Kurt Nehrling (February 13, 1899 – December 22, 1943) was a German Social Democratic politician and member of the German resistance against

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 ...

. Nehrling was responsible for supplying information to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and hid

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. He was later caught by the SS and killed at the Dachau concentration camp.

Biography

Kurt Nehrling was born in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

to restaurateurs Max and Emma Nehrling. His parents' restaurant, ''Zum Goldenen Stern'' in the Jakobstrasse, was a popular workers'

tavern A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern t ...

and served as a meeting place for members of the Social-Democratic People Association (a local chapter of the

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been t ...

). This exposure influenced Nehrling's future political career.Biography
at SPD-Weimar From 1901 to 1905, membership in the local chapter of the SPD increased dramatically from 120 to 616. The party therefore created an autonomous social and cultural environment in the worker-populated areas of the Weimar. In 1907, the Social Democrats, trade unions, and associations laid the foundation for their own building, the "Community Center". Two years later, a local group of the Socialist Worker Youth was founded there. Nehrling joined the SPD in 1919. In the years following

World War I 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 fightin ...

, he worked at the district administration of Weimar. There he became acquainted with Marie Prox, the daughter of Emil Prox, the chairman to the Social Democratic People Association. In 1921, Nehrling married Prox but tragedy struck two years later when Marie died from complications of childbirth with their second child. Nehrling, however, continued to maintain strong relations with his father-in-law. Although Prox is not very well remembered today, Nehrling's son later recalled his significance on his father's life. In 1923, Nehrling was working as an employee in the

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

n Ministry of Economic Affairs when he met and later married his second wife, Hedwig Nehrling. In 1929, Nehrling became ill with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

. This was a long illness, finally breaking in 1931. Although employed in the Thüringer government, the

National Socialists 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 Na ...

broke all relationship with the

in 1933 and terminated all non-National Socialist employment. Kurt and Hedwig Nehrling had immense financial problems in these years. In their dwelling they opened ''Homestead Way 16'' (today Kurt Nehrling road) a provisional linen shop. Later moving to a corner shop at the Zeppelinplatz. At this time Kurt Nehrling joined the Social-Democratic '' Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold'', a front fighter organization formed to defend the Republic from National Socialist control. Kurt Nehrling death certificate Dachau Arolsen Archives DocID10218822

Kurt Nehrling death certificate Dachau Arolsen Archives DocID10218822

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nehrling, Kurt 1899 births 1943 deaths German civilians killed in World War II Politicians from Weimar People from Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Executed German Resistance members Resistance members who died in Nazi concentration camps German people who died in Dachau concentration camp Politicians who died in Nazi concentration camps People from Thuringia executed in Nazi concentration camps

Biography

See also

References