Christian Weber (25 August 1883 – 11 May 1945) was a German

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported th ...

(NSDAP) official and member of the ''

Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe dur ...

'' (SS).

Biography

Along with the likes of

Emil Maurice Emil Maurice (; 19 January 1897 – 6 February 1972) was an early member of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party) and a founding member of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). He was Hitler's first personal chauffeur, and was one of ...

Ulrich Graf Ulrich Graf (6 July 1878 – 3 March 1950) was an early member of the Nazi Party and one of Adolf Hitler's inner circle. In 1923, he served in a bodyguard unit for Hitler and was wounded in the Beer Hall Putsch. He was a long serving member of ...

, and

Max Amann Max Amann (24 November 1891 – 30 March 1957) was a high-ranking member of the Nazi Party, a German politician, businessman and art collector, including of looted art. He was the first business manager of the Nazi Party and later became the hea ...

, Weber, a

bouncer A bouncer (also known as a doorman or door supervisor) is a type of security guard, employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs, cabaret clubs, stripclubs, casinos, hotels, billiard halls, restaurants, sporting events, schools, concerts, or ...

at a bar, was among the earliest political associates of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

. Ever ready for a fight, Weber carried a

riding crop Riding is a homonym of two distinct English words: From the word ride * In equestrianism, riding a horse * Riding animal, animal bred or trained for riding * Riding hall, building designed for indoor horse riding From Old English ''*þriðing'' ...

with him, a habit shared by Hitler in those early years.

Otto Strasser Otto Johann Maximilian Strasser (also german: link=no, Straßer, see ß; 10 September 1897 – 27 August 1974) was a German politician and an early member of the Nazi Party. Otto Strasser, together with his brother Gregor Strasser, was a lead ...

denounced Weber as an "ape-like creature" and "the most despicable of Hitler's underlings"; Strasser later claimed that Weber was a

pimp Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term pimp has still ...

at this time. In late 1921, Weber was one of Hitler's cohorts when the Nazis attacked a meeting of the Bavarian League. Hitler personally beat up the League's leader Otto Ballerstedt, an event that led to serving a month in prison. At some stage before 1923, Weber lost an eye and often wore a specially made pair of glasses as a result. Following the 1923

Beer Hall Putsch The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch,Dan Moorhouse, ed schoolshistory.org.uk, accessed 2008-05-31.Known in German as the or was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party ( or NSDAP) leader Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff and oth ...

, Weber, by then a horse trader, was owed $1000 by Hitler after he had bought the debt from

Ernst Hanfstaengl Ernst Franz Sedgwick Hanfstaengl (; 2 February 1887 – 6 November 1975) was a German-American businessman and close friend of Adolf Hitler. He eventually fell out of favour with Hitler and defected from Nazi Germany to the United States. He lat ...

. Weber insisted on Hitler paying the debt. The two however remained close and Hanfstaengl later claimed that Weber was one of the few who could make fun of ''

Mein Kampf (; ''My Struggle'' or ''My Battle'') is a 1925 autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Ge ...

'' in Hitler's company. A city councilman in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, he was effectively the boss of the city following the Nazi seizure of power in 1933. Weber became a hated figure in the city, particularly amongst the middle classes, and he became a by-word for corruption as it was regularly questioned how a former hotel bellboy had come to own a number of hotels, villas, petrol stations, a brewery, the city's racecourse, its bus service, and a home in the Munich Residenz. Other titles that he acquired included presidency of the '' Reichsjagdmuseum'' and the League of German Riding Stable Owners.Schwarzwäller, ''The Unknown Hitler'', pg. 212. In 1934, during the

Night of the Long Knives The Night of the Long Knives ( German: ), or the Röhm purge (German: ''Röhm-Putsch''), also called Operation Hummingbird (German: ''Unternehmen Kolibri''), was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from 30 June to 2 July 1934. Chancellor A ...

, Weber was amongst the SS men who travelled to

Bad Wiessee Bad Wiessee (Central Bavarian: ''Bad Wiessä'') is a municipality in the district of Miesbach in Upper Bavaria in Germany. Since 1922, it has been a spa town and located on the western shore of the Tegernsee Lake. It had a population of around ...

to purge the ''

Sturmabteilung The (; SA; literally "Storm Detachment (military), Detachment") was the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing pro ...

'' (SA) leadership. Hitler personally rewarded him for his involvement by promoting him to the rank of SS-''

Oberführer __NOTOC__ ''Oberführer'' (short: ''Oberf'', , ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) dating back to 1921. An ''Oberführer'' was typically a NSDAP member in charge of a group of paramilitary units in a particular geographic ...

