appointed him NSDAP Gauleiter in Württemberg-Hohenzollern. One of his rivals, whom at that time he managed to oust, was the later Württemberg premier (Ministerpräsident) Christian Mergenthaler, who time and again lost out to Murr in later power struggles. By strict subordination to Hitler and the Party, Murr found it possible to secure his position in Württemberg. In October 1930, he gave up his job at the machine factory and began working full-time for the Party. The NSDAP's membership numbers and financial situation were getting better. From early 1931, Murr managed to bring out his own propaganda

Propaganda

Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....

 sheet, the NS-Kurier, in which, until 1945, he published many lead articles which, although not dazzlingly brilliant, faithfully expressed the Party line.

In the elections in autumn 1930, Murr was elected a member of the Reichstag

Reichstag (Weimar Republic)

The Reichstag was the parliament of Weimar Republic .German constitution commentators consider only the Reichstag and now the Bundestag the German parliament. Another organ deals with legislation too: in 1867-1918 the Bundesrat, in 1919–1933 the Reichsrat and from 1949 on the Bundesrat...

 for the NSDAP in electoral district 31 (Württemberg). After the Nazis seized power

Machtergreifung

Machtergreifung is a German word meaning "seizure of power". It is normally used specifically to refer to the Nazi takeover of power in the democratic Weimar Republic on 30 January 1933, the day Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, turning it into the Nazi German dictatorship.-Term:The...

, the Württemberg Landtag

Landtag

A Landtag is a representative assembly or parliament in German-speaking countries with some legislative authority.- Name :...

chose him, under Nazi pressure, as Württemberg's new State President, thereby leading Murr to succeed his own political foe, Eugen Bolz

Eugen Bolz

Eugen Anton Bolz was a German politician and a member of the resistance to the Nazi régime.- Life :Born in Rottenburg am Neckar, Eugen Bolz was his parents' twelfth child. His father, Joseph Bolz, was a salesman. His mother was Maria Theresia Bolz . Bolz studied law in Tübingen and there became a...

.

Murr likewise took over the Interior and Economy Ministry. On 6 May 1933, Murr was appointed to the newly created position of Reichsstatthalter (Reich Governor) in Württemberg; the office of Württemberg State President was abolished and the Landtag bereft of any function. His rival Mergenthaler, since early 1932 already Landtag president, became Ministerpräsident as well as Culture and Justice Minister. Murr's obvious intellectual shortcomings were embellished to make him seem down-to-earth, like "a man of the people" as the official propaganda about the governor put it. On the other hand, Joseph Goebbels

Joseph Goebbels

Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...

 described Murr in a diary entry from 31 July 1933 as a "parvenu".

When Murr found out in 1938 that the Bishop of Rottenburg

Rottenburg am Neckar

Rottenburg am Neckar is a medium-sized town in the administrative district of Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It rests about 50 km southwest of the provincial capital Stuttgart and about 12 km southwest of the district town Tübingen...

, Johannes Baptista Sproll

Johannes Baptista Sproll

Johannes Baptista Sproll was a German Bishop and prominent opponent of the Nazi regime.Sproll was born in Schweinhausen, near Biberach, the son of a street mender, Josef Sproll, and his wife, Anna Maria née Freuer. He attended the Latin school in Biberach and the Gymnasium Ehingen...

, had not taken part in the plebiscite on Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

's union with Germany

Anschluss

The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....

 on 10 April, he initiated a campaign with newspaper articles and organized demonstrations against Sproll, prompting the authorities to rebuke the bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 and drive him out of the province to Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

.

When the war began in September 1939, Murr was appointed Reich Defence Commissar in Defence District V, which brought him more power. Important sectors of the military

Military

A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

 and the civil government now stood directly under him, or at least de facto had to make arrangements with him. Without Murr's or his agent's approval, practically nothing more could happen in Württemberg. The murder

Murder

Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

 carried out against Jews and the mentally ill

Mental illness

A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...

 could go ahead smoothly in Württemberg thanks to Murr's unconditionally carrying out the Führer's and the Party's orders.

