Erhardt Naval Brigade
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The Marinebrigade Ehrhardt, also known as the Ehrhardt Brigade, was a
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 ...
unit of the early
Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...
. It was formed on 17 February 1919 as the Second Marine Brigade from members of the former
Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the ''Kaiserliche Marine'' (Imperial Navy) was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for ...
under the leadership of Hermann Ehrhardt. The brigade was used primarily in the suppression of 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 ...
and the First Silesian Uprising, both in the first half of 1919. In March 1920, faced with its imminent disbanding by orders of the government in Berlin, the Marine Brigade was one of the main supporters of the Kapp Putsch that tried to overthrow the Weimar Republic. After the putsch failed and the brigade was disbanded in May, many of the former members formed the secret Organisation Consul under Ehrhardt's leadership. Before it was banned in 1922, it carried out numerous assassinations and murders in a continuation of the attempts to overthrow the Republic.


Formation and structure

On 27 January 1919, during the Revolution of 1918–1919 that broke out following Germany's defeat in
World War I 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 ...
, communist putschists from
Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...
and
Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...
captured important buildings in Wilhelmshaven and declared it a socialist council republic (). When the putschists encountered isolated resistance, they entrenched themselves in the city's 1,000-man barracks. About 300 officers and professional soldiers of the former Imperial Navy, including
Corvette Captain Corvette captain is a rank in many European and Latin American navies which theoretically corresponds to command of a corvette (small warship). The equivalent rank is lieutenant commander in the Royal Navy and other Commonwealth navies, the U ...
() Hermann Ehrhardt, then armed themselves and stormed the barracks using rifles and machine guns. In the morning of 28 January, the 400 putschists surrendered. The fighting had left a total of eight dead on both sides. The "storming of the 1,000-man barracks" was later considered the Marine Brigade's birth. The Reich government then decided to raise volunteer troops in Wilhelmshaven to fight other soviet republics such as the one in
Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...
that lasted until 4 February 1919. Wilhelmshaven was chosen because it was a former port of the Imperial Navy and full of soldiers, many of whom were opposed to radical leftist efforts to set up communist governments in Germany. On 13 February 1919 an advertisement appeared in the Wilhelmshaven daily newspaper of the Majority Social Democrats, the party that led the Reich government in Berlin. It contained in part the following:
Call for the formation of a government brigade in Wilhelmshaven. The Reich government has given me the order to form a government brigade in Wilhelmshaven, which, directly subordinate to the government, will be at the government's disposal for the order Protection East signed by the head of the Naval Station North Sea, ndreas
Michelsen Michelsen is a Danish- Norwegian patronymic surname meaning "son of Mikkel/Michael". There are related English, German, Swedish and other spellings of this name. People with the name Michelsen include: People * Albert Michelsen (1893–1964), ...
.
The advertisement was run repeatedly and later included the "prevention of internal unrest" as one of its purposes. It was mainly former members of the Imperial Navy who reported for the new force. On 17 February 1919 Ehrhardt received the order to assemble it under the name "Second Marine Brigade Wilhelmshaven". The order allowed him to determine the political orientation of the members of his brigade. It was to be a mobile unit and deployed throughout the Reich in the event of insurrections. After 24 March the Marine Brigade Wilhelmshaven was subordinate to the Guard Cavalry Rifle Division. The brigade initially consisted of four infantry companies with a total of 367 men. In the course of further growth and the formation of new units, it was transferred on 30 March 1919 to
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 ...
south of Berlin and divided into the 3rd and 4th Marine Regiments and a brigade staff. The 3rd Marine Regiment had six infantry companies, the first made up of deck officers, the second of engineer trainees, and the third of NCOs. The other companies were formed from the enlisted ranks. Also attached to the regiment was the (assault company) which was made up of officers, midshipmen, and cadets. In addition to six infantry companies, the 4th Marine Regiment had a machine gun company, an engineering company, and a battery of 7.7 centimeter field guns. After its transfer to Munich on 29 April 1919, the Second Marine Brigade Wilhelmshaven had the following organization: brigade staff; Marine Regiment 3 with 1st and 2nd battalions; Marine Regiment 4 with 1st and 2nd battalions; Wilhelmshaven company; assault company; mortar company with two medium and six light mortars; pioneer company; flamethrower platoon; 1st battery with four 7.7 centimeter field guns; and 2nd battery with four light field howitzers and 12 heavy machine guns. The strength of the brigade at the time was about 1,500 men.


