, 19 November 1923 The putsch was inspired by
Benito Mussolini's successful
March on Rome. From 22 to 29 October 1922, Hitler and his associates planned to use Munich as a base for a march against Germany's
Weimar Republic government, but circumstances differed from those in Italy. Hitler came to the realisation that Kahr sought to control him and was not ready to act against the government in Berlin. Hitler wanted to seize a critical moment for successful popular agitation and support. He decided to take matters into his own hands. Hitler, along with a large detachment of
SA, marched on the
Bürgerbräukeller, where Kahr was making a speech in front of 3,000 people. On the evening of 8 November 1923, 603 SA surrounded the beer hall and a machine gun was set up in the auditorium. Hitler, surrounded by his associates
Hermann Göring,
Alfred Rosenberg,
Rudolf Hess,
Ernst Hanfstaengl,
Ulrich Graf, Johann Aigner,
Adolf Lenk,
Max Amann,
Max Erwin von Scheubner-Richter,
Wilhelm Adam,
Robert Wagner and others (some 20 in all), advanced through the crowded auditorium. Unable to be heard above the crowd, Hitler fired a shot into the ceiling and jumped on a chair, yelling: "The national revolution has broken out! The hall is surrounded by six hundred men. Nobody is allowed to leave." He went on to state that the Bavarian government was deposed and declared the formation of a new government with Ludendorff. Hitler, accompanied by Hess, Lenk, and Graf, ordered the triumvirate of Kahr, Seisser and Lossow into an adjoining room at gunpoint and demanded they support the putsch and accept the government positions he assigned them. Hitler had promised Lossow a few days earlier that he would not attempt a coup, but now thought that he would get an immediate response of affirmation from them, imploring Kahr to accept the position of Regent of Bavaria. Kahr replied that he could not be expected to collaborate, especially as he had been taken out of the auditorium under heavy guard.
Heinz Pernet, Johann Aigner and
Scheubner-Richter were dispatched to pick up Ludendorff, whose personal prestige was being harnessed to give the Nazis credibility. A telephone call was made from the kitchen by
Hermann Kriebel to
Ernst Röhm, who was waiting with his
Bund Reichskriegsflagge in the
Löwenbräukeller, another beer hall, and he was ordered to seize key buildings throughout the city. At the same time, co-conspirators under
Gerhard Rossbach mobilised the students of a nearby infantry officers' school to seize other objectives. Hitler became irritated by Kahr and summoned
Ernst Pöhner,
Friedrich Weber, and Hermann Kriebel to stand in for him while he returned to the auditorium flanked by
Rudolf Hess and Adolf Lenk. He followed up on Göring's speech and stated that the action was not directed at the police and Reichswehr, but against "the Berlin Jew government and the November criminals of 1918". Dr. Karl Alexander von Mueller, a professor of modern history and political science at the
University of Munich and a supporter of Kahr, was an eyewitness. He reported: I cannot remember in my entire life such a change in the attitude of a crowd in a few minutes, almost a few seconds [...] Hitler had turned them inside out, as one turns a glove inside out, with a few sentences. It had almost something of
hocus-pocus, or magic about it. Hitler ended his speech with: "Outside are Kahr, Lossow and Seisser. They are struggling hard to reach a decision. May I say to them that you will stand behind them?" The crowd in the hall backed Hitler with a roar of approval. He finished: You can see that what motivates us is neither self-conceit nor self-interest, but only a burning desire to join the battle in this grave eleventh hour for our German Fatherland [...] One last thing I can tell you. Either the German revolution begins tonight, or we will all be dead by dawn! Hitler, Ludendorff,
et al., returned to the main hall's podium, where they gave speeches and shook hands. Kahr spoke first, announcing to applause that he had agreed to serve Bavaria as regent for the monarchy. Hitler declared that he would direct the policy of the new Reich government, and clasped Kahr's hand. The crowd was then allowed to leave the hall. In a tactical mistake, Hitler decided to leave the Bürgerbräukeller shortly thereafter to deal with a crisis elsewhere. Around 22:30, Ludendorff released Kahr and his associates. The Bund Oberland, under the command of Max Ritter von Müller, was sent to seize weapons from the Army Engineer Barracks under the pretence of performing training manoeuvres. Oskar Cantzler, captain of the 1st company of the 7th Engineer Battalion, did not believe them but allowed them to perform the manoeuvres inside the building. He locked the building with the 400 men inside and positioned two machine guns at the entrance. Hitler attempted to have the men released, but Cantzler refused. Hitler considered using artillery to destroy the building, but chose not to. The night was marked by confusion and unrest among government officials, armed forces, police units, and individuals deciding where their loyalties lay. Units of the
