Heinrich Schmidt (13 December 1902 – 20 December 1960) was a

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

politician and mayor of

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Lei ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He was also a member of the Prussian State Parliament and the Nazi Reichstag.

Life

Schmidt was born in

Lehrte Lehrte is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 17 km east of Hanover. In the 19th century Lehrte was the most important railway junction in the former Kingdom of Hanover. As of the 21st ...

. After attending elementary school he attended the municipal trade school and graduated after a three-year apprenticeship. He worked as a merchant until 1927. In 1923 Schmidt joined the German People's Party (german: Deutsche Volkspartei or DVP), a liberal political party in the early

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 ...

. In 1924 he then joined the

National Socialist Freedom Party The National Socialist Freedom Movement (, NSFB) or National Socialist Freedom Party (, NSFP) was a political party in Weimar Germany created in April 1924 during the aftermath of the Beer Hall Putsch. Adolf Hitler and many Nazi leaders were jai ...

, a front organization of the NSDAP. Schmidt joined the

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

after the ban on it was lifted in the spring of 1925. In 1927, he also joined the

Sturmabteilung The (; SA; literally "Storm 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 protection for Nazi ral ...

, the paramilitary arm of the Nazi party. From 1927 to 1932 Schmidt served as Party

Kreisleiter ''Kreisleiter'' (; "District Leader") was a Nazi Party political rank and title which existed as a political rank between 1930 and 1945 and as a Nazi Party title from as early as 1928. The position of ''Kreisleiter'' was first formed to provide ...

in his local district. Schmidt also was a frequent public speaker for the Party in the 1930s. Schmidt first held public office on the City Council of

Hameln Hamelin ( ; german: Hameln ) is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont and has a population of roughly 57,000. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Hi ...

from 1929 to 1931. He also served as a member of the Hanoverian provincial Parliament. In the Nazi press, Schmidt worked for the ''Niedersächsischen Beobachter'' newspaper from 1927 to 1931 and then from 1932 was a contributor to the magazine '' Arbeitertum'' (). Between 1932 and 1933, Schmidt served in the Prussian Landtag as a member of the Nazi party for the constituency of South-Hannover. After the dissolution of the Prussian State Parliament in the autumn of 1933, Schmidt was "elected" to the National

Reichstag (Nazi Germany) The Reichstag ("Diet of the Realm"), officially the Greater German Reichstag (''Großdeutscher Reichstag'') after 1938, was the parliament of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. In effect it essentially served as a rubber stamp parliament. Followin ...

for Constituency 16 (South Hanover-Braunschweig) in November 1933. After the

Nazi Seizure of Power Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919 when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He rose to a place of prominence in the early years of the party. Be ...

, Schmidt also became a member of the Hanoverian Provincial Committee and a member of various other Boards in the province. On 1 April 1933, Schmidt won the election for the City Council in

and on 24 August of that year he took over the Office of Mayor. He disappeared in the fall of 1935 after a defamation case was brought against him. Andreas Dornieden, a political rival, then moved to take over his various seats. Schmidt resigned his Reichstag seat on 28 January 1936. After the war, he returned to Hildesheim. He was sentenced to six years in prison by the local District Court for his activities during the Nazi period. He died in Bredenbeck,

in 1960.

References

* Joachim Lilla: ''Statisten in Uniform. Die Mitglieder des Reichstags 1933–1945'' (Düsseldorf: Droste Verlag, 2004) . *Erich Stockhorst: ''5000 Heads – Who was Who in the Third Reich'' (Kiel:

Arndt Verlag Arndt Verlag is a German publishing house that belongs to the publishing group of the neo-Nazism in Germany, neo-Nazi publisher . It specialises in historical negationism, historical negationist literature. Arndt's authors include David Irving, ...

, 2000) .

External links

Heinrich Schmidt in the Databank of the Reichstag
in German.

in the catalog of the

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Heinrich 1902 births 1960 deaths German nationalists Nazi Party politicians National Socialist Freedom Movement politicians Members of the Reichstag of Nazi Germany Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic Mayors of places in Lower Saxony People from Hanover Region Sturmabteilung personnel Nazis convicted of war crimes Politicians from the Province of Hanover Criminals from Lower Saxony Prisoners and detainees of Germany