Reinhold Wulle ( – ) was a German
Völkisch politician and publicist active 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 ...
.
''Völkisch'' politics
Wulle was born in
Falkenberg
Falkenberg is a locality and the seat of Falkenberg Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 27,813 inhabitants in 2019 (out of a municipal total of about 45,000). It is located at the mouth of river Ätran. The name consists of the Swedish ...
,
Pomerania
Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...
. He studied theology, German and history and in 1908 embarked on a career as a journalist, becoming especially noted for his
anti-Semitic views.
Philip Rees
Philip Rees (born 1941) is a British writer and librarian formerly in charge of acquisitions at the J. B. Morrell Library, University of York. He has written books on fascism and the extreme right.
Works
*''Fascism in Britain'' (Harvester Pres ...
, ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890
The ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'' is a reference book by Philip Rees, on leading people in the various far right movements since 1890.
It contains entries for what the author regards as "the 500 major figures on the r ...
'', Simon & Schuster, 1990, p. 415 He became editor of the
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
-based ''Deutsche Zeitung'' in 1918 – holding the position until 1920 – and under his stewardship the paper gave support to the
Pan-German movement.
Wulle entered party politics in the spring of 1920 when he joined fellow
rightists Arnold Ruge
Arnold Ruge (13 September 1802 – 31 December 1880) was a German philosopher and political writer. He was the older brother of Ludwig Ruge.
Studies in university and prison
Born in Bergen auf Rügen, he studied in Halle, Jena and Heidelberg. ...
and
Richard Kunze
Richard Kunze (5 February 1872 in Sagan – May 1945) was a German right-wing politician known for his anti-Semitism.
Early years
Kunze's political career began around 1914 when he was employed by the German Conservative Party along with fell ...
in creating the ''Deutschvölkischen Arbeitsring Berlin'' as a successor to the
Deutschvölkischer Schutz und Trutzbund. However this group proved short-lived as it was absorbed into the
German National People's Party
The German National People's Party (german: Deutschnationale Volkspartei, DNVP) was a national-conservative party in Germany during the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the Nazi Party, it was the major conservative and nationalist party in Wei ...
(DNVP) in June of the same year. Wulle became a leading member of the Völkisch wing of the DNVP, and as such was close to the likes of fellow
Reichstag members
Albrecht von Graefe Albrecht von Graefe may refer to:
* Albrecht von Graefe (ophthalmologist) (1828-1870), Prussian opthalmologist
* Albrecht von Graefe (politician)
Albrecht von Graefe (1 January 1868 – 18 April 1933) was a German landowner and right-wing ...
and
Wilhelm Henning.
Henning was excluded from the DNVP in 1922 due to his extreme views and Wulle joined his comrade and von Graefe in setting up a völkisch working group. This formed the basis of the
German Völkisch Freedom Party (DVFP), an
anti-Semitic political party which they established on 16 December 1922 with Wulle as deputy chairman. Wulle and his allies were all members of the Reichstag and they were soon joined in leading the party by the likes of
Ernst Graf zu Reventlow
Ernst Christian Einar Ludvig Detlev, Graf zu Reventlow (18 August 1869 – 21 November 1943) was a German naval officer, journalist and Nazi politician.
Early life
Ernst Christian Einar Ludvig Detlev, Graf (Count) zu Reventlow was born at Husum, ...
,
Artur Dinter
Artur Dinter (27 June 1876 – 21 May 1948) was a German writer and Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' of Gau Thuringia.
Biography
Dinter was born in Mulhouse, in Alsace-Lorraine, German Empire (now France) to Josef Dinter, a custom ...
and
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 ...
.
[Richard S. Levy, ''Antisemitism'', ABC-CLIO, 2005, p. 265] During his involvement in the DVFP Wulle was investigated for involvement in a possible coup attempt by the
Black Reichswehr
Black Reichswehr (german: Schwarze Reichswehr) was the name for the extra-legal paramilitary formations promoted by the German Reichswehr army during the time of the Weimar Republic; it was raised despite restrictions imposed by the Versailles Tre ...
, although little came of it.
Given their
far right, anti-Semitic views the DVFP soon began to co-operate with the
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 t ...
