Karl Künstler (12 January 1901 – presumably April 1945) was a German SS-''

Obersturmbannführer __NOTOC__ ''Obersturmbannführer'' (Senior Assault-unit Leader; ; short: ''Ostubaf'') was a paramilitary rank in the German Nazi Party ( NSDAP) which was used by the SA (''Sturmabteilung'') and the SS (''Schutzstaffel''). The rank of ' was juni ...

'' and commandant of

Flossenbürg concentration camp Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office. Unlike other concentration camps, it was located in a remote area, in the Fichtel Mountains of Bavaria, adjacent to the town of Flos ...

Life

Künstler, whose father was a barber, worked at a post office in Kassel in 1915, against the wishes of his parents, after completing school. From 1919, he was a '' Berufssoldat'' (professional soldier) and served for 12 years in the

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' (; ) was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first two years of Nazi Germany. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

, where he attended the ''Heeresfachschule für Verwaltung und Wirtschaft'' (Army Technical School of Management and Economics) in addition to various training courses. His marriage in 1929 resulted in two children. Künstler, who rose in the Reichswehr to the rank of

Feldwebel '' '' (Fw or F, ) is a non-commissioned officer (NCO) rank in several countries. The rank originated in Germany, and is also used in Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, and Estonia. The rank has also been used in Russia, Austria-Hungary, occupied Serbia ...

, retired from the military in 1931. In 1931, he joined the SS (member no. 40,005) and then also 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 ...

(member no. 1,238,648). From 1931, he served full-time in the SS. From 1934 to 1935, he was assigned to the ''

SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT, ) was formed in 1934 as combat troops for the Nazi Party (NSDAP). On 17 August 1938 Adolf Hitler decreed that the SS-VT was neither a part of the (order police) nor the , but military-trained men at the disposal of the . In time of wa ...

'' in

Jüterbog Jüterbog () is a historic town in north-eastern Germany, in the Teltow-Fläming district of Brandenburg. It is on the Nuthe river at the northern slope of the Fläming hill range, about southwest of Berlin. History The Polabian Slavs, Slavic se ...

and then briefly to the ''

SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV; or 'SS Death's Head Battalions') was a major branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary (SS) organisation. It was responsible for administering the Nazi concentration camps, concentration camps and extermination camps of Nazi Germany ...

'' Brandenburg. After a completed course at the

SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz SS-Junker Schools (German ''SS-Junkerschulen'') were leadership training facilities for officer candidates of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). The term ''Junkerschulen'' was introduced by Nazi Germany in 1937, although the first facilities were establi ...

in 1936, he was transferred to the ''SS-Totenkopfstandarte'' Oberbayern and rose to become its commander in December 1939.

Concentration camp commandant

In January 1939, Künstler became commandant at

after the previous commandant Jakob Weiseborn had committed suicide on 20 January 1939. Under Künstler, who was regarded as arbitrary, the death toll skyrocketed. In addition, he was responsible for mass executions of Polish and Soviet prisoners, introduced a special two-week holiday for the guards, and also shot prisoners on the run. In August 1942, Künstler was relieved from his post as commandant of the camp by

Oswald Pohl Oswald Ludwig Pohl (; 30 June 1892 – 7 June 1951) was a German high-ranking SS official during the Nazi era. As the head of the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office and the head administrator of the Nazi concentration camps, he was a ke ...

. He was succeeded for two months by his deputy, '' Schutzhaftlagerführer''

Karl Fritzsch Karl Fritzsch (10 July 1903 – 2 May 1945) was a German SS official who served as deputy and acting commandant at the Auschwitz concentration camp from 1940 to 1941. He is best known as the official responsible for the death of priest Maximili ...

, before

Egon Zill Egon Gustav Adolf Zill (28 March 1906 in Plauen – 23 October 1974 in Munich) was a German ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) ''Sturmbannführer'' and concentration camp commandant. Zill was born in Plauen. The son of a brewer from Plauen, Zill's father was s ...

was appointed camp commandant. The reasons for Künstler's dismissal as camp commandant lay in his debauchery and his chronic alcohol abuse. Künstler, like other concentration camp commandants and personnel, was caught in the sights of SS judge Georg Konrad Morgen, who prosecuted corruption in the concentration camps. After that, he was demoted to the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division ''Prinz Eugen'' and probably died in the Battle of Nuremberg in April 1945. Künstler was declared dead in

Erlangen Erlangen (; , ) is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 119,810 inhabitants (as of 30 September 2024), it is the smalle ...

in 1949.''This article contains a translation of the corresponding article in the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia () is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on 16 March 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia edition (after the English Wikipedia). It has articles, ma ...

Bibliography

Karin Orth Karin Orth (born 1963) is a German historian, known for her research into the Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territor ...

: ''Die Konzentrationslager-SS.'' dtv, Munich 2004, *

Tom Segev Tom Segev (; born March 1, 1945) is an Israeli historian, author and journalist. He is associated with Israel's New Historians, a group critical of many of the country's traditional narratives. Biography Segev was born on March 1, 1945 in Jeru ...

. ''Soldiers of Evil: The Commandants of the Nazi Concentration Camps''. 1988, * Karin Orth: ''Das System der nationalsozialistischen Konzentrationslager.'' Pendo Verlag, Hamburg 2002, *

Ernst Klee Ernst Klee (15 March 1942, Frankfurt – 18 May 2013, Frankfurt) was a German journalist and author. As a writer on Germany's history, he was best known for his exposure and documentation of medical crimes in Nazi Germany, much of which was conce ...

. ''Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich''. Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, 2005,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunstler, Karl 1901 births 1945 deaths SS-Obersturmbannführer Holocaust perpetrators in Germany Nazi concentration camp commandants Flossenbürg concentration camp personnel Waffen-SS personnel killed in action People declared dead in absentia People from Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis Military personnel from the Province of Saxony Reichswehr personnel