Third Reich Day by Day: 1923

The failure of the Munich Putsch was the low point in the Nazi Party’s fortunes. However, Hitler’s lenient sentence meant he could rebuild the party relatively quickly. Though the party performed poorly at the elections in the 1920s, the world economic depression in 1929 gave Hitler and his followers a much-needed boost, as the German people saw their economy and standard of living nose-dive, and they began to listen to Hitler’s rantings about Jews, communists and international conspiracies against Germany.

11 November

Politics, Bavaria

General Erich Ludendorff, who took part in the Munich Putsch but was acquitted at the subsequent trial.
General Erich Ludendorff, who took part in the Munich Putsch but was acquitted at the subsequent trial.

A diffident young state police lieutenant, accompanied by two other officers, discovers Hitler at the Hanfstaengl Villa. Hitler shakes hands with the young man and says he is prepared to leave. Hitler arrives at the district office at about 21:45 hours and is formally arraigned, before being hustled to the prison at Landsberg. Throughout the tiring trip over winding, deserted roads, Hitler is depressed and sullen. At Landsberg Prison the chief warder is preparing for a possible attempt by Putschists to free him. An army detachment is on its way to stand guard but has not arrived by the time the great nail-studded iron entrance gate creaks open to admit him. He is brought to the fortress section of the prison and put into cell 7, the only one with an anteroom large enough for a military guard.