Emil Ketterer (6 August 1883 – 23 December 1959) was a German physician and

track and field athlete Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

who competed in the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad () and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was he ...

. Later in his life, he joined 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 ...

and its

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

organization, the ''

Sturmabteilung The (; SA; or 'Storm Troopers') was the original paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party of Germany. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power, Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and early 1930s. I ...

'' (SA). He was the chief of the SA Medical Office in the Supreme SA Leadership from 1933 to 1937 and rose to the rank of SA-''

Obergruppenführer (, ) was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissioned SS rank after ...

''. As a medical doctor, he was a strong advocate of the

euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...

of disabled persons carried out under the Nazi regime. He was the father-in-law of

Hanns-Martin Schleyer Hans "Hanns" Martin Schleyer (; 1 May 1915 – 18 October 1977) was a German business executive, employer and industry representative, Nazi SS officer, and lobbyist. He served as president of two powerful commercial organizations: the Confeder ...

, an SS officer and

West German West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republic after its capital c ...

business executive who was murdered by the

Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (, ; RAF ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang ( ), was a West German far-left militant group founded in 1970 and active until 1998, considered a terrorist organisat ...

in 1977.

Early life, education and military service

Born in Neustadt, Ketterer attended the prestigious in

Donaueschingen Donaueschingen (; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Eschinge'') is a German town in the Black Forest in the southwest of the States of Germany, federal state of Baden-Württemberg in the Schwarzwald-Baar ''Districts of Germany, Kreis''. It ...

, obtaining his ''

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

'' in 1905. He then studied medicine at the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

, where he specialized in internal medicine and sports medicine. He was also a member of the student association ''

Burschenschaft A Burschenschaft (; sometimes abbreviated in the German ''Burschenschaft'' jargon; plural: ) is one of the traditional (student associations) of Germany, Austria, and Chile (the latter due to German cultural influence). Burschenschaften were fo ...

'' Arminia-Rhenania. An athletic runner, he set a world record for the 100 metre sprint in 1911 with a time of 10.5 seconds. However, at the

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, he was eliminated in the first round of the 100 metres competition when he did not finish his race due to an injury. Ketterer volunteered for military service in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

as a regimental medical officer with the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the

Royal Bavarian Army The Bavarian Army () was the army of the Electorate (1682–1806) and then Kingdom (1806–1918) of Bavaria. It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereignty () of Bavaria into that of the German ...

. He served from 1914 to 1918, attaining the rank of ''

Stabsarzt Stabsarzt (short: StArzt or SA), in English ''Staff Surgeon'', is a military commissioned officer rank in German language, German speaking armed forces. In the German Bundeswehr and the former Wehrmacht and Reichswehr, it describes a qualified or l ...

'' and earning the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...

, 2nd class, the Military Merit Order 4th class with swords and the

Order of the Zähringer Lion The Order of the Zähringer Lion was instituted on 26 December 1812 by Karl, Grand Duke of Baden, in memory of the Dukes of Zähringen from whom he was descended. Classes It had five classes: *Grand Cross *Commander, First Class *Commander, ...

. After the war, Ketterer settled in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and worked as a general medical practitioner. He joined the conservative

Bavarian People's Party The Bavarian People's Party (German: ; BVP) was a principally Catholic christian democratic political party in Bavaria during the Weimar Republic. After the collapse of the German Empire in 1918, it split away from the federal Centre Party and ...

and was active in the ''

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

'', helping to suppress the

Bavarian Soviet Republic The Bavarian Soviet Republic (or Bavarian Council Republic), also known as the Munich Soviet Republic (), was a short-lived unrecognised socialist state in Bavaria during the German revolution of 1918–1919. A group of communists and anarchist ...

in 1919. Ketterer also was a member of several right-wing paramilitary organizations, including the Organization Lenz and the ''

Bund Reichskriegsflagge The ''Bund Reichskriegsflagge'' (Imperial War Flag Society) or the ''Verband Reichskriegsflagge'' (Imperial War Flag Union) was a paramilitary organization founded by Ernst Röhm in 1923. The ''Bund Reichskriegsflagge'' was formed from the local ...

''.

Career in the Nazi ''Sturmabteilung''

Ketterer joined the

in January 1923 and, in November of that year, he took part in

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

Beer Hall Putsch The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch,Dan Moorhouse, ed schoolshistory.org.uk, accessed 2008-05-31.Known in German as the or was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff and other leaders i ...

, for which he later would be awarded the Nazi

Blood Order The Blood Order (), officially known as the Decoration in Memory of 9 November 1923 (), was one of the most prestigious decorations in the Nazi Party (NSDAP). During March 1934, Hitler authorized the Blood Order to commemorate the 9 November 1 ...

