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October 19, 2017

The Failed “Beer Hall Putsch” of 1923 in Bavaria

On November 8, 1923, at around 8:30 pm, Adolf Hitler and his armed bodyguards of the SA surrounded the Bürgerbräukeller Beer Hall in Munich, Germany. Along with his bodyguards, when Hitler barged into the Beer Hall, he immediately fired his gun into the ceiling and shouted, “The National Revolution has begun. This building is occupied by six hundred heavily armed men. No one may leave the hall. Unless there is immediate quiet I shall have a machine gun posted in the gallery.”1 Hitler proclaimed that both the Bavarian and German Reich governments had been removed and there was now a provisional government being set up. Many of those present in the Beer Hall did not know what to believe. One thing that they were sure of was that the rifles and machine guns were real, so some followed Hitler’s orders. Though many were in amazement, there were some businessmen who were very upset, and one that even yelled for Hitler to shoot. However, others feared for their lives, afraid that a massacre was about to occur.2

Munich during the Beer Hall Putsch | Courtesy of Wikimedia

The event underway has come to be called the Beer Hall Putsch. A Putsch is simply the German word for a military takeover of the government, or, in French, a coup d’etat.3 The idea for this Putsch came to Hitler from Benito Mussolini, who had staged a triumphant March on Rome in 1922, just the year before. Many of Mussolini’s followers were lower-middle-class Italians, and with their help, he threatened to take over the Italian government with his Fascist march on Rome. Like other Italian populist leaders before him, he put his reputation at risk in order to obtain power. If Mussolini’s march were to fail, he could lose his status in society, along with his respect.4 Mussolini’s first step was to create his own government. Without one, he would have no means to take over; so fascist militias and thugs began gathering from all over Italy.5 Once Mussolini gained power, he began to turn Italy into a Fascist state.6 Hitler imagined orchestrating a similar March on Rome that would start for Berlin from Munich’s famous Odeonsplatz the following morning, November 9, 1923. Odeonsplatz was just a few blocks away from the Bürgerbräukeller Beer Hall where Hitler and his assembled men had gathered that night.7

A large crowd gathered to hear Julius Streicher during the Beer Hall Putsch. Hitler’s early unsuccessful attempt to seize power | Munich, Germany, November 1923 | Courtesy of US Holocaust Memorial Museum

Through the Beer Hall, Hitler managed to push his way to the front of the hall where he took charge of the crowd. “He then ordered the Bavarian triumvirate—von Lossow, von Seisser, and von Kahr—into an adjoining room, where he bullied them at gunpoint into backing his putsch.”8 The three men were all government officials: Lossow was a general major, Kahr was the Minister President of Bavaria and Colonel, and Seisser was head of the Bavarian state police. Though they were already government officials, Hitler apologized to the men for the interruption on their speech and made a promise to them that they would have good jobs while he was in power. Hitler wanted the triumvirate on his side so that his Putsch would have the backing of actual government officials. However, when he tried to scare the three men into supporting the coup, it didn’t quite work, and they refused to talk or give any information that would give Hitler confidence that he had turned them. He then waved his pistol at them and shouted, “I have four shots in my pistol! Three for you, gentlemen. The last bullet for myself!”9 Though he really didn’t have their full support, Hitler believed he did. Once he thought he had the officials in control, Hitler would return to the crowd and give a speech. The audience went crazy over the speech. Their enthusiasm showed Hitler that he had already won them over. With Ludendorff being around as well, he had their support even more, because Ludendorff was respected and very well-known. Hitler’s first few steps had been made and the Putsch was, so far, going as planned, or so he thought.

