Franz Ritter von Epp (born Franz Epp; from 1918 as Ritter von Epp; 16 October 1868 – 31 January 1947)Lilla, Joachim:
Epp, Franz Ritter v.
'. In: Staatsminister, leitende Verwaltungsbeamte und (NS-)Funktionsträger in Bayern 1918 bis 1945. Bayerische Landesbibliothek Online. Retrieved on 12 November 2015.Epp's death date is often erroneously given as 31 December 1946. According to Lilla, Staatsminister, this error was replicated from the . The correct date, 31 January 1947, is confirmed by Epp's death certificate in the civil registry of

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

. was a German general and politician who started his military career in the Bavarian Army. Successful wartime military service earned him a knighthood in 1916. After the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and the dissolution of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

, von Epp was a commanding officer in the and the . He was a member of Bavarian People's Party, before joining 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 ...

in 1928, when he was elected as a member of the German parliament or , a position he held until the fall 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 ...

. He was the , later , for Bavaria, and a of the Nazi Party.

Biography

Military career

Franz Epp was born in Munich in 1868, the son of the painter Rudolph Epp and Katharina Streibel. He spent his school years in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

and after this joined the

military academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...

in Munich. He served as a volunteer in

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...

during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900–01 and then became a

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared ...

commander in the colony of German South-West Africa (now

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

), where he took part in the bloody Herero and Namaqua Genocide. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, he served as the commanding officer of the Royal Bavarian Infantry Lifeguards Regiment in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, and at the Isonzo front. For his war service, Epp received numerous medals, of which the

Pour le Mérite The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Order of the Red Eag ...

(29 May 1918) was the most significant. He was also knighted, being made Ritter von Epp on 25 February 1918, and received the Bavarian Military Order of Max Joseph (23 June 1916).

Freikorps

After the end of the war, Epp formed the ''

Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European military volunteer units, or paramilitary, that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenary or private armies, rega ...

Epp'', a right-wing paramilitary unit mostly made up of war veterans, of which the future leader of the SA

Ernst Röhm Ernst Julius Günther Röhm (; 28 November 1887 – 1 July 1934) was a German military officer and an early member of the Nazi Party. As one of the members of its predecessor, the German Workers' Party, he was a close friend and early ally ...

was a member. This unit took part in the crushing of the Bavarian Soviet Republic in Munich, being responsible for various massacres. Epp joined the ''

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

'' and was promoted to Generalmajor in 1922. He took his leave from the German Army after getting involved with right-wing associations in 1923. When it became necessary for the

to purchase a newspaper to publicize its political creed, Epp made available some 60,000

Reichsmark The (; sign: ℛℳ; abbreviation: RM) was the currency of Germany from 1924 until 20 June 1948 in West Germany, where it was replaced with the , and until 23 June 1948 in East Germany, where it was replaced by the East German mark. The Reich ...

s from secret army funds to acquire the '' Völkischer Beobachter'', which became the daily mouthpiece of the party. As the '' Sturmabteilung'' (SA) expanded, it became an armed band of several hundred thousand men, whose function was to guard Nazi rallies and disrupt those of other political parties. Some of its leaders, particularly Ernst Röhm, visualized the SA as supplanting the regular army when

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

came to national power. To this end, a department was set up under Epp called the ''Wehrpolitisches Amt'' (Army political office). Nothing came of this, as a distrustful Hitler had the SA crushed and many of its leaders killed in the Night of the Long Knives in the summer of 1934.

Career in parliament and the Nazi Party

After leaving the Bavarian People's Party, Epp on 20 May 1928 was elected from electoral constituency 26 (

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper ...

) as one of the first 12 Nazi Party deputies to the '' Reichstag''. He would continue to be elected to the ''Reichstag'' in each subsequent election throughout the Weimar and Nazi regimes to 1945. He served as the Nazi Party's head of its Military-Political Office from 1928 to 1945, and later as leader of the German Colonial Society, an organization devoted to regaining Germany's lost colonies. On 31 August 1933 he was made a ''

Reichsleiter ' (national leader or Reich leader) was the second-highest political rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), next only to the office of ''Führer''. ''Reichsleiter'' also served as a paramilitary rank within the NSDAP and was the highest position attai ...

'', the second highest political rank in the Nazi Party. On 3 October 1933, he was also made a member of the Academy for German Law. In May 1934 he became head of the

NSDAP Office of Colonial Policy The NSDAP Office of Colonial Policy (German: ''Kolonialpolitisches Amt der NSDAP'', ''K.P.A.'' or ''KPA'') was a Nazi Party office formed in 1934. Its stated objective was to formulate plans for the re-taking of the former German colonies. The of ...

until its dissolution in February 1943.

''Reichskommissar'' and ''Reichsstatthalter'' of Bavaria

Epp's final notable historical action occurred on 9 March 1933, two weeks before the Reichstag passed the enabling act, which granted Hitler dictatorial powers. On the orders of Hitler and Wilhelm Frick, he abolished the Government of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

and set up a Nazi regime, with himself as ''

Reichskommissar (, rendered as "Commissioner of the Empire", "Reich Commissioner" or "Imperial Commissioner"), in German history, was an official gubernatorial title used for various public offices during the period of the German Empire and Nazi Germany. Ger ...

