press chief of the General GovernmentGeneral GovernmentThe General Government was an area of Second Republic of Poland under Nazi German rule during World War II; designated as a separate region of the Third Reich between 1939–1945...
in occupied PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north... - Heinz Reinefart, SS-Gruppenführer and Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS
- Arthur RödlArthur RödlArthur Rödl was a German Standartenführer in the Waffen-SS and a Nazi concentration camp commandant....
, SS-Obersturmbannführer and commandant of Gross-Rosen concentration campGross-Rosen concentration campKL Gross-Rosen was a German concentration camp, located in Gross-Rosen, Lower Silesia . It was located directly on the rail line between Jauer and Striegau .-The camp:... - Josef RömerBeppo RömerJosef “Beppo” Römer was an Oberland Freikorps leader after the war, later a KPD organizer. He worked against the Third Reich and was executed by the regime.- Biography :...
, Jurist, staff officer and resistance member - Arnold Ruge
- Ludwig Schmuck, SA-Gruppenführer
- Fritz von ScholzFritz von ScholzFritz von Scholz, Edler von Rerancze, known as Fritz von Scholz was an Austrian Austro-Hungarian Army and later German Waffen SS officer who served in both the First and Second World Wars....
, SS-Gruppenführer and Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS - Ernst Rüdiger StarhembergErnst Rüdiger StarhembergErnst Rüdiger Camillo Starhemberg was an Austrian nationalist and conservative politician prior to World War II, a leader of the Heimwehr and later of the Christian Social Party/Fatherland's Front...
, Austrofascist politician, opponent of the Nazi regime - Bodo UhseBodo UhseBodo Uhse was a German writer, journalist and political activist. He was recognised as one of the most prominent authors in East Germany.-Early years:...
, writer, Nazi supporter but later a communist - Hilmar WäckerleHilmar WäckerleHilmar Wäckerle was a German soldier in both the German Imperial Army and the Waffen-SS and the first commandant of Dachau concentration camp.-War service:...
, SS-Standartenführer and commandant of Dachau concentration camp - Friedrich Weber, head of veterinary surgery in Germany
Zum Freikorps und Bund Oberland
- Hans Fenske: Konservativismus und Rechtsradikalismus in Bayern nach 1918. Verlag Gehlen,1969
- Kameradschaft Freikorps und Bund Oberland: Bildchronik zur Geschichte des Freikorps und Bundes Oberland. München 1974
- Peter Schuster: Für das stolze Edelweiß, Brienna, Achau, 1995. ISBN 3980387518
Zur Kameradschaft Freikorps und Bund Oberland
- Oliver Schröm, Andrea Röpke: Stille Hilfe für braune Kameraden. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2001, ISBN 386153231X
- Andreas Angerstorf: Rechte Strukturen in Bayern 2005, Bayernforum, ISBN 3-89892-416-5
External links
- Christoph Hübner, Bund Oberland, in Historisches Lexikon Bayerns mit Bildern
- Infoseite zum Freikorps und den Gegenveranstaltungen
- „Kennzeichen Edelweiß“, Artikel aus der Wochenzeitschrift "Freitag (Zeitung)"
- http://media.de.indymedia.org/media/2007/03//170292.pdfAls "Patrioten" pflegen sie stolz den unseligen Geist, "Artikel aus Süddeutsche ZeitungSüddeutsche ZeitungThe Süddeutsche Zeitung , published in Munich, is the largest German national subscription daily newspaper.-Profile:The title literally translates as "South German Newspaper". It is read throughout Germany by 1.1 million readers daily and boasts a relatively high circulation abroad...
"] - Magnus Bosch: Heldengedenken im Zeichen des Edelweiß - Artikel aus dem Magazin "Hinterland"