So by this point, the Putsch had officially begun, and even though it had just begun, many problems were already occurring for Hitler. One way that Hitler planned for his Putsch to work was by seizing communication centers and state offices in Munich, and using the triumvirate to coordinate the military and police efforts to come. “While the rebels temporarily took over some offices, including the municipal headquarters of the Reichswehr and Munich police headquarters, they failed to secure other key centers.”10 The telegraph office was one key center they failed to seize, which allowed for news of the Putsch to get to Berlin and for orders to be received from General von Seeckt at Berlin military headquarters.11

Portrait of Erich Ludendorff | Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The triumvirate, which were the three government officials, was left to Erich von Ludendorff to deal with. Ludendorff was currently Deputy Chief of Staff to the German Second Army under General Karl von Bülow. But more importantly, Ludendorff had been one of the most important generals for Germany during the first World War, and was hailed by many Germans as not only a war hero, but also as one of the most patriotic Germans of the day. Because Ludendorff was in such a high position in the army, Hitler wanted to use him as a figurehead in the march and even asked him to lead it. Ludendorff was also able to convince the triumvirate to follow Hitler’s orders, and in return, Hitler would give them the political roles that they wanted in the future government. Ludendorff then freed them, and once they were free, they immediately began planning to respond to the Putsch. Since Hitler and his followers had failed to seize all key centers, such as the ones in the city, the triumvirate was able to call suburban troops and police to Munich. Because these authorities knew what Hitler was doing, they planned well to meet him and his troops in the morning. In the time that they planned out what they would do, Hitler doubted for several hours whether he should continue the march to Berlin, because he found out about the betrayal of the triumvirate. Hitler delayed the start of the march for so long that the Bavarian authorities knew exactly what to do to defend Munich.12

“In a last ditch effort to rally citizens and soldiers, Hitler led around 2,000 Nazis and other Kampfbund members in a march to the Feldherrnhalle on the Ludwigsstrasse.”13 When the march reached Odeonsplatz, the marchers and Munich law enforcement met. There was a shootout where fourteen Nazis and four police were left dead at the scene; however, the march completely ended there and all the rebels fled from the scene. Later on, another two Nazis died, with the march being a complete failure.14

Eventually, Ludendorff was not charged at all, whereas Hitler was put on trial for treason and found guilty. “Hitler was sentenced to five years imprisonment in the old fortress of Landsberg and was eligible for parole after serving six months.”15 He was sent to jail on April 1, 1924, and was released a little less than nine months later, on December 20. Though many would think being imprisoned was terribly bad, Hitler, unlike many, received special treatments and in just the few months that he was incarcerated he was allowed frequent and constant visitations. During that time, he also wrote his manifesto, Mein Kampf.16 What did Hitler learn from this episode of the Beer Hall Putsch? He learned that if you want to take power in Germany, a Putsch is not the way. Beginning in his Landsberg prison cell Hitler began plotting his next move. He would come to power in Germany, not through an illegal Putsch, but through the legal means of the ballot box.

  1. William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1960), 68.
  2. William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1960), 68.
  3. Holocaust Encyclopedia (DC: Washington), s.v. “Beer Hall Putsch (Munich Putsch).”
  4. Jennifer Stock, “Benito Mussolini Marches on Rome,” Global Events: Milestone Events Throughout History, Vol. 4: 339.
  5. Jennifer Stock,”Global Events: Milestone Events Throughout History, Vol. 4, “Benito Mussolini Marches on Rome,” 2017: 339.
  6. Gale Encyclopedia of American Law, 2010, s.v. “Benito Mussolini,” by Donna Batten.
  7. Charles Keserich, “The Fiftieth Year of “March on Rome”: Recent Interpretation of Fascism,” The History Teacher, Vol. 6. No. 1 (Nov 1972): 135.
  8.  Holocaust Encyclopedia (DC: Washington), s.v. “Beer Hall Putsch (Munich Putsch).”
  9. Ian Kershaw, Hitler: A biography (Wells Street, London: W.W. Norton Company, 2008), 128.
  10. Holocaust Encyclopedia (DC: Washington), s.v. “Beer Hall Putsch (Munich Putsch).”
  11. William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1960), 71.
  12. Holocaust Encyclopedia (DC: Washington), s.v., “Beer Hall Putsch (Munich Putsch).”
  13. Holocaust Encyclopedia (DC: Washington), s.v. “Beer Hall Putsch (Munich Putsch).”
  14. Holocaust Encyclopedia (DC: Washington), s.v., “Beer Hall Putsch (Munich Putsch).”
  15. William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1960), 78.
  16. William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1960), 78.