''. On 10 April Hitler appointed him '' Reichsstatthalter'' for Bavaria. In this position he often clashed with Bavaria's Nazi

Minister-President A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. I ...

Ludwig Siebert Ludwig Siebert (17 October 1874 – 1 November 1942) was a German lawyer and Nazi Party politician who served as the Minister President of Bavaria in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1942. Early life Siebert was born in Ludwigshafen in the Palat ...

. Epp's attempt to limit the influence of the central government on Bavarian politics failed. He, however, retained his post as ''Reichsstatthalter'' until the end of the war, although by then he was politically insignificant. On 8 May 1933, von Epp's '' DO X'' crashed at the

Passau Passau (; bar, label= Central Bavarian, Båssa) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany, also known as the Dreiflüssestadt ("City of Three Rivers") as the river Danube is joined by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's po ...

Kachlet. The city named one of its streets ''Ritter-von-Epp-Straße''. Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H14239, Kolonialpolitisches Schulungshaus

Arrest and death

He was arrested on Paul Giesler's orders in 1945, for being associated with the ''Freiheitsaktion Bayern'', an anti-Nazi group led by Rupprecht Gerngroß. However, Epp had not wanted to be directly involved with the group, as he considered their goal—surrender to the Allies—a form of backstabbing of the German Army. Suffering from a heart condition, he was hospitalised at Bad Nauheim at the end of the war. On 9 May 1945, a clerk at the hospital alerted agents from the US Counterintelligence Corps that Epp was a patient there, and he was arrested and sent to a prison camp in Munich to await trial at Nuremberg. He died in detention on 31 January 1947.

Decorations and awards

* Order of the Red Eagle, 4th class (German Empire) * Order of the Crown, 4th class with swords (Prussia) * Military Merit Order, 3rd and 4th class with Swords (Bavaria) * 1914

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia es ...

2nd Class, 1914 * 1914

1st Class, 1915 * Knights Cross of the Military Order of Max Joseph (Kingdom of Bavaria), 1917 *

, 1918 * Knight of the Princely House Order of Hohenzollern with swords (Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen) * Knight 2nd class of the House and Merit Order of Peter Frederick Louis (Oldenburg) * Knight of the

Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg) Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

* Honour Chevron for the Old Guard, February 1934 * Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918, 1934 * Golden Party Badge * Sudetenland Medal, 1938 *

Anschluss Medal The ''Anschluss'' Commemorative Medal () was a decoration of Nazi Germany awarded during the interwar period, and the first in a series of Occupation Medals. Description Instituted on 1 May 1938, the medal commemorated the annexation of Austria ...

, 1939 * War Merit Cross 2nd Class and 1st Class with Swords *Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross with Swords, 1943 * Military Merit Cross, 2nd class (

Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin The Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a territory in Northern Germany held by the House of Mecklenburg residing at Schwerin. It was a sovereign member state of the German Confederation and became a federated state of the North German ...

) *

Nazi Party Long Service Award The Nazi Party Long Service Award (''Die Dienstauszeichnung der NSDAP''), sometimes called the NSDAP Long Service Award, was a political award in the form of a badge of the Nazi Party. History The award was given in three grades of ten years, ...

(10 and 15 years) *

Order of the Iron Crown The Order of the Iron Crown ( it, link=no, Ordine della Corona Ferrea) was an order of merit that was established on 5 June 1805 in the Kingdom of Italy by Napoleon Bonaparte under his title of Napoleon I, King of Italy. The order took its name ...

, 3rd class (Austria) * On 18 May 1933, the city of Passau decided to make von Epp a Citizen of Honor.Anna Rosmus: Hitlers Nibelungen, Samples Grafenau 2015, p. 62f

Notes

References

Sources

Biography of Franz Ritter von Epp

�� Record of his military career *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Epp, Franz Ritter von 1868 births 1947 deaths Bavarian generals Bavarian People's Party politicians Bavarian Soviet Republic Burials at Munich Waldfriedhof Generals of Infantry (Wehrmacht) German Army personnel of World War I German knights German people who died in prison custody German Roman Catholics Knights of the Military Order of Max Joseph Lieutenant generals of the Reichswehr Members of the Academy for German Law Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic Members of the Reichstag of Nazi Germany German hunters Military personnel from Munich Nazi Party officials Nazi Party politicians Nobility in the Nazi Party People from the Kingdom of Bavaria Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class Recipients of the Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross Reichsleiters Schutztruppe personnel 20th-century Freikorps personnel Prisoners who died in United States military detention Nazis who died in prison custody German military personnel of the Boxer Rebellion

Biography

Military career

Freikorps

Career in parliament and the Nazi Party

''Reichskommissar'' and ''Reichsstatthalter'' of Bavaria

Arrest and death

Decorations and awards

Notes

See also

Notes

References

Sources

Further reading

External links