Rudolf Kanzler

Rudolf Kanzler (born 26 February 1873 in Wasserburg am Inn - died 26 February 1956 in Munich) was a German surveyor and politician who was involved in the organisation of Freikorps units after World War I.

Rudolf Kanzler
Born
Rudolf Kanzler

(1873-02-26)February 26, 1873
Wasserburg am Inn
DiedFebruary 26, 1956(1956-02-26) (aged 83)
Munich
NationalityGerman
Known forFreikorps leader
Political partyCentre Party

A Roman Catholic, Kanzler was a member of the Centre Party and served this party in the Landtag of Bavaria as representative for Lichtenfels from 1905 to 1918.[1] Noted for his anti-communism, he organised a Bürgerwehr or militia against the communists in Rosenheim in 1919.[1] This group grew into the Freikorps Chiemgau, for a time the largest single Freikorps in Germany, under the command of Kanzler who became known as the 'White General'.[1] Kanzler became an ally of the rightist militant Georg Escherich and soon led his own Organisation Kanzler or 'Orka' in imitation of Escherich's Orgesch.[1] Like his ally he became close to Richard Steidle in Austria and helped him in the organisation of the Heimwehr.[1]

Kanzler stood down from his Freikorps roles in 1921, and later became a member of Carl Spruner von Mertz's Bayerischer Heimat- und Königsbund, a monarchist group that was outlawed in 1933 after the formation of the Nazi Party regime.[1] Indeed, Kanzler had been an early leader of this group, which – beyond a nostalgically sentimental attachment to the House of Wittelsbach – had little function, before giving way to General von Krafft.[2] Kanzler had little in common with the Nazis and was jailed for treason during the Third Reich for attempting to promote monarchism and for co-operating with the Black Front of Otto Strasser.[1] Following his death, on his 83rd birthday, he was buried in his home town of Wasserburg am Inn.[1]

References
  1. Philip Rees, Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890, 1990, p. 205
  2. James Donohoe, Hitler's Conservative Opponents in Bavaria: 1930 - 1945 ; a Study of Catholic, Monarchist, and Separatist Anti-Nazi Activities, Brill Archive, 1961, p. 106
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