Tags from the story

Adolf Hitler

Beer Hall Putsch

Recent Comments

Deanna Lummus

This was really interesting. I just saw a play on the Diary of Anne Frank last weekend and this story gave me some more insight to Hitler and the times. What i didn’t know about Hitler was that he used bullying and force to get what he wanted. I knew he persecuted the Jews but I didn’t know he threatened those in power by force. I thought he just used his matriculation skills to gain trust and respect.

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20/10/2017

4:01 pm

Robert Rees

This article is very well written and does an excellent job in informing the reader on two rather overlooked aspects about Hitler. For starters I never knew that Hitler had attempted a coup before being elected. I had heard the stories of him failing to be accepted into art school and fighting for Germany in WWI but never this story. Also I found this article did well in highlighting one of his rather frightening characteristics, his determination. Overall I found this article to be very informative.

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20/10/2017

4:01 pm

Anthony Robledo

I had no idea what this was. Honestly i thought this article was going to be more about beer. I definitly didnt expect it to be about Hitler. Still though, this is a very interesting article. To think that everything started there. Im sure there was more planning but this was the first key point of the military take over. It may have been a failure but it started to make people think. Awesome article.

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20/10/2017

4:01 pm

Richard Navarro

It is crazy how this man was extremely hungry for power. Even right before his reign, he had soldiers following him, ready to take over the world. I wonder who was in this bar that day and who actually observed him rise to power. The book meinkampf is actually a very interesting book, who would know that this bar putsch would actually be the reason he wrote the manifesto.

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20/10/2017

4:01 pm

Veronica Spryszynski

Wow very good article. Five years imprisonments seems very low according to his actions, and on top on that Hitler left early. I think he should’ve started legally like his next attempt to introduce himself and then take over. I’m guessing he still had many supporters left after his huge fails to even enter the ballots and go through with his next plans.

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20/10/2017

4:01 pm

Valeria Hernandez

Dayna Valdez wrote a well written valid article, however, the topic was very dull and uninteresting to me. The author had great diction and excellent context, but I thought the topic was boring. I enjoyed reading something new as I had never heard of the event. The explanation of the course of history during this period was excellent. Valdez provided great background information, but I lacked interest.

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23/10/2017

4:01 pm

Jasmine Martinez

wow, this article was great! I found it all interesting. I had no prior knowledge of this entire situation, but finished learning plenty. I learned how Hitler had failed and been arrested which was interesting as well as I saw how much he really wanted power, and eventually succeeded. I really liked how you wrote this article. I found it to be very informative, as well as engaging. Great article Dayna!

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23/10/2017

4:01 pm

Benjamin Voy

This was a great article that really hooked me right from the beginning. I had no idea from the headline that Adolf Hitler had anything to do with it. Its interesting to see how obsessed with power Hitler really was and how he had so many failures until he finally took control of the Nazi party, and we all know what happened when he eventually did come into power. This was a great article that really opened my eyes

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24/10/2017

4:01 pm

Abigale Carney

Very interesting article! I have never heard about this event before until after reading your article. I had no idea that Hitler had been arrested before, and it showed how power hungry he really was. I have heard about the situations of Hitler getting rejected from art school, but I always just imagine if they took him into art school if any of these awful events would have occurred.

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26/10/2017

4:01 pm

Sebastian Castro Ramos

History was never my favorite class during high school, so I never learned the details of historic events, just the key events, so this article is something new to me. I didn’t know Hitler had tried a coup d’etat to get to power before forming the Nazi party and legally getting elected. It is strange however that he was allowed to participate in politics when he was just sentenced to time in prison for treason. Great Article!

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27/10/2017

4:01 pm

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