Deployments

The brigade's first deployment took it to
Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( ; from Low German , local dialect: ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...
on 17 April 1919, where it joined units of the Maercker Free Corps in preventing the attempt to establish a soviet republic there. After the defeat of the northern communist forces, the brigade marched to the industrial cities of central Germany to fight the local communist uprisings in the region. From there it was transferred to
Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...
, where it was kept ready as part of a large contingent of government units to fight against 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 ...
. The brigade's advance into Munich without command orders to do so led to fierce street fighting in which the combined government units crushed the workers' uprising. The Freikorps' brutal actions in the street battles, including looting and the mistreatment and shooting of those arrested, illustrated the increasing independence of the Freikorps movement in the fight against revolutionaries. By the summer of 1919, Navy leadership was considering disbanding the Marine Brigade. In August 1919 it went to
Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...
where local free corps, reinforced by groups such as the Marine Brigade, easily repressed the First Silesian Uprising of local Poles against German control of the region. In November the brigade was transferred a camp near Berlin, and in March 1920 the German government issued orders for it to be disbanded. The order was consistent with the
Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...
, which limited the size of the Republic's army, 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 ...
, to 100,000 soldiers. The brigade's leaders were determined to resist and appealed to Reichswehr General
Walther von Lüttwitz Walther Karl Friedrich Ernst Emil Freiherr von Lüttwitz (2 February 1859 – 20 September 1942) was a German general who fought in World War I. Lüttwitz is best known for being the driving force behind the Kapp–Lüttwitz Putsch of 1920 w ...
. Lüttwitz, one of the organizers of the Freikorps in 1918 and 1919 and an ardent monarchist, appealed to Reich President
Friedrich Ebert Friedrich Ebert (; 4 February 187128 February 1925) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as the first President of Germany (1919–1945), president of Germany from 1919 until ...
and Reich Armed Forces Minister Gustav Noske to stop the disbandment. When Ebert refused, Lüttwitz triggered the Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch when he marched at the head of the Marine Brigade into Berlin. On the night of 12/13 March 1920, it occupied the government quarter of Berlin with from 2,000 to 6,000 men. It made up only a small fraction of the total free corps forces, which totaled around 30,000 men. The government issued a proclamation calling on Germany's unions to defeat the putsch by means of a general strike. It received massive support, and by 18 March the putsch had failed. After the coup collapsed, Vice Chancellor Eugen Schiffer built "golden bridges" for Lüttwitz, Ehrhardt and Kapp to persuade them to surrender peacefully. The new Reichswehr leader Hans von Seeckt spoke highly of the brigade's discipline in a daily order issued on 18 March and the next day assured Ehrhardt in writing of protection from arrest. Only then did the brigade march out of Berlin, singing and flying flags as it had when it marched in. When boos were raised from an unfriendly crowd at the
Brandenburg Gate The Brandenburg Gate ( ) is an 18th-century Neoclassical architecture, neoclassical monument in Berlin. One of the best-known landmarks of Germany, it was erected on the site of a former city gate that marked the start of the road from Berlin t ...
, they summarily fired machine guns into the crowd. Twelve dead and thirty seriously wounded were left on the pavement. The Ehrhardt Brigade was officially disbanded effective 31 May 1920. A large part of it was taken into the
German Navy The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...
() as "reliable cadres"; many of the rest went underground in various organizations including the Union of Former Ehrhardt Officers, the Viking League () and the Sport Club Olympia. Ehrhardt brought many from the brigade into the new Organisation Consul, which he led. It used murders and assassinations in its continued fight to overthrow the Weimar government until it was banned in 1922. Ehrhardt fled to Switzerland in 1934 because of the Nazi internal purge known as 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 ...
. Two years later he went to Austria where he ran the manorial estate near
Lichtenau im Waldviertel Lichtenau im Waldviertel is a town in the district of Krems-Land in the Austrian state of Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major c ...
. He died there in 1971 without having taken part in any further political or military activity..


