REICHSBANNER

REICHSBANNER ‘‘Schwarz-Rot-Gold.'' Organized in Magdeburg on 22 February 1924 as a self-protection unit for republican-minded veterans, the Reichsbanner was soon the paramilitary arm (Kampfbund) of the Weimar Coalition.* It was created by six members of the SPD and one each from the DDP and the Center* Party; its founding spirits were Otto Ho¨rsing, Oberpra¨sident of Prussian Saxony* (1920–1927), and Karl Ho¨ltermann, senior editor of the Magdeburger Volksstimme, an SPD newspaper.* By using uniforms and a military structure, forming the Jungbanner as a youth division, and publishing Das Reichsbanner, the organization mirrored the older Stahlhelm.* With a membership that was 90 percent socialist, the Reichsbanner grew distasteful to conservative Catholics* and became a nuisance to SPD leaders seeking cooperation with the Right. Although Joseph Wirth* encouraged all Centrists to join the organization as testimony to republican support, the Reichsbanner's endorsement of a 1926 referendum to expropriate the property of former princes discouraged many Catholics. When Wilhelm Marx,* Center chairman, left the Reichsbanner in July 1927, the concept of a Weimar Coalition was seriously damaged. Wirth's departure in 1930 removed any serious Center connection. Although proportionally fewer Democrats joined the rank and file, the DDP leadership was more supportive of the Reichsbanner than its Center counterpart; nonetheless, the Reichsbanner was largely an arm of the SPD by 1930. It was also unfortunate that even loyal Social Democrats were suspicious of the Reichsbanner; Carl Severing,* Prussia's* Interior Minister, believed it inconsistent to use paramilitary power in support of parliamentary democracy. The Reichsbanner claimed a membership of 3.5 million in 1932; in fact, active membership was probably never more than 1 million, but this made it Germany's largest paramilitary force (the SA* had about 500,000 members in December 1932). From 1930 it was increasingly involved in street fighting with the paramilitary arms of the KPD and the NSDAP. Reacting to the Harzburg Front,* Ho¨ltermann vainly tried to broaden the Reichsbanner's appeal in December 1931 by forming the Iron Front (Eiserne Front), an organization that worked in 1932 for Hindenburg's reelection. In March 1933 the Reichsbanner disbanded and many of its members emigrated.