The ''Deutschvölkischer Schutz- und Trutzbund'' (English: German Nationalist Protection and Defiance Federation) was the largest, and most active

anti-semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

federation in Germany after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighti ...

,Beurteilung des Reichskommissars für Überwachung der öffentlichen Ordnung in einem Schreiben an den Staatsgerichtshof zum Schutze der Republik, 20 November 1922, quoted from Lohalm 1970, pg. 11. and an organization forming a significant part of the ''völkisch'' movement during the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

(1918–1933), whose democratic-parliamentary system it unilaterally rejected. Its publishing arm issued books that greatly influenced the opinions of

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 ...

leaders such as

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 ...

, Padfield, Peter. ''Himmler: Reichsführer SS''. New York: Henry Holt, 1990. p. 107 and after the Bund folded ( 1924) many of its members eventually joined the Nazis.

Origin

The ''Deutschvölkischer Schutz- und Trutzbund'' was originally called the ''Deutscher Schutz- und Trutzbund'' when it was founded in February 1919 in

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castle. C ...

for the purpose of "fighting"

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

, during a meeting of the '' Alldeutscher Verband'' ("All-German League"). The director of ''Deutscher Schutz- und Trutzbund'' was Alfred Roth, and its secret chairman was Konstantin von Gebsattel, appointed on 1 October 1919 by Ernst von Hertzberg Lottin. Their Advisory Board included, among others, Ernst Anton Franz von Bodelschwingh,

Theodor Fritsch Theodor Fritsch (born Emil Theodor Fritsche; 28 October 1852 – 8 September 1933), was a German publisher and journalist. His antisemitic writings did much to influence popular German opinion against Jews in the late 19th and early 20th c ...

, August Gebhard, Paul Lucius, Ferdinand Werner, Julius Friedrich Lehmann, and Georg von Stössel. Their meeting place was originally in

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in Nort ...

, at Alfred Roth's house, but was later moved to

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

where it joined the amalgamation of several such other organizations. It merged with the ''

Reichshammerbund Reichshammerbund (Reich Hammer League) was a German anti-Semitic movement founded in 1912 by Theodor Fritsch. Based on ''The Hammer'', a journal founded by Fritsch in 1902, the Bund argued that Jewish influences had contaminated Germany and attempt ...

'', and then, about one month later, merged with the ''Deutschvölkischer Bund'', the organization that succeeded the ''Deutschvölkische Partei''.Werner Jochmann: ''Nationalsozialismus und Revolution : Ursprung und Geschichte der NSDAP in Hamburg 1922 - 1933. Dokumente.'' Europäische Verlagsanstalt, Hamburg 1963, pg. 25.

Manifesto

The manifesto of the ''Deutschvölkischer Schutz- und Trutzbund'' was ''Wenn ich der Kaiser wär'' ("If I Were the

Kaiser ''Kaiser'' is the German word for " emperor" (female Kaiserin). In general, the German title in principle applies to rulers anywhere in the world above the rank of king (''König''). In English, the (untranslated) word ''Kaiser'' is mainly a ...

"), written by All-German League president Heinrich Claß, in which he expressed identitarian, nationalist views. His slogan was: "Germany for the Germans."Ulrich Sieg, Deutschlands Prophet.

Paul de Lagarde Paul Anton de Lagarde (2 November 1827 – 22 December 1891) was a German biblical scholar and orientalist, sometimes regarded as one of the greatest orientalists of the 19th century. Lagarde's strong support of anti-Semitism, vocal opposition t ...

und die Ursprünge des modernen Antisemitismus, München 2007, pg. 327. Julius Friedrich Lehmann, a

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 ...

publisher, helped promote their ideas, and in October 1918, Claß called for a coup d'etat. The organization agitated against the

; by 1923 it had just under 180,000 members.

