1923 Munich Putsch
In the fall of 1923, Germany was in a critical political situation. Inflation had reached its peak; French troops were occupying the Rhineland. Following failed Communist uprisings in Hamburg and central Germany in October, the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) tried to erect a dictatorship. At a rally in Munich’s Bürgerbräukeller on the evening of November 8, 1923, the NSDAP’s “Führer” or leader Adolf Hitler declared the Bavarian and Reich governments deposed. One day later, the armed putsch activists marched through the center of Munich. Police units used guns to break up their demonstration. Sixteen people died.
Hitler and several of his supporters were arrested and accused of treason. Hitler himself was sentenced to the minimum term of five years in 1924, but released from imprisonment after just under a year. Nazi propaganda referred to the NSDAP members who died on November 9, 1923, as “blood witnesses of the movement.” After the National Socialists took power in 1933, the anniversary of the Munich Putsch was marked with official ceremonies. These included Hitler giving a speech for “old fighters” in the Bürgerbräukeller and leading National Socialists marching to the Feldherrnhalle.
