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September 24, 2012
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I am inspried by my ancestor who fought despite the odds for what he believed in. The images I will post are from the Bundesarchiv as I am purchasing and searching for lost images. Korvettenkapitän Hermann Ehrhardt was my Grandmother's uncle (on my mother's side). He even had the guts to stand up to Adolph Hitler. Though he lost, he survived. I wonder what Germany would be like if he had defeated Hitler. Ah, yes, the Kaiser would be restored as would the Empire.

Today my cousins maintain his grave marker and we remember all he did.
This is a brief write-up of Korvettenkapitän Hermann Ehrhardt and 2. Marine Brigade Ehrhardt from Wilipekia.
"Hermann Ehrhardt (29 November 1881 – 27 September 1971) was a German Freikorps commander during the period of turmoil in Weimar Republic Germany from 1918 to 1920, he commanded the famous II.Marine Brigade, better known as the Ehrhardt Brigade or Marinebrigade Ehrhardt.
Born in Diersburg, now part of Hohberg, Baden-Württemberg, he later joined the German Imperial Navy and served as a Korvettenkapitän. A strong opponent of the Treaty of Versailles, he developed strong monarchist views. During the period after the defeat of the German Empire, Ehrhardt formed the II.Marine Brigade.
Holding the rank of Korvettenkapitän, his army equivalent rank was only that of a major, yet he still commanded a force of around 6,000 men. His force fought in north-west Germany, central Germany, Upper Silesia, and Bavaria and participated in the unsuccessful Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch of 1920, afterwards he fled Germany, but later returned. In Bavaria, which was ruled by Gustav von Kahr at that time, he formed the Organisation Consul, and later the Viking Bund, a secret military society.
During the Beer Hall Putsch, Ehrhardt and his deputy commander Eberhard Kautter refused to have the league help Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party. Ehrhardt would later unsuccessfully contest the leadership with Hitler, but unlike their commander, most of Ehrhardt's men joined the Nazi Party except for his most loyal followers, loyal to the Kaiser over the Nazis.
Ehrhardt was one of those listed to die during the Night of the Long Knives but he managed to escape to Austria. He was later invited back to Nazi Germany. He died in 1971 in Krems an der Donau.
The Marinebrigade Ehrhardt was a Free Corps (Freikorps) group of around 6,000 men formed by Captain (Korvettenkapitän) Hermann Ehrhardt in the aftermath of World War I, also known as II Marine Brigade or the Ehrhardt Brigade. It took part in the fighting for the cities of central Germany and the northwestern ports, in addition to participating in the Kapp Putsch.
The Brigade was formed from former Kaiserliche Marine personnel in the area of Generalkommando des Garde-Korps (Berlin). It was commanded by the conservative Nationalist Hermann Ehrhardt and fought alongside the Freiw.Landesschützenkorps under General von Roeder in the retaking of Northwest German ports such as Bremen, Cuxhaven and Wilhelmshaven in early 1919. After the defeat of the northern communist forces the Brigade marched to the industrial cities of central Germany (along with the Freiw.Landesjägerkorps, I Marine Brigade, Freikorps Hülsen, Freikorps Görlitz and Freikorps von Oven) to defeat the local communist uprisings.
After the defeat of the uprisings, the Brigade went on to fight the Bavarian Soviet Republic during the spring of 1919. It made up only a small fraction of the total Freikorps forces, which totaled to around 30,000 men. At the end of April the Freikorps closed in on Munich. The Red Guards began arresting suspected "counterrevolutionaries" and on April 29, eight men, including the well-connected Prince Gustav of Thurn and Taxis, were executed as "right-wing spies". Soon after, on May 3, the Freikorps attacked and defeated the insurgent forces after bitter street fights in which over 1,000 communist insurgents were killed. About 800 men and women were arrested and executed by the victorious Freikorps.
In August 1919, the Brigade went to Upper Silesia, where Polish nationalists had attempted to forcibly annex the region to Poland. Local Freikorps, reinforced by groups such as the Brigade and the III Marine Brigade, easily repressed the First Silesian Uprising.
After the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the new Weimar Republic had friends neither in the Freikorps nor the old Imperial army and many conspiracies blossomed. The Marinebrigade Ehrhardt was involved in one of them, the Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch.
In March 1920, orders were issued for the disbandment of the Brigade. Its leaders were determined to resist dissolution and appealed for support to General Walther von Lüttwitz, commander of the Weimar Republic's Armed Forces (Reichswehr) in Berlin. Lüttwitz, an organizer of Freikorps units in 1918-19 and a fervent monarchist, responded by calling on President Ebert and Defense Minister Noske to stop the disbandment. When Ebert refused, Lüttwitz ordered the Brigade to march on Berlin. It occupied the capital on March 13. Lüttwitz, therefore, was the driving force behind the putsch. Its nominal leader, though, was Wolfgang Kapp, an irresolute and indecisive East Prussian civil servant, though a fervent nationalist.
The Reichswehr, under orders from Chef der Heeresleitung General Hans von Seeckt, one of the Reichswehr's senior commanders, did not try to confront the rebels, but their only other support came from some small Freikorps groups, and the only one that made a serious move was the III Marine Brigade, under Von Löwenfeld, in Silesia, who took the regional capital, Breslau. The government issued a proclamation calling on Germany's unions to defeat the putsch by means of a general strike. The strike call received massive support and by March 18, the Putsch had been a massive failure.
After the Putsch, the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt was ordered to be disbanded by General von Seeckt, but it continued to function under different covers such as Bund ehemaliger Ehrhardtoffiziere, Organisation Consul and Sportverein Olympia."


*I will add more images of Königsberg after I upload these images. Honor your ancestors.
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:iconadolfreinhardaddict1:
*AdolfReinhardAddict1 Oct 8, 2012  Hobbyist General Artist
very epik and awe inspireing. Best wishez in your search.im sure you will find what you r looking for^-^

i honor my ancestorz...but it would be easier if i knew anything about my ancestorz..or anything really at all about my family history and stuff to begin with. i sadly know extremely little...DX
Reply
:iconjulius1880:
*julius1880 Jan 3, 2013  Hobbyist General Artist
A good place to start is church records or military records. If you need advice, please let me know.
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:iconadolfreinhardaddict1:
*AdolfReinhardAddict1 Jan 4, 2013  Hobbyist General Artist
Thanks.
I definitely want to know more about my history or heritage.
That would be nice.

And thanks so much. :hug:
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:iconjulius1880:
*julius1880 Jan 4, 2013  Hobbyist General Artist
My pleasure. Thanks for the hug. It means alot.
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:iconadolfreinhardaddict1:
*AdolfReinhardAddict1 Jan 4, 2013  Hobbyist General Artist
You're very welcome.
I love giving hugs^^ that and I love my friends so it's never a problem :squee:
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:iconjulius1880:
*julius1880 Jan 4, 2013  Hobbyist General Artist
Well, I appreciate it.
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:iconadolfreinhardaddict1:
*AdolfReinhardAddict1 Jan 4, 2013  Hobbyist General Artist
^-^
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:iconjulius1880:
*julius1880 Jan 5, 2013  Hobbyist General Artist
Danke.
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(1 Reply)
:icondasblondebiest:
Thanks for sharing!
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:iconjulius1880:
*julius1880 Sep 24, 2012  Hobbyist General Artist
Danke.
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