Symbols

The Schutz- und Trutzbund used as its symbols a blue cornflower and a swastika. According to British author

Peter Padfield Peter L. N. Padfield (3 April 1932 – 14 March 2022) was a British author, biographer, historian, and journalist who specialised in naval history and in the Second World War period. His early journalism appeared under the name P. L. N. Padfield ...

its motto was ''"Wir sind die Herren der Welt!"'' ("We are the masters of the world!"). However, not a single German source can be found which confirms this motto, which in fact is a verse from the song "''Der mächtigste König im Luftrevier''" (i.e. The mightiest king in the skies.) According to German historian Ulrich Sieg the organization's motto was ''Deutschland den Deutschen'' ("Germany for the Germans"). Ulrich Sieg highlights another motto: ''Deutschland den Deutschen'' ("Germany for the Germans"). See

Constitution

An excerpt from the constitution of the ''Deutschvölkischer Schutz- und Trutzbund:

''The Bund fights for the moral rebirth of the German people ... It considers the pernicious and destructive influence of Jewry to be the main cause of the defeat and the removal of this influence to be necessary for the political and economic recovery of Germany, and for the salvation of German culture.Waite, p 206, quoting Alfred Roth, ''Aus der Kampfzeit'' ''

Notable Deutschvölkischer Schutz- und Trutzbund members

* Herbert Albrecht * Karl Astel *

Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski Erich Julius Eberhard von dem Bach-Zelewski (born Erich Julius Eberhard von Zelewski; 1 March 1899 – 8 March 1972) was a high-ranking SS commander of Nazi Germany. During World War II, he was in charge of the Nazi security warfare against th ...

Werner Best Karl Rudolf Werner Best (10 July 1903 – 23 June 1989) was a German jurist, police chief, SS-''Obergruppenführer'', Nazi Party leader, and theoretician from Darmstadt. He was the first chief of Department 1 of the Gestapo, Nazi Germany's secret ...

* Ernst Boepple *

Philipp Bouhler Philipp Bouhler (11 September 1899 – 19 May 1945) was a German senior Nazi Party functionary who was both a (National Leader) and Chief of the Chancellery of the Führer of the NSDAP. He was also the SS official responsible for the euthanas ...

* Walter Buch * Leonardo Conti *

Heinrich Deubel Heinrich Deubel (19 February 1890 – 2 October 1962) was a German soldier, civil servant, World War I veteran and officer in the Schutzstaffel serving as commandant of Dachau concentration camp. World War I and Nazi Party membership Deubel wa ...

* Artur Dinter *

Oskar Dirlewanger Oskar Paul Dirlewanger (26 September 1895 – ) was a German military officer ('' SS-Oberführer'') who served as the founder and commander of the Nazi SS penal unit "Dirlewanger" during World War II. Serving in Poland and in Belarus, his nam ...

Dietrich Eckart Dietrich Eckart (; 23 March 1868 – 26 December 1923) was a German '' völkisch'' poet, playwright, journalist, publicist, and political activist who was one of the founders of the German Workers' Party, the precursor of the Nazi Party. Eckart ...

* Friedrich Karl Florian *

Wilhelm Grimm Wilhelm Carl Grimm (also Karl; 24 February 178616 December 1859) was a German author and anthropologist, and the younger brother of Jacob Grimm, of the literary duo the Brothers Grimm. Life and work Wilhelm was born in February 1786 in Hanau, i ...

Josef Grohé Josef Grohé (6 November 1902 – 27 December 1987) was a German Nazi Party official. He was the long-serving ''Gauleiter'' of Gau Cologne-Aachen and ''Reichskommissar'' for Belgium and Northern France toward the end of the Second World W ...

* Heinrich Haake * Ludolf Haase * Otto Hellmuth *

Hans Helwig Hans Helwig (25 September 1881 – 24 August 1952) was a German Nazi Party politician, World War I veteran, Schutzstaffel general and Nazi concentration camp commandant. An early member of the Nazi movement he fulfilled a number of roles withi ...

Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( ; ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a high-ranking German SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust. He was chief of the Reich Security Main Office (inclu ...

, co-architect of the

holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ar ...