Uniform, insignia and standards

Members of the Marine Brigade wore the field gray uniform of the
Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...
, although the assault company all had crew uniforms without rank insignia. Attached to the collar of the field blouse was the Guard Star with anchor. From about February 1919 members of the Marine Brigade wore the badge of the Second Marine Brigade Wilhelmshaven as a special insignia on the left upper arm. The badge was made of silver tinplate and showed, within an egg-shaped rope, a Viking ship sailing with a single man at the helm. At the bottom was an ornamented panel with the inscription "Wilhelmshaven" in
fraktur Fraktur () is a calligraphic hand of the Latin alphabet and any of several blackletter typefaces derived from this hand. It is designed such that the beginnings and ends of the individual strokes that make up each letter will be clearly vis ...
script. Below it were two oak twigs consisting of three leaves with an acorn bound together with ribbons. After the brigade was disbanded, successor organizations continued to use the insignia in a modified form with the inscription "Wilhelmshaven" replaced by "Ehrhardt". As field insignia, the assault company and each battalion of the Marine Brigade flew the Imperial War Flag (). From about October 1919 members of the brigade adorned themselves with anti-Semitic markings, such as when they wore swastikas on their helmets returning from operations against the insurgents in Upper Silesia. File:Freikorps - Marinebrigade Ehrhardt OF-5 (Verbandführer) 1919-1933.png, Verbandsführer File:Freikorps - Marinebrigade Ehrhardt OF-3 (Verbandgruppenführer) 1919-1933.png, Verbandsgruppenführer File:Freikorps - Marinebrigade Ehrhardt OF-2 (Einheitsführer) 1919-1933.png, Einheitsführer File:Freikorps - Marinebrigade Ehrhardt OF-1 (Zugführer) 1919-1933.png, Zugführer File:Freikorps - Marinebrigade Ehrhardt OR-6 (1919-1933).png, Gruppenführer File:Freikorps - Marinebrigade Ehrhardt OR-3 (1919-1933).png, Gruppenführer-Stellvertreter File:Freikorps - Marinebrigade Ehrhardt OR-2 (1919-1933).png, Gefolgsmann (gedient) File:Freikorps - Marinebrigade Ehrhardt OR-1 (1919-1933).png, Gefolgsmann Source:


The Ehrhardt song

When the brigade was demobilized in 1920, one of its members composed a song that became known as the Ehrhardt Song. It was sung wherever people wanted to demonstrate a nationalistic and anti-republican stance.


