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Otto Wagener
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Otto Wagener
Otto Wilhelm Heinrich Wagener (29 April 1888 – 9 August 1971) was a German professional military officer and Nazi Party official. He was a member of the Nazi paramilitary unit, the Sturmabteilung, rising to become its effective leader as the first SA-Stabschef from 1929 to 1930. At the start of the Nazi regime, he served as Adolf Hitler's chief economic advisor. He survived the Röhm purge of SA leaders in 1934 and returned to military service in the Second World War, becoming a Generalmajor and military governor of the Italian Dodecanese islands. Following the war, he was interned, put on trial in Italy and sentenced to prison for war crimes.
A factory owner's son, Wagener was born in Durlach, was educated in the local Gymnasium and earned his Abitur in July 1906. He then entered the Imperial German Army as a Fahnenjunker (officer cadet) with the 111th (3rd Baden) Infantry Regiment. He was commissioned as a Leutnant in November 1907 and served as a battalion adjutant. He attended the Prussian Staff College between October 1913 and July 1914. On the outbreak of the First World War, he was deployed to the front with Reserve Infantry Regiment 55. He was promoted to Oberleutnant (November 1914) and Hauptmann (December 1915) serving as a brigade adjutant, a company commander and a battalion commander in Reserve Infantry Regiment 110. Beginning in July 1916, Wagener was assigned to the general staff of Army Group von Stein and of the 5th Army. He was awarded the Iron Cross, 1st and 2nd class but, in May 1918, he was dismissed from the army following a military court of honor.
After the war, Wagener became involved in a Freikorps unit operating on the Polish border. He also served in Courland as the chief of the general staff of the German Legion, a component of the Freikorps in the Baltic. He briefly assumed leadership of the Legion between November and December 1919 after its leader, Paul Siewert, was killed in action. After returning to Germany, he began to study economics but became involved with the Kapp Putsch and was briefly arrested. He was discharged from the Freikorps at the end of March 1920. In 1920 and 1921, he was the state leader in Baden of the Organization Escherich, an antisemitic paramilitary group. He worked as the assistant manager, then as the director and a board member at his father's sewing machine factory in Karlsruhe between 1920 and 1924. He continued his education, and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Würzburg in 1924. He also lectured on economics in business courses at that university and at the Technische Hochschule Karlsruhe (today, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology). Between 1924 and 1925, he traveled abroad lecturing on economic policy. Returning to Germany, he became the part-owner of a plywood and wood veneer company in Villingen for the next four years.
Wagener briefly was a member of the Sturmabteilung (SA) in 1923 before it was banned after Adolf Hitler's failed Beer Hall Putsch. He began to establish contacts with the Nazi Party in July 1929. He attended the Fourth Party Congress at a Nuremberg Rally in August, and was later awarded the Nuremberg Party Day Badge. On 1 October 1929, Wagener formally was accepted into the Party (membership number 159,203) and rejoined the SA, having been recruited by his old Freikorps comrade Franz Pfeffer von Salomon, then the Supreme SA Leader. Upon entering the SA, Wagener was appointed as the first SA-Stabschef. Pfeffer was seeking to build up a central staff structure and, as a former general staff officer, Wagener had the right credentials. Wagener also was able to put his business acumen and contacts to good use for the SA and for himself. He became a limited partner in a cigarette company and benefited financially from their joint business venture.
Wagener had used his business contacts to persuade a cigarette firm to produce "Sturm" cigarettes for SA men – a "sponsorship" deal benefiting both the firm and SA coffers. Stormtroopers were strongly encouraged to smoke only these cigarettes. A cut from the profit went to the SA …
When Pfeffer resigned on 29 August 1930 in the wake of the Stennes Revolt, Wagener assumed effective operational command of the SA for four months through 31 December 1930, until the assumption of command by Ernst Röhm as the new SA-Stabschef in early January 1931. In October 1930, Wagener expressed the expectation that the SA would form the manpower pool for the future national army following the envisioned Nazi takeover of the government. His views reflected the desire of the SA leadership for a high degree of autonomy from the political leadership that would continue to cause friction between the two and which would culminate in the Night of the Long Knives.
Despite his resignation as SA-Stabschef, Wagener's career continued to advance as he shifted his focus to the realm of economic policy. A member of the Party's Reichsleitung (national leadership) since October 1929, he was appointed the leader of its Economic Policy Department on 1 January 1931. Later that year, he was named editor of a Nazi economic journal, Wirtschaftpolitischen Briefe (Economic Policy Letters). On 18 December 1931, he was among the first group of officers to be promoted to the new rank of SA-Gruppenführer, and he joined Hitler's personal staff as his economic advisor on 4 September 1932.
