Max Amann (24 November 1891 – 30 March 1957) was a high-ranking member of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

, a German politician, businessman and art collector, including of

looted art Looted art has been a consequence of looting during war, natural disaster and riot for centuries. Looting of art, archaeology and other cultural property may be an opportunistic criminal act or may be a more organized case of Crime, unlawful or u ...

. He was the first business manager of the Nazi Party and later became the head of (Eher Publishing), the official Nazi Party publishing house. He was also the '' Reichsleiter'' for the press. After the war ended, Amann was arrested by U.S. military occupation authorities. A denazification court deemed him a (Major Offender). Amann was sentenced to ten years in a labour camp and stripped of his property, pension rights, and virtually all of his fortune. Amann was released from custody in 1953, and died in poverty in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

four years later.

Early life

Amann was born in

on 24 November 1891. After attending volksschule and a business school, he worked for a few years as a commercial office apprentice and a salesman. He then enlisted in the 1st Royal Bavarian Infantry Regiment in October 1912. When the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

broke out he was transferred to the 16th Royal Bavarian Infantry Regiment and obtained the rank of '' Feldwebel'' (equivalent to the US Army

staff sergeant Staff sergeant is a Military rank, rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. History of title In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administr ...

). Amann was

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

's company sergeant, and was thus an early acquaintance of Hitler long before his rise to prominence in German politics. He was awarded the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...

second class during the war. He was discharged in December 1919.

Nazi career

Amann joined the

(NSDAP) in October 1921, as the Party's first business manager, and held NSDAP membership number 3. After 1922, he also led the Nazis' sole publishing house,

Eher Verlag Franz Eher Nachfolger GmbH (''Franz Eher and Successors, LLC'', usually referred to as the Eher-Verlag (''Eher Publishing'')) was the central publishing house of the Nazi Party and one of the largest book and periodical firms during the Nazi regi ...

. Eher Verlag published, among other imprints, the antisemitic satirical magazine '' Die Brennessel'' and the SS magazine '' Das Schwarze Korps'' ("The Black Corps"). Amann took part in the November 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 leader Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff and other leaders i ...

and in April 1924 was sentenced to four-and-a-half months in

Landsberg Prison Landsberg Prison is a prison in the town of Landsberg am Lech in the southwest of the German state of Bavaria, about west-southwest of Munich and south of Augsburg. It is best known as the prison where Adolf Hitler was held in 1924, after the ...

. During the period when the Nazi Party was banned, Amann was a leading member of the Greater German People's Community, a Nazi

front organization A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy ...

headquartered in Munich. In November 1924 he was elected as a NSDAP candidate to the Munich city council, serving until 1933. When the Nazi Party was reestablished on 27 February 1925, Amann immediately rejoined it. Amann's most notable contribution was persuading Hitler to retitle his first book from ''Viereinhalb Jahre (des Kampfes) gegen Lüge, Dummheit und Feigheit'', ("Four and a Half Years (of Struggle) Against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice") to ''

Mein Kampf (; ) is a 1925 Autobiography, autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The book outlines many of Political views of Adolf Hitler, Hitler's political beliefs, his political ideology and future plans for Nazi Germany, Ge ...

'', ("My Struggle") which he also published. The book became a major source of Eher-Verlag's income and Amann oversaw the book through many editions. He helped Hitler become a wealthy man. Amann also enriched himself through many Nazi publications. Amann published the daily '' Volkischer Beobachter'', the weekly '' Illustrierter Beobachter'' and the '' Nationalsozialistische Monatshefte''. On 5 March 1933 at the first parliamentary election after the

Nazi seizure of power The rise to power of Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919, when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He quickly rose t ...

, Amann was elected to the '' Reichstag'' from electoral constituency 24, Upper Bavaria–Swabia. He retained this seat until the fall of the Nazi regime in May 1945. On 2 June 1933, Hitler appointed him a '' Reichsleiter'', the second highest political rank in the Nazi Party. On 15 November 1933, Hitler named Amann the president of the Reich Press Chamber (''Reichspressekammer'') and Reich Press Leader. Amann joined the SS on 15 March 1932 with the rank of SS-''

Gruppenführer __NOTOC__ ''Gruppenführer'' (, ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA. Since then, the term ''Gruppenführer'' is also used for leaders of groups/teams of the police, fire d ...

'', was promoted to SS-''

Obergruppenführer (, ) was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissioned SS rank after ...

'' on 30 January 1936 and was assigned to the staff of the ''

Reichsführer-SS (, ) was a special title and rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945 for the commander of the (SS). ''Reichsführer-SS'' was a title from 1925 to 1933, and from 1934 to 1945 it was the highest Uniforms and insignia of the Schut ...

''. Amann pursued a dual-pronged strategy to establish Nazi control over the press industry. In his official role as president of the Press Chamber, Amann had the power to seize or close down any newspapers that either ran counter to the Nazis' wishes or did not fully support the Nazi regime. Then, as head of the Eher-Verlag, he bought them at a substantial discount–often at "auctions" at which the Eher-Verlag was the sole bidder. By 1942, Amann controlled 80% of all German newspapers through his publishing empire. Combined with the proceeds from ''Mein Kampf,'' this made the Eher-Verlag the largest newspaper and publishing company in Germany, and one of the largest in the world. His income increased from in 1934 to in 1944. As a party official Amann lacked talent, being a poor speaker and debater. In addition, his handwriting was illegible, thus his chief of staff and deputy, Rolf Rienhardt, performed these duties for him. Poor handwriting can be attributed in part to the loss of his left arm in an accident with a firearm while hunting with

Franz Ritter von Epp Franz Ritter von Epp (born Franz Epp; from 1918 as Ritter von Epp; 16 October 1868 – 31 January 1947)Lilla, Joachim: Epp, Franz Ritter v.'. In: Staatsminister, leitende Verwaltungsbeamte und (NS-)Funktionsträger in Bayern 1918 bis 194 ...

on 4 September 1931. Arrested by American troops after the war ended, Amann was deemed a ''Hauptschuldiger'' (Major Offender) and sentenced to ten years in a labour camp on 8 September 1948. He was released in 1953, but was stripped of his property, pension rights and practically all of his fortune. Amann died on 30 March 1957, in Munich.

Nazi-looted art

In 2014, the Bavarian State Painting Collections discovered in the

Pinakothek der Moderne The Pinakothek der Moderne (, '' Pinakothek of the Modern'') is a modern art museum, situated in central Munich's '' Kunstareal''. The building Designed by German architect Stephan Braunfels, the Pinakothek der Moderne was inaugurated in Se ...

's collection 14 art works that they suspected had belonged to Amann. The Pinakothek received the artworks in 1945 and could not detail their

provenance Provenance () is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including archaeology, p ...

enough to say whether they were looted or not. The German Lost Art Foundation listed the 10 paintings and 4 sculptures, which included works from Gabriel Mäleßkircher,

Franz von Stuck Franz Ritter von Stuck (February 23, 1863 – August 30, 1928), born Franz Stuck, was a German painter, sculptor, printmaker, and architect. Stuck was best known for his paintings of ancient mythology, receiving substantial critical acclaim with ...

, Friedrich Kaulbach and others, in the lostart.de database.

References

Sources

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External links