Kampfbund were scurrying around to arm themselves from secret caches and seizing buildings. At around 03:00, the first casualties of the putsch occurred when the local garrison of the
Reichswehr spotted Röhm's men coming out of the beer hall. They were ambushed while trying to reach the
Reichswehr barracks by soldiers and state police; shots were fired, but there were no fatalities on either side. Encountering heavy resistance, Röhm and his men were forced to fall back. In the meantime, the
Reichswehr officers put the whole garrison on alert and called for reinforcements. In the morning, Hitler ordered the seizure of the as
hostages. By mid-morning on 9 November, Hitler realised that the putsch was going nowhere. The putschists did not know what to do and were about to give up. At this moment, Ludendorff cried out, "Wir marschieren!" ("We will march!"). Röhm's force, together with Hitler's (a total of approximately 2000 men), marched out – but with no specific destination. On the spur of the moment, Ludendorff led them to the Bavarian Defence Ministry. However, at the
Odeonsplatz in front of the
Feldherrnhalle, they met a force of 130 soldiers blocking the way under the command of State Police Senior Lieutenant . The two groups exchanged fire, which resulted in the deaths of 16 Nazis, four police officers, and one bystander. Their defeat by the government forces forced Hitler and Ludendorff to flee, Hitler would be driven by Ernst Hanfstaengl to
Uffing while Ludendorff would flee to Munich. It was the origin of the
Blutfahne ('blood flag'), which was stained with the blood of two SA members who were shot: the flag bearer Heinrich Trambauer, who was badly wounded, and Andreas Bauriedl, who fell dead onto the fallen flag. A bullet killed Scheubner-Richter. Göring was shot in the leg, but escaped. The rest of the Nazis scattered or were arrested. Hitler was arrested two days later. In a description of Ludendorff's funeral at the
Feldherrnhalle in 1937 (which Hitler attended but without speaking)
William L. Shirer wrote: "The World War [One] hero [Ludendorff] had refused to have anything to do with him [Hitler] ever since he had fled from in front of the Feldherrnhalle after the volley of bullets during the Beer Hall Putsch." However, when a consignment of papers relating to
Landsberg Prison (including the visitor book) was later sold at auction, it was noted that Ludendorff had visited Hitler a number of times. The case of the resurfacing papers was reported in
Der Spiegel on 23 June 2006; the new information (which came out more than 30 years after Shirer wrote his book, and which Shirer did not have access to) nullifies Shirer's statement.
Counterattack Police units were first notified of trouble by three police detectives stationed at the
Löwenbräukeller. These reports reached Major
Sigmund von Imhoff of the state police. He immediately called all his
Grüne Polizei units and had them seize the central telegraph office and the telephone exchange, although his most important act was to notify
Major-General Jakob von Danner, the
Reichswehr city commandant of Munich. As a proud war hero, Danner loathed the "little corporal" and those "
Freikorps bands of rowdies". He also did not much like his commanding officer, Generalleutnant
Otto von Lossow, "a sorry figure of a man". He was determined to put down the putsch with or without Lossow. Danner set up a command post at the 19th Infantry Regiment barracks and alerted all military units. Meanwhile, Captain Karl Wild, learning of the putsch from marchers, mobilised his command to guard Kahr's government building, the
Commissariat, with orders to shoot. Around 23:00, Major-General von Danner, along with fellow generals and
Friedrich Freiherr Kress von Kressenstein, compelled Lossow to repudiate the putsch. There was one member of the cabinet who was not at the Bürgerbräukeller:
Franz Matt, the vice-premier and minister of education and culture. A staunchly conservative
Roman Catholic, he was having dinner with the
Archbishop of Munich, Cardinal
Michael von Faulhaber, and with the
Nuncio to Bavaria, Archbishop Eugenio Pacelli (who would later become
Pope Pius XII), when he learned of the putsch. He immediately telephoned Kahr. When he found the man vacillating and unsure, Matt made plans to set up a rump government-in-exile in
Regensburg and composed a proclamation calling upon all police officers, members of the armed forces, and civil servants to remain loyal to the government. The action of these few men spelt doom for those attempting the putsch. The next day the archbishop and Rupprecht visited Kahr and persuaded him to repudiate Hitler. Three thousand students from the University of Munich rioted and marched to the
Feldherrnhalle to lay wreaths. They continued to riot until 9 November, when they learned of Hitler's arrest. Kahr and Lossow were called
Judases and traitors. == Trial and prison ==