Notable members

* Kurt Blome: Deputy Reich Health Leader under
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 ...
* Horst Böhme: SS officer involved in the
Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
*
Friedrich Bonte __NOTOC__ Friedrich Bonte (19 October 1896 – 10 April 1940) was the German naval officer commanding the destroyer flotilla that transported invasion troops to Narvik during the German invasion of Norway (Operation Weserübung) in April 1940. Bo ...
: naval officer involved in the invasion of Norway * Günther Brandt: anthropologist at the SS Race and Settlement Main Office * Franz Breithaupt: chief of the SS Court Main Office * Werner von Fichte: 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 ...
'' and Police President of
Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...
* Hermann Willibald Fischer: accomplice in the assassination of
Walther Rathenau Walther Rathenau (; 29 September 1867 – 24 June 1922) was a German industrialist, writer and politician who served as foreign minister of Germany from February 1922 until his assassination in June 1922. Rathenau was one of Germany's leading ...
* Eberhard Godt: commanded German U-boat operations in WWII * Curt von Gottberg:
Higher SS and Police Leader The title of SS and Police Leader (') designated a senior Nazi Party official who commanded various components of the SS and the German uniformed police ('' Ordnungspolizei''), before and during World War II in the German Reich proper and in the ...
for central Russia and Commissioner-General of occupied Belarus * Erick-Oskar Hansen:
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
general * Hans Albert Hohnfeldt:
Gauleiter A ''Gauleiter'' () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a ''Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany, Gau'' or ''Reichsgau''. ''Gauleiter'' was the third-highest Ranks and insignia of the Nazi Party, rank in ...
of the
Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (; ) was a city-state under the protection and oversight of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) and nearly 200 other small localities in the surrou ...
* Dietrich von Jagow: German ambassador to Hungary under the Nazis * Karl Kaufmann: Reich governor of Hamburg under the Nazis * Werner Kempf: Wehrmacht general * Manfred Freiherr von Killinger: mastermind of the assassination of Matthias Erzberger and later Nazi functionary * Gustav Kleikamp: Vice Admiral in the Nazi
Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...
* Hans Ulrich Klintzsch: supreme commander of 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) * Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger:
Higher SS and Police Leader The title of SS and Police Leader (') designated a senior Nazi Party official who commanded various components of the SS and the German uniformed police ('' Ordnungspolizei''), before and during World War II in the German Reich proper and in the ...
in German-occupied Poland * Franz Maria Liedig: member of the military resistance against Adolf Hitler * Ernst Lucht: admiral in the Kriegsmarine * Karl Mauss: general who commanded the 7th Panzer Division during WWII * Karl-Jesko von Puttkamer: admiral and naval adjutant to Hitler *
Ernst von Salomon Ernst von Salomon (25 September 1902 – 9 August 1972) was a German novelist and screenwriter. He was a Weimar-era national-revolutionary activist and right-wing Freikorps member. Family and education He was born in Kiel, in the Kingdom of Pr ...
: novelist and screenwriter involved in the assassination of
Walther Rathenau Walther Rathenau (; 29 September 1867 – 24 June 1922) was a German industrialist, writer and politician who served as foreign minister of Germany from February 1922 until his assassination in June 1922. Rathenau was one of Germany's leading ...
* Bruno Sattler: SS-Sturmbannführer and head of the
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
in
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* Emanuel Schäfer: SS-
Oberführer __NOTOC__ ''Oberführer'' (short: ''Oberf'', , ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) dating back to 1921. An ''Oberführer'' was typically an NSDAP member in charge of a group of paramilitary units in a particular geograph ...
and protégé of
Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( , ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a German high-ranking SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust. He held the rank of SS-. Many historians regard Heydrich ...
*
Otto Schniewind Otto Schniewind (14 December 1887 – 26 March 1964) was a German General Admiral during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Career Schniewind entered the Kaiserliche Marine in 1907 as a cad ...
: General Admiral in WWII * Julius Schreck: early senior Nazi official and close confidant of Hitler * Heinrich Schulz: accomplice in the assassination of Matthias Erzberger * Hermann Souchon: executed
Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg ( ; ; ; born Rozalia Luksenburg; 5 March 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a Polish and naturalised-German revolutionary and Marxist theorist. She was a key figure of the socialist movements in Poland and Germany in the early 20t ...
* Ernst Werner Techow: took part in the assassination of
Walther Rathenau Walther Rathenau (; 29 September 1867 – 24 June 1922) was a German industrialist, writer and politician who served as foreign minister of Germany from February 1922 until his assassination in June 1922. Rathenau was one of Germany's leading ...
* Heinrich Tillessen: one of the assassins of Matthias Erzberger


Literature in English

Koster, John (2018).
Hermann Ehrhardt, the man Hitler wasn’t
'' Idle Winter Press. ISBN 9781945687051


References

{{Authority control 20th-century Freikorps Bavarian Soviet Republic Naval units and formations of Germany Organizations of the German Revolution of 1918–1919 Kapp Putsch Paramilitary organisations of the Weimar Republic