. While the Party was banned in the wake of the failed ''putsch'', he became a member of the , and he rejoined the Party on 14 April 1925 (membership number 697) after the ban was lifted. He was one of the co-founders of the

National Socialist German Doctors' League The National Socialist German Doctors' League (''Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Ärztebund'', abbreviated as NSDÄB or NSD-Ärztebund) was a division of the Nazi Party with the mission of integrating the German medical profession within the f ...

in 1929 and was named chairman of its disciplinary tribunal. Ketterer joined the Nazi paramilitary ''

'' (SA) in July 1931. Following the

Nazi seizure of power The rise to power of Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919, when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He quickly rose t ...

, Ketterer was named head of the German Sports Medicine Association. He was made a Munich City Councilor in April 1933. He also was assigned to the Supreme SA Leadership as an SA-''

Gruppenführer __NOTOC__ ''Gruppenführer'' (, ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA. Since then, the term ''Gruppenführer'' is also used for leaders of groups/teams of the police, fire d ...

'' and the chief of staff to

Paul Hocheisen Paul Friedrich Karl Hocheisen (27 May 1870 – 22 December 1944) was a German physician and long-serving medical officer with the Army of Württemberg (1892–1918) and the ''Reichswehr'' (1919–1929). He then became a member of the ''Sturmabte ...

, the chief of the SA Medical Office. In November, Ketterer succeeded him in that post. During his time in the SA medical service, Ketterer was known to be a strong proponent of the euthanasia program that was carried out on disabled persons.Emil Ketterer Biography
i
Olympic Athletes
/ref> He also served as the personal physician to SA-''

Stabschef (, ) was an office and paramilitary rank in the (SA), the paramilitary stormtroopers associated with the Nazi Party. It was a rank and position held by the operating chief of the SA. The rank was equivalent to the rank of in the German Army an ...

Ernst Röhm Ernst Julius Günther Röhm (; 28 November 1887 – 1 July 1934) was a German military officer, politician and a leading member of the Nazi Party. A close friend and early ally of Adolf Hitler, Röhm was the co-founder and leader of the (SA), t ...

, and was present when Hitler arrested Röhm in the

Night of the Long Knives The Night of the Long Knives (, ), also called the Röhm purge or Operation Hummingbird (), was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from 30 June to 2 July 1934. Chancellor Adolf Hitler, urged on by Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler, ord ...

. Ketterer was able to retain his post under Röhm's successor,

Viktor Lutze Viktor Lutze (28 December 1890 – 2 May 1943) was a German Nazi Party functionary and the commander of the ''Sturmabteilung'' ("SA") who succeeded Ernst Röhm as '' Stabschef'' and '' Reichsleiter''. After he died from injuries recei ...

. He unsuccessfully sought a seat at the 1936 ''Reichstag'' election. On 1 February 1937, he was replaced as head of the SA Medical Office by Hermann Brauneck, and was named as the SA

liaison Liaison or Liaisons may refer to: General usage * Affair, an unfaithful sexual relationship * Collaboration * Co-operation * Liaison, an egg-based thickening used in cooking Arts and entertainment * Liaisons (''Desperate Housewives''), a 2007 ...

to the

Reich Health Leader The National Socialist German Doctors' League (''Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Ärztebund'', abbreviated as NSDÄB or NSD-Ärztebund) was a division of the Nazi Party with the mission of integrating the German medical profession within the f ...

. On 9 November 1938, he was promoted to SA-''

''. From 1936 to 1945, he was chairman of the

TSV 1860 München , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; ''sechzig'' locally ; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's association football, football team plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football league system ...

sports club. Little is documented about his post-war life, and he died in

in 1959.

Family

His daughter

Waltrude Saint Waltrude (; ; ; ; died April 9, 688 AD) is the patron saint of Mons, Belgium, where she is known in French as Sainte Waudru, and of Herentals, Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europ ...

(1916–2008) was the wife of

, who was kidnapped and murdered by

terrorists in 1977.

References

Sources

*
Emil Ketterer Biography
i
Olympic Athletes

Emil Ketterer Biography
in
Olympedia Athletes
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ketterer, Emil 1883 births 1959 deaths 20th-century Freikorps personnel 20th-century German physicians Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics Corps students German Army personnel of World War I German male sprinters German military doctors Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Military personnel of Bavaria Nazis who participated in the Beer Hall Putsch Olympic athletes for Germany People from Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald People from the Grand Duchy of Baden Physicians in the Nazi Party Politicians from Munich Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 2nd class Recipients of the Military Merit Order (Bavaria) SA-Obergruppenführer Athletes from Freiburg (region) 20th-century German sportsmen