Martin Mutschmann
Martin Mutschmann | |
---|---|
Minister-President of Saxony | |
In office 28 February 1935 – 8 May 1945 | |
Preceded by | Manfred Freiherr von Killinger |
Succeeded by | Rudolf Friedrichs |
Personal details | |
Born | Deutschvölkischer Schutz und Trutzbund National Socialist Freedom Movement | 9 March 1879
Occupation | Factory owner |
Military service | |
Allegiance | German Empire |
Branch/service | Imperial German Army |
Years of service | 1914–1916 |
Rank | Gefreiter |
Unit | Reserve Infantry Regiment 133 |
Battles/wars | World War I |
Awards | Iron Cross, 2nd class |
Martin Mutschmann (9 March 1879 – 14 February 1947) was the
Early years
Born in
After the war, he was an early participant in the
Nazi Party career
After the Party was re-established in 1925, Mutschmann was appointed Landesleiter (later Gauleiter) of Saxony on 27 March 1925, maintaining that position until the fall of the Nazi regime. He formally re-enrolled in the Party on 2 June 1925 (Party membership number 35).[2] Generally his political activity concentrated on Saxony rather than on Germany as a whole. Mutschmann was passionately interested in the preservation of Saxon arts and crafts. In September 1930, he was elected to the Reichstag for electoral constituency 30, Chemnitz-Zwickau. Around 1930 he also became the editor of a Nazi daily newspaper, Der Freiheitskampf (The Freedom Struggle).[3] On 15 July 1932 came his appointment as Landesinspekteur. In this position, he had oversight responsibility for his Gau and that of Thuringia. This was a short-lived initiative by Gregor Strasser to centralize control over the Gaue. However, it was unpopular with the Gauleiters and was repealed on Strasser's fall from power in December 1932.[4] Mutschmann then returned to his Gauleiter position in Saxony.
After the
Second World War and death
When the war began on 1 September 1939, Mutschmann was appointed the
On 14 April 1945 he declared Dresden a "fortress" city. On 1 May in Dresden, he insisted that the city go into public mourning after the suicide of German dictator Adolf Hitler on 30 April 1945. On 5 May, Mutschmann falsely announced that a large-scale German offensive on the Eastern Front was about to be launched. On 8 May as Dresden was occupied by the Red Army, Mutschmann fled the city. Moving to Oberwiesenthal and then to Tellerhäuser, he hid out until arrested by police on 17 May. He was displayed in the town square and subjected to public ridicule. Handed over to the NKVD, he was imprisoned in the Lubyanka prison in Moscow, tried by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union and sentenced to death on 30 January 1947.[9] He was shot on 14 February 1947.[10]
Awards and decorations
- 1914 Iron Cross 2nd Class[11]
- 1918 Wound Badge in Black, c.1918[11]
- 1922 Coburg Badge, October 1932[11]
- Golden Party Badge, 1933[11]
- Anschluss Medal, c.1938[11]
- Sudetenland Medal, c.1939[11]
- Honour Chevron for the Old Guard[11]
- SA Sports Badge[11]
See also
- 1925 German presidential election
- 1932 German presidential election
- Machtergreifung- "Seizure of Power" - 30 January 1933
- Bombing of Dresden in World War II
- List of Gauleiters
- Ehrenburger Johanngeorgenstadt
Notes
- ^ a b c d e Miller & Schulz 2017, p. 327.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2017, pp. 327–328.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2017, p. 328.
- ^ Orlow 1969, pp. 273, 295.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2017, p. 330.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2017, p. 332.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2017, p. 326.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2017, pp. 333, 336–337.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2017, p. 340.
- ^ Klee 2007, p. 427.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Miller & Schulz 2017, p. 341.
References
- Klee, Ernst (2007). Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945. Frankfurt-am-Main: Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-596-16048-8.
- Miller, Michael D.; Schulz, Andreas (2017). Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders of the Nazi Party and Their Deputies, 1925-1945, Volume 2 (Georg Joel - Dr. Bernhard Rust). California: R James Bender Publishing. ISBN 978-1-932970-32-6.
- Orlow, Dietrich (1969). The History of the Nazi Party: 1919-1933. University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 0-8229-3183-4.
External links
- Newspaper clippings about Martin Mutschmann in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
- Information about Martin Mutschmann in the Reichstag database