, notably during the period in which the latter was officially illegal and
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
was imprisoned (although links between Wulle and Hitler actually dated back as far as 1920, when the two held a series of meetings). On this basis Wulle was re-elected to the Reichstag in the
May 1924 election for the
National Socialist Freedom Movement
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 ...
although the alliance with the NSDAP was somewhat shaky with Wulle criticising the
Socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
'
class war
Class War is an anarchist group and newspaper established by Ian Bone and others in 1983 in the United Kingdom. An incarnation of Class War was briefly registered as a political party for the purposes of fighting the 2015 United Kingdom gener ...
' mentality that was still rife in many sections of the Nazi Party at that time in party documents. With personality clashes also an issue, Wulle joined Reventlow, Graefe and Fritsch in splitting away to form their own Deutschvölkische Freiheitsbewegung in 1925 with the DVFP re-established soon afterwards.
Wulle became party chairman in 1928, although by then it had lost most of its membership to the Nazis and he soon became the leading authoritarian conservative enemy of the
Harzburg Front. Wulle remained DVFP leader until 1933.
Wulle's main ideological influences were
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 ...
and
Julius Langbehn
Julius Langbehn (26 March 1851 – 30 April 1907) was a German national Romantic art historian and philosopher. He was born in Hadersleben, Schleswig (now Haderslev in Denmark), and died in Rosenheim.
Biography
Langbehn was born in Hadersleb ...
and he argued that a spiritual revolution was needed in Germany before any thought could be given to a seizure of power.
Attracted to German cultural nationalism and some of the pagan themes that it entailed, Wulle nonetheless remained a committed Christian and the problems of reconciling these two strands were a frequent theme in his written work, of which ''Die Sendung des Nordes'' was the best known.
He also sought to advocate his views elsewhere and made a speaking tour of
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
in 1927, advancing his
Pan-German
Pan-Germanism (german: Pangermanismus or '), also occasionally known as Pan-Germanicism, is a pan-nationalist political idea. Pan-Germanists originally sought to unify all the German-speaking people – and possibly also Germanic-speaking ...
opinions.
Under the Nazis
Following the establishment of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
in 1933 Wulle, who had become a staunch monarchist, welcomed the leadership of Hitler as part of a transition period towards a re-establishment of the
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
n monarchy in his newsletter, which he continued to publish. He quickly became disillusioned with Hitler however, decrying what he saw as Hitler's immorality and dismissing him as "a Bavarian cross-breed between
Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
and
Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Ver ...
".
Initially allowed to carry on some of his activities, Wulle was arrested on 17 August 1938 for breaching the "
Heimtückegesetz" (Insidiousness Law) and the law against the new formation by parties. His two initiatives, the ''Gesellschaft Deutsche Freiheit'' and the ''Informationsbriefe'', were banned whilst he was also expelled from the
Reichsschrifttumskammer. Initially held in prison in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
he was taken into 'protective custody' in
Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoner ...
in 1940, although he was a somewhat co-operative prisoner and enjoyed a comparatively easy time as a result, including being allowed to receive
cigars
A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaves made to be smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct components: the filler, the binder le ...
from
Prince Wilhelm of Prussia. His release was eventually secured by
Wilhelm Frick
Wilhelm Frick (12 March 1877 – 16 October 1946) was a prominent German politician of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), who served as Reich Minister of the Interior in Adolf Hitler's cabinet from 1933 to 1943 and as the last governor of the Protectorate ...
, a ''Völkisch'' enthusiast and former National Socialist Freedom Movement colleague.
Post-war activity
At the end of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
Wulle settled in Gronau where he established the ''Deutsche Aufbaupartei'' on 31 October 1945 along with
Joachim Ostau. The party was staunchly
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
and supported the re-establishment of the monarchy, whilst dismissing
Nazism
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) i ...
as "a strange conqueror of Germany and the German soul". The party merged into the
Deutsche Konservative Partei in 1946.
Wulle was briefly brought before the British
military government who felt that, whilst he was not a Nazi as such, his ideas did not promote
democracy
Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...
to the German people.
[Schmollinger, 'Deutsche Konservative Partei', p. 987]
He died in
Gronau, North Rhine-Westphalia.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wulle, Reinhold
1882 births
1950 deaths
People from Świdwin County
German National People's Party politicians
German Völkisch Freedom Party politicians
National Socialist Freedom Movement politicians
Deutsche Rechtspartei politicians
German monarchists
German nationalists
Sachsenhausen concentration camp survivors
Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic
People from the Province of Pomerania