After the growing number of air raids

Airstrike

An air strike is an attack on a specific objective by military aircraft during an offensive mission. Air strikes are commonly delivered from aircraft such as fighters, bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters, and others...

 on Stuttgart

Stuttgart

Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....

, Murr had the first inkling in 1943 of a nasty end. He did prepare evacuation measures for Stuttgart, but never told anyone about them, publicly remaining Hitler's and Goebbels's loyal spokesman. Even when late in January 1944 Murr's only son Winfried, deployed with the Waffen-SS

Waffen-SS

The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...

 in Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, shot himself at the age of 21 to forestall court-martial proceedings against him for rape

Rape

Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

, Murr did not bring his unquestioning loyalty towards Hitler into question, and assured Hitler on 1 March that he would continue in his service.

The war's end and afterwards

The evacuation plans, which were made known in December 1944, and which foresaw sending Stuttgart's population on 20-km day marches towards the southeast, and also destroying the city, Murr chose to give up in March 1945. On 10 April he was still calling for the city's defence no matter what it took, and on 13 April he forbade the destruction of tank traps and the raising of white flags, on pain of execution and Sippenhaftung (detention and punishment of kin). Nevertheless, Murr himself fled Stuttgart on 19 April under a false name together with his wife and other companions. By way of the former monastery near Schelklingen

Schelklingen

Schelklingen is a town in the district of Alb-Donau in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is situated 10 km north of Ehingen, and 20 km west of Ulm...

, Kißlegg

Kißlegg

Kißlegg is a town in the district of Ravensburg in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Kißlegg is not far from the village of Vogt. It has a beautiful church, rich in culture and beauty....

, Wangen im Allgäu

Wangen im Allgäu

Wangen im Allgäu is a historic city in southeast Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It lies north-east of Lake Constance in the Westallgäu. It is the second-largest city in the Ravensburg district and is a nexus for the surrounding communities...

, Kressbronn am Bodensee

Kressbronn am Bodensee

Kressbronn am Bodensee is a commune and a village in the district of Bodensee in Baden-Württemberg in Germany....

 and further stops along the way, they at last found refuge in the Großes Walsertal in Vorarlberg

Vorarlberg

Vorarlberg is the westernmost federal-state of Austria. Although it is the second smallest in terms of area and population , it borders three countries: Germany , Switzerland and Liechtenstein...

. Murr, his wife, and two adjutants stayed at the Biberacher Hütte until 12 May, then moving into an alpine cabin overlooking Schröcken

Schröcken

Schröcken is an alpine town located in the district of Bregenz, Vorarlberg, Austria.-Geography:Schröcken is located in the western province of Austria, Vorarlberg, Bregenz in the district south-south-east of the Bodensee. It is in the Austrian Alps and is at an altitude of 1,269 meters...

. There on 13 May, they were arrested by French troops to whom Murr identified himself as "Walter Müller". The arrestees were first taken to Schoppernau

Schoppernau

Schoppernau is a town in eastern Vorarlberg, Austria in the Bregenz district. Most of the town is 852 m above sea level.-References:...

, then to Egg in Vorarlberg, where first Murr's wife and then Murr himself killed themselves with poison vials that they had brought along. They were both buried in the graveyard at Egg.

The American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 occupiers had put Murr on their List of Potential War Criminals under Proposed US Policy Directives and were searching for him. The Americans and the French soon came to suspect that Murr might be dead, and with the Württemberg police found evidence that led them to Egg. On 16 April 1946, "Walter Müller's" and his wife's grave was opened. Murr's former dentist managed to identify him by his teeth.

Literature

• Sauer, Paul: Wilhelm Murr. Hitlers Statthalter in Württemberg. Silberburg-Verlag, Tübingen 1998, ISBN 3-87407-282-7
• Scholtyseck, Joachim: „Der Mann aus dem Volk“ : Wilhelm Murr, Gauleiter und Reichsstatthalter in Württemberg-Hohenzollern. In: Die Führer der Provinz: NS-Biographien aus Baden und Württemberg, hrsg. von Michael Kissener und Joachim Scholtyseck. 2nd edition. Konstanz: UVK, Univ.-Verl. Konstanz, 1999, pp. 477–502, 878, ISBN 3-87940-679-0

External links