By late 1930 or early 1931, Wagener already had made his mark on Nazi economic policy:
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Otto Wagener
Otto Wilhelm Heinrich Wagener (29 April 1888 – 9 August 1971) was a German professional military officer and Nazi Party official. He was a member of the Nazi paramilitary unit, the Sturmabteilung, rising to become its effective leader as the first SA-Stabschef from 1929 to 1930. At the start of the Nazi regime, he served as Adolf Hitler's chief economic advisor. He survived the Röhm purge of SA leaders in 1934 and returned to military service in the Second World War, becoming a Generalmajor and military governor of the Italian Dodecanese islands. Following the war, he was interned, put on trial in Italy and sentenced to prison for war crimes.
A factory owner's son, Wagener was born in Durlach, was educated in the local Gymnasium and earned his Abitur in July 1906. He then entered the Imperial German Army as a Fahnenjunker (officer cadet) with the 111th (3rd Baden) Infantry Regiment. He was commissioned as a Leutnant in November 1907 and served as a battalion adjutant. He attended the Prussian Staff College between October 1913 and July 1914. On the outbreak of the First World War, he was deployed to the front with Reserve Infantry Regiment 55. He was promoted to Oberleutnant (November 1914) and Hauptmann (December 1915) serving as a brigade adjutant, a company commander and a battalion commander in Reserve Infantry Regiment 110. Beginning in July 1916, Wagener was assigned to the general staff of Army Group von Stein and of the 5th Army. He was awarded the Iron Cross, 1st and 2nd class but, in May 1918, he was dismissed from the army following a military court of honor.
After the war, Wagener became involved in a Freikorps unit operating on the Polish border. He also served in Courland as the chief of the general staff of the German Legion, a component of the Freikorps in the Baltic. He briefly assumed leadership of the Legion between November and December 1919 after its leader, Paul Siewert, was killed in action. After returning to Germany, he began to study economics but became involved with the Kapp Putsch and was briefly arrested. He was discharged from the Freikorps at the end of March 1920. In 1920 and 1921, he was the state leader in Baden of the Organization Escherich, an antisemitic paramilitary group. He worked as the assistant manager, then as the director and a board member at his father's sewing machine factory in Karlsruhe between 1920 and 1924. He continued his education, and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Würzburg in 1924. He also lectured on economics in business courses at that university and at the Technische Hochschule Karlsruhe (today, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology). Between 1924 and 1925, he traveled abroad lecturing on economic policy. Returning to Germany, he became the part-owner of a plywood and wood veneer company in Villingen for the next four years.
Wagener briefly was a member of the Sturmabteilung (SA) in 1923 before it was banned after Adolf Hitler's failed Beer Hall Putsch. He began to establish contacts with the Nazi Party in July 1929. He attended the Fourth Party Congress at a Nuremberg Rally in August, and was later awarded the Nuremberg Party Day Badge. On 1 October 1929, Wagener formally was accepted into the Party (membership number 159,203) and rejoined the SA, having been recruited by his old Freikorps comrade Franz Pfeffer von Salomon, then the Supreme SA Leader. Upon entering the SA, Wagener was appointed as the first SA-Stabschef. Pfeffer was seeking to build up a central staff structure and, as a former general staff officer, Wagener had the right credentials. Wagener also was able to put his business acumen and contacts to good use for the SA and for himself. He became a limited partner in a cigarette company and benefited financially from their joint business venture.
Wagener had used his business contacts to persuade a cigarette firm to produce "Sturm" cigarettes for SA men – a "sponsorship" deal benefiting both the firm and SA coffers. Stormtroopers were strongly encouraged to smoke only these cigarettes. A cut from the profit went to the SA …
When Pfeffer resigned on 29 August 1930 in the wake of the Stennes Revolt, Wagener assumed effective operational command of the SA for four months through 31 December 1930, until the assumption of command by Ernst Röhm as the new SA-Stabschef in early January 1931. In October 1930, Wagener expressed the expectation that the SA would form the manpower pool for the future national army following the envisioned Nazi takeover of the government. His views reflected the desire of the SA leadership for a high degree of autonomy from the political leadership that would continue to cause friction between the two and which would culminate in the Night of the Long Knives.
Despite his resignation as SA-Stabschef, Wagener's career continued to advance as he shifted his focus to the realm of economic policy. A member of the Party's Reichsleitung (national leadership) since October 1929, he was appointed the leader of its Economic Policy Department on 1 January 1931. Later that year, he was named editor of a Nazi economic journal, Wirtschaftpolitischen Briefe (Economic Policy Letters). On 18 December 1931, he was among the first group of officers to be promoted to the new rank of SA-Gruppenführer, and he joined Hitler's personal staff as his economic advisor on 4 September 1932.
By late 1930 or early 1931, Wagener already had made his mark on Nazi economic policy:
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