''. From 1936 to 1939, Weber organized the notorious " Night of the Amazons" carnivals at the

Nymphenburg Palace The Nymphenburg Palace (german: Schloss Nymphenburg, Palace of the Nymphs) is a Baroque palace situated in Munich's western district Neuhausen-Nymphenburg, in Bavaria, southern Germany. Combined with the adjacent Nymphenburg Palace Park it const ...

, which featured parades of topless variety show girls dressed only in skin-colored panties.Pope, Ernest R.: ''Munich Playground.'' New York 1941, pp. 35–36. Ever on the lookout for a chance to enrich himself, Weber was active on ''

Kristallnacht () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...

'' when he took a group of SS men, including a young

Hermann Fegelein Hans Otto Georg Hermann Fegelein (30 October 1906 – 28 April 1945) was a high-ranking commander in the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany. He was a member of Adolf Hitler's entourage and brother-in-law to Eva Braun through his marriage to her ...

, to

Planegg Planegg is a municipality in the district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the river Würm, 13 km west of Munich (centre). Economy Koch Media has its head office in Planegg. It also hosts many biotech-companies, like ADV ...

where they ransacked the estate of Jewish nobleman Baron . The estate eventually passed into Weber's possession. Weber took care of security arrangements for Nazi functions in Munich although he received criticism for this when his plans failed to prevent

Georg Elser Johann Georg Elser (; 4 January 1903 – 9 April 1945) was a German worker who planned and carried out an elaborate assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler and other high-ranking Nazi leaders on 8 November 1939 at the Bürgerbräukeller in ...

's bomb attack on the

Bürgerbräukeller The Bürgerbräukeller (; "citizen brew cellar") was a large beer hall in Munich, Germany. Opened in 1885, it was one of the largest beer halls of the Bürgerliches Brauhaus. After Bürgerliches merged with Löwenbräu in 1921, the hall was tran ...

on 8 November 1939, which missed Hitler and a number of other leading Nazis including

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

and

Alfred Rosenberg Alfred Ernst Rosenberg ( – 16 October 1946) was a Baltic German Nazi theorist and ideologue. Rosenberg was first introduced to Adolf Hitler by Dietrich Eckart and he held several important posts in the Nazi government. He was the head of ...

by only ten minutes. Despite this, Weber remained important in Munich, although ''

Gauleiter A ''Gauleiter'' () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a '' Gau'' or '' Reichsgau''. ''Gauleiter'' was the third-highest rank in the Nazi political leadership, subordinate only to ''Reichsleiter'' and to t ...

Paul Giesler Paul Giesler (15 June 1895 – 8 May 1945) was a German Nazi Party functionary responsible for acts of brutality which included killing opponents of the regime in southern Germany. He first joined the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in 1922; he reenrolled on ...

was a rival. The two clashed in 1943 over the continuation of

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

in the city and the dispute was ultimately brought to Hitler himself, where Giesler argued it should be banned as it was not conducive to total war. Hitler agreed in principle with Giesler but, due to the respect for his ''

Alter Kämpfer ''Alter Kämpfer'' (German for "Old Fighter"; plural: ''Alte Kämpfer'') is a term referring to the earliest members of the Nazi Party, i.e. those who joined it before the ''Reichstag'' 1930 German federal election, with many belonging to the par ...

'' comrade, he allowed racing to continue at the

Theresienwiese Theresienwiese is an open space in the Munich borough of Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt. It serves as the official ground of the Munich Oktoberfest. A space of , it is bordered in the west by the Ruhmeshalle and the Bavaria statue, symbolizing ...

only.

Death

Weber died in 1945 after being arrested by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

near

Starnberg Starnberg is a German town in Bavaria, Germany, some southwest of Munich. It is at the north end of Lake Starnberg, in the heart of the " Five Lakes Country", and serves as capital of the district of Starnberg. Recording a disposable per-cap ...

. He was one of a number of prisoners being carried in an open-backed lorry, which overturned. Weber suffered fatal injuries in the accident. His body was interred in a mass grave at

Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. From the late Middle Ages, it developed into an important trading centre. ...

.Dös Viech g'fallt mir
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weber, Christian 1883 births 1945 deaths People from Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen People from the Kingdom of Bavaria German Lutherans Nazi Party politicians Members of the Reichstag of Nazi Germany Officials of Nazi Germany German city councillors SS-Brigadeführer Military personnel of Bavaria Road incident deaths in Germany Prisoners who died in United States military detention 20th-century Lutherans Nazis who died in prison custody