Karl Kaufmann Karl Kaufmann (10 October 1900 – 4 December 1969) was a German politician who served as a Nazi Party ''Gauleiter'' from 1925 to 1945 and as the ''Reichsstatthalter'' (Reich Governor) of Hamburg from 1933 to 1945. Early life Kaufmann was the ...

* Georg Joel * Josef Klant * Richard Kunze * J. F. Lehmann *

Viktor Lutze Viktor Lutze (28 December 1890 – 2 May 1943) was a German Nazi Party functionary and the commander of the ''Sturmabteilung'' ("SA") who succeeded Ernst Röhm as ''Stabschef'' and '' Reichsleiter''. He died from injuries received in a car ...

Walter Maass Walter Maass (born 30 August 1901) was a Nazi Party politician who served briefly as the Deputy ''Gauleiter'' and Acting ''Gauleiter'' in the Free City of Danzig. He was also a member of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) throughout the Nazi regime. Ear ...

* Eugen Munder *

Wilhelm Murr Wilhelm Murr (16 December 1888 – 14 May 1945) was a Nazi German politician. From 1928 until his death he was ''Gauleiter'' of Gau Württemberg-Hohenzollern, and from early 1933 held the offices of State President and ''Reichsstatthalter'' (Re ...

Martin Mutschmann Martin Mutschmann (9 March 1879 – 14 February 1947) was the Nazi Regional Leader (''Gauleiter'') of the state of Saxony (''Gau Saxony'') during the time of the Third Reich. Early years Born in Hirschberg on the Saale in the Principality ...

* Wilhelm Ohnesorge * Friedrich Ringshausen * Alfred Roth *

Bernhard Rust Bernhard Rust (30 September 1883 – 8 May 1945) was Minister of Science, Education and National Culture ( Reichserziehungsminister) in Nazi Germany.Claudia Koonz, ''The Nazi Conscience'', p 134 A combination of school administrator and zealous ...

Fritz Sauckel Ernst Friedrich Christoph "Fritz" Sauckel (27 October 1894 – 16 October 1946) was a German Nazi politician, ''Gauleiter'' of Gau Thuringia from 1927 and the General Plenipotentiary for Labour Deployment ('' Arbeitseinsatz'') from March 1942 unt ...

Franz Xaver Schwarz Franz Xaver Schwarz (27 November 1875 – 2 December 1947) was a high ranking German Nazi Party official who served as ''Reichsschatzmeister'' (National Treasurer) of the Party throughout most of its existence. He was also one of the highes ...

* Franz Schwede * Wolfram Sievers * Franz Walter Stahlecker *

Julius Streicher Julius Streicher (12 February 1885 – 16 October 1946) was a member of the Nazi Party, the ''Gauleiter'' (regional leader) of Franconia and a member of the '' Reichstag'', the national legislature. He was the founder and publisher of the virul ...

* Ernst Werner Techow * Otto Telschow *

Felix Wankel Felix Heinrich Wankel (; 13 August 1902 – 9 October 1988) was a German mechanical engineer and inventor after whom the Wankel engine was named. Early life Wankel was born in 1902 in Lahr in what was then the Grand Duchy of Baden in the Upper R ...

* Karl Weinrich

References

Notes

Bibliography

*Roth, Alfred. ''Aus der Kampfzeit des Deutschvölkischen Schutz-und-Trutzbundes. Hamburg, 1939 *Waite, Robert G L. ''Vanguard of Nazism''. 1969, W W Norton and Company

External links

Article from the Historical Dictionary of Bavaria website
* Martin Ulmer: “The Enemy is in the Country: The Jew.” Poster Stamps Printed by the Deutschvölkischen Schutz- und Trutz-Bundes (German Nationalist Protection and Defiance Federation), in: Key Documents of German-Jewish History, September 22, 2016. {{DEFAULTSORT:Deutschvolkischer Schutz- Und TrutzbUnd Antisemitism in Germany Early Nazism (–1933) Ethnic supremacy German nationalist organizations Organizations based in the Weimar Republic