Blutfahne (literally translated as “blood flag”) is the name designating the red flag with the swastika used by Adolf Hitler and his party, the NSDAP , during the failed Beer Hall Putsch of 9 of November of 1923 .
History
Origins
The origin of the Blutfahne is in the failed attempt of the coup d’etat of November of 1923 ( Putsch of Munich ). After the march by the center of the city of Munichorganized by Adolf Hitler and Erich Ludendorff , the puchistas faced the police in front of the Feldherrnhalle . There was a shootout that resulted in fourteen National Socialist coups and four policemen killed. The blood of three members of the SA dead (Andreas Bauriedl, Anton Hechenberger and Lorenz Ritter von Stransky-Griffenfeld) stained the flag with the swastika worn by Heinrich Wilhelm Trambauer. The carrier fled with the flag to an acquaintance’s house and kept it until the exit of prison of Hitler, moment in which it was given to him. The flag becomes the object of worship: it is hoisted on a new mast, a new shot is added and below it is added a plaque with the names of the SA members killed in the Putsch.
The 4 of July of 1926 , was given the Blutfahne the SS Reichsfuhrer Joseph Berchtold , with the order to the keep.
Use as relic
From the NSDAP congress of 1926, all the SS flags and pennants are consecrated to the Blutfahne, as was done in the medieval tradition. 1 Until 1931, during inter-congress periods, the flag was kept in the HS Hall of Honor, at the NSDAP premises in Munich . From 1931, the flag was moved to the “Fahnenhalle” (Flag Room) of the ” Parda House “, the new headquarters of the National Socialist Workers’ Party. The official bearer of the flag was Jakob Grimminger , one of the participants of the Putsch coup in November 1923.
Final destination
Casa Parda, the official headquarters of the Nazi Party , suffered serious damage during the bombing of Munich in 1944 . It has been estimated that the flag was destroyed in these bombings. The last time she was seen in public was in an act of the Volkssturm , the 18 of October of 1944. After, it was lost its trail completely . At present there is no record of their whereabouts, and it is not certain whether the flag still exists. 2
Bibliography
- Return to top↑ Davis McGregor, Flags of the Third Reich: Party & Police Units , Osprey, London, 1994, p.4.
- Back to top↑ Brian L. Davis (2012). Flags of the Third Reich (3): Party & Police Units , Osprey Publishing, p. 4