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19-592: Following the deportation of Theodor Habicht from Austria in 1932, Habicht moved his headquarters into Bavaria , to continue organized Nazi activities in Austria. On 19 June 1933, the government of Engelbert Dollfuss banned the Nazi Party in Austria. About 10,000 Nazis fled from arrest to Bavaria, where Habicht organized them into the Austrian Legion, based at Dachau . Joined by more emigres following

38-868: The Austrian Nazi Party . Later given the title Landesinspekteur he was the effective leader of the Austrian Nazis, despite titular leadership resting with Landesleiter Alfred Proksch . Under Habicht the Nazis experienced growth, mostly at the expense of the Heimwehr , many of whose members switched over to Nazism . Initially, Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuß attempted a conciliation, notably offering Habicht two Nazi cabinet seats, before trying to get Italy to exert pressure on Hitler to restrain Habicht's anti-government activities. Habicht

57-897: The German Imperial Army in 1915, serving on the Western Front and at Isonzo in Italy . Briefly involved with communism after his 1919 demobilization , he soon took part in skirmishes against the Spartacist League before settling into various low-level white-collar jobs. Habicht joined the Nazi Party in July 1926 and established a number of local journals for the group. In April 1927 he became Deputy Ortsgruppenleiter (Local Group Leader) in Wiesbaden. He soon moved up to Ortsgruppenleiter, and from 20 May 1928

76-739: The Night of the Long Knives , Hitler's purge of the SA. When the Anschluss came in March 1938, the Legion was blocked from participating by Josef Bürckel , Arthur Seyss-Inquart , and Heinrich Himmler . The Legion paraded through Vienna on 2 April, and was totally disbanded two weeks later. Most of its members returned to Germany, while those who remained in Austria faced poor job prospects. In spite of

95-609: The Wehrmacht in September 1940. He spent the remainder of his life on the Eastern Front with the rank of Hauptmann commanding an infantry company. He was promoted to battalion commander shortly before he died in action at Nevel . Ortsgruppenleiter Ortsgruppenleiter (Local Group Leader) was a Nazi Party political rank and title which existed between 1930 and 1945. The term first came into being during

114-576: The Austrians, he was excluded from the country after this failure as Hitler placed the blame on Habicht, who had been responsible for determining the details of the coup attempt. Severely discredited by the failure, Habicht went into seclusion in the Harz mountains before being allowed to take up the post of Oberbürgermeister (Mayor) of Wittenberg in February 1937, serving through September 1939. He

133-526: The German elections of 1930, and was held by the head Nazi of a town or city, or in larger cities, of a neighbourhood, for the purposes of election district organization. After 1933, through the process of Gleichschaltung , the position of Ortsgruppenleiter evolved into the Nazi leader of a large town or city or of a city district. After the founding of Nazi Germany , the political rank of Ortsgruppenleiter

152-575: The Legion following its disarmament, and from intercepted communiques that revealed that their fighting power had been overstated. Mussolini assured the Dollfuss government in August 1933 that, in the event of any attack from Germany by the German government or the Austrian Legion, Italy would come to Austria's aid. Dollfuss, in response, agreed to a military convention with Italy. Theodor Habicht Theodor Habicht (4 April 1898 – 31 January 1944)

171-520: The failed 1934 July Putsch , they soon numbered over 15,000. In Bavaria, the expatriates received military training from the Sturmabteilung (SA), Schutzstaffel (SS), and German Army and police. They were also given arms – 10,300 rifles and 360 machine guns. The Austrian Legion was officially part of SA- Obergruppe VIII, designated "Austria". This Obergruppe was under the command of SA- Obergruppenführer Hermann Reschny . The Legion

190-564: The massive amount of support given them by Berlin, in 1935 receiving 24 million Reichsmark , the Austrian Legion had mixed success. Its members were often an object of ire for German and Austrian Germans for their lack of discipline in their violent and ill-advised agitation, especially against the Catholic Church . The Legion's activities, which amounted to state-sponsored terrorism in another sovereign state, also angered Benito Mussolini . The Vienna government began to worry less about

209-558: The newly occupied territory, and he called for the removal of the Vidkun Quisling government and its replacement with an administrative council . Initially, he had hoped to give any regime more legitimacy by placing the popular Paal Berg at its head rather than the minor figure of Quisling, although Berg rejected any such settlement. However, when his plans were rejected by Johan Nygaardsvold and Haakon VII of Norway , Hitler once again lost faith in Habicht and ordered him into

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228-490: The political rank of Ortsgruppenleiter was denoted by a braided shoulder cord and a white collar bar worn on a Nazi Party brown shirt. After 1933, the rank was denoted by two light yellow collar bars. The actual rank of Ortsgruppenleiter was phased out of the Nazi Party in 1939, replaced by a large number of expanded paramilitary political titles. The position of Ortsgruppenleiter was after this time typically held by

247-527: Was a leading political figure in Nazi Germany . He played a leading role in the Austrian Nazi Party . During World War II, he was involved in the administration of Nazi-occupied Norway until his dismissal by Adolf Hitler. He later served in the Wehrmacht and was killed in action on the Eastern Front at Nevel in 1944. Born in Wiesbaden and educated in his hometown and Berlin , he volunteered for

266-614: Was deported in March 1933 after the Austrian government finally decided to ban the Nazi Party outright. In response, Habicht set up a leadership-in-exile in Munich which directed a campaign of terror against the Dollfuß regime which culminated in failed coup attempt in the murder of Dollfuß in July 1934 under the command of Austrian SS leader Fridolin Glass . An unpopular figure with many of

285-430: Was held by the chief Nazi in a municipal area. In many situations, town and city administration overlapped with the Nazi political system, meaning that the traditional local government was overshadowed, if not entirely replaced, by Nazi leadership. Traditional government titles did continue to exist, such as Bürgermeister ; however, if these positions were not already held by a corresponding Nazi official, city government

304-540: Was little more than a rubber stamp to Nazi designs. During World War II , the position of Ortsgruppenleiter encompassed a large amount of responsibility and power as it was these Nazi officials who typically ran the city civil defense systems as well as the allocation of war rations and civil relief efforts. As Germany was invaded and defeat became imminent, Nazi leaders in major towns and cities also became ad hoc military commanders in charge of mixed-unit German forces and Volksturm units. Between 1930 and 1932,

323-606: Was the leader of the Nazis on the Wiesbaden City Council. In 1930 Habicht was elected to the Provincial Landtag of Hessen-Nassau . By September 1931, he had also been elected to the Reichstag for electoral constituency 19, Hesse-Nassau, and was reelected at each subsequent election through 1938. Under orders from Adolf Hitler , he was sent to Austria in 1931 to oversee the reorganization of

342-556: Was then selected to be the next Oberbürgermeister of Koblenz , but due to being called up for military service, he never formally took up this position. His reputation partially restored, Habicht took up a more important role in November 1939 when he was appointed Undersecretary of State in the German Foreign Office . As part of his duties, he was sent to Norway in 1940 to investigate the organization of government in

361-511: Was used in practice to cause concern in the Vienna government of military action from Bavaria and to smuggle Nazi propaganda into Austria. At this time, the Legion numbered over 14,000 and possessed over 1,500 motorcars and could reach the Austrian border in 24 hours. The threat the Legion posed was minimized, however, when the Legion was ordered to surrender its arms to the Wehrmacht following

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