Wilhelm Karpenstein
Encyclopedia
Wilhelm Karpenstein was a German
Nazi Party politician. He served as Gauleiter
of Pomerania
during the early days of the Third Reich.
Karpenstein was elected to the Reichstag in the 1930 election and served as a Nazi Party deputy until the end of the Second World War. He was appointed the party's Gauleiter in Pomerania in 1931.
Immediately after the Nazis came to power a significant amount of autonomy lay with the gauleiters and their radicalism threatened to disrupt the relationship between Adolf Hitler
and the middle classes that had helped to ensure his election. Karpenstein was one of the few who did not offer this problem as he was conservative and pro-middle class. Nevertheless he did not miss the opportunity to increase his personal power in the early days of Nazism
and sought to make all of the churches, government officials and media outlets in Pomerania answerable to him directly.
Karpenstein however, despite not holding left-wing economic ideas, was too weak to control the dissident sentiments emerging from the Sturmabteilung
in Pomerania, which was one of their power bases. As a result Karpenstein was one of those to be purged during the Night of the Long Knives
, although his lack of direct involvement with the SA meant that he was not killed but rather sacked in favour of Franz Schwede-Coburg. Ostensibly however Karpenstein was dismissed for his supposed links to Gregor Strasser
and his failure to work with Hermann Goering.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Nazi Party politician. He served as Gauleiter
Gauleiter
A Gauleiter was the party leader of a regional branch of the NSDAP or the head of a Gau or of a Reichsgau.-Creation and Early Usage:...
of Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
during the early days of the Third Reich.
Karpenstein was elected to the Reichstag in the 1930 election and served as a Nazi Party deputy until the end of the Second World War. He was appointed the party's Gauleiter in Pomerania in 1931.
Immediately after the Nazis came to power a significant amount of autonomy lay with the gauleiters and their radicalism threatened to disrupt the relationship between Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and the middle classes that had helped to ensure his election. Karpenstein was one of the few who did not offer this problem as he was conservative and pro-middle class. Nevertheless he did not miss the opportunity to increase his personal power in the early days of Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
and sought to make all of the churches, government officials and media outlets in Pomerania answerable to him directly.
Karpenstein however, despite not holding left-wing economic ideas, was too weak to control the dissident sentiments emerging from 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...
in Pomerania, which was one of their power bases. As a result Karpenstein was one of those to be purged during the Night of the Long Knives
Night of the Long Knives
The Night of the Long Knives , sometimes called "Operation Hummingbird " or in Germany the "Röhm-Putsch," was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany between June 30 and July 2, 1934, when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political murders...
, although his lack of direct involvement with the SA meant that he was not killed but rather sacked in favour of Franz Schwede-Coburg. Ostensibly however Karpenstein was dismissed for his supposed links to Gregor Strasser
Gregor Strasser
Gregor Strasser was a politician of the National Socialist German Workers Party...
and his failure to work with Hermann Goering.