Wilhelm Murr
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Wilhelm Murr | |
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State President of Württemberg | |
| In office 15 March 1933 – 12 May 1933 | |
| Preceded by | Eugen Bolz |
| Succeeded by | Christian Mergenthaler |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 December 1888 Esslingen am Neckar, Kingdom of Württemberg |
| Died | 14 May 1945 (aged 56) Vorarlberg, Austria |
| Cause of death | Suicide |
| Political party | Nazi Party |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  German Empire |
| Branch/service | Imperial German Army |
| Years of service | 1914-1919 |
| Rank | Vize-Feldwebel SS–Obergruppenführer |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
| Awards | Iron Cross, 2nd class Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross |
Wilhelm Murr (16 December 1888 – 14 May 1945) was a
Early life
Murr was born in
Murr became deeply involved in the Deutschnationaler Handlungsgehilfen-Verband ("German National Trade Assistants' Union"; DHV), a
Rise to power
After fierce intra-party fighting, the local Esslingen leader Murr, who attracted attention for his ruthless and unscrupulous methods, was able to oust the incumbent NSDAP Gauleiter Eugen Munder from power. On 1 February 1928, Adolf Hitler appointed Murr to NSDAP Gauleiter in Württemberg-Hohenzollern.[2] Another of his rivals he managed to bypass for promotion was Christian Mergenthaler. Murr was able to consolidate his position in Württemberg through strict subordination to Hitler and the Party.
In October 1930, he gave up his job at the machine factory and began working full-time for the Party. The NSDAP's membership numbers and financial situation in Württemberg improved. Early in 1931 Murr introduced his own propaganda newspaper, the NS-Kurier, in which he published numerous editorials which, if not intellectually brilliant, faithfully gave the official party line right up until 1945.
In the general elections of autumn 1930, Murr was elected a member of the
On 6 May 1933, Murr was appointed to the newly created position of Reichsstatthalter (Reich Governor) in Württemberg; the office of Württemberg State President was abolished and the Landtag deprived of any function. His rival Mergenthaler, since early 1932 already Landtag president, became Murr's Prime Minister as well as Culture and Justice Minister. Murr's obvious intellectual shortcomings were touted as "populist" and he was described in Nazi propaganda as a "Man of the People". Joseph Goebbels, however, described Murr in a diary entry from 31 July 1933 as a "nouveau riche social climber." On 4 September 1935, Murr was named to Hans Frank's Academy for German Law.[3]
Murr's governance was notable for its petty ruthlessness. When Murr found out in 1938 that the Bishop of
World War II
When
On 16 November 1942, the jurisdiction of the Reich Defense Commissioners was changed from the Wehrkreis to the Gau level, and Murr remained Commissioner for only his Gau.
The war's end and afterwards
When Murr’s nascent evacuation plans for Stuttgart became known in December 1944, which called for the city to be destroyed and the population led on 20-kilometer-per-day marches to the southeast, grumbling ensued and Murr gave up the plan by March 1945. On 10 April he called for the city to be defended to the utmost and forbade destruction of tank traps or the raising of white flags under threat of execution and Sippenhaft (detention of an offender's family). However, Murr himself fled Stuttgart on 19 April under a false name together with his wife and other companions. By way of Schelklingen, Kißlegg, Wangen im Allgäu, Kressbronn am Bodensee and further stops, the refugee convoy finally arrived in the Great Walser Valley in the Austrian province of Vorarlberg.
Murr, his wife and two aides stayed at the Biberacher Hütte in the Alps until 12 May, then moved into an alpine cabin overlooking Schröcken. There, on 13 May, they were arrested by French troops, to whom Murr identified himself as "Walter Müller". The arrestees were first taken to Schoppernau, then to Egg, in Vorarlberg, where Murr and his wife committed suicide using poison capsules they had carried with them. Both were buried in the graveyard at Egg.
The American occupiers had put Murr on their List of Potential War Criminals under Proposed US Policy Directives and were searching for him. The Americans and the French soon came to suspect that Murr might be dead, and with the Württemberg police found evidence that led them to Egg. On 16 April 1946, the grave of "Walter Müller" and his wife was opened. His former dentist uniquely identified Murr on the basis of his teeth.
See also
- List of SS-Obergruppenführer
References
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2017, p. 317.
- ^ Höffkes 1986, p. 239.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2017, p. 321.
- ^ a b Höffkes 1986, p. 240.
Sources
- Höffkes, Karl (1986). Hitlers Politische Generale. Die Gauleiter des Dritten Reiches: ein biographisches Nachschlagewerk. Tübingen: Grabert-Verlag. ISBN 3-87847-163-7.
- Miller, Michael D.; Schulz, Andreas (2017). Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders of the Nazi Party and Their Deputies, 1925-1945. Vol. 2 (Georg Joel - Dr. Bernhard Rust). R. James Bender Publishing. ISBN 978-1-932-97032-6.
Further reading
- Sauer, Paul: Wilhelm Murr. Hitlers Statthalter in Württemberg. Silberburg-Verlag, Tübingen 1998, ISBN 3-87407-282-7
- Scholtyseck, Joachim: „Der Mann aus dem Volk“ : Wilhelm Murr, Gauleiter und Reichsstatthalter in Württemberg-Hohenzollern. In: Die Führer der Provinz: NS-Biographien aus Baden und Württemberg, hrsg. von Michael Kissener und Joachim Scholtyseck. 2nd edition. Konstanz: ISBN 3-87940-679-0
External links
- Wilhelm Murr in the German National Library catalogue
- Information about Wilhelm Murr in the Reichstag database
| Kingdom of Württemberg |
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| Free People's State of Württemberg | ||
| Württemberg-Baden |
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| Württemberg-Hohenzollern | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
