On 18 October 1931, exactly one week after the conclusion of the Harzburg Front conference, Hitler staged his own rally in Braunschweig (Brunswick). Thirty-eight special trains and over five-thousand trucks brought a total of 104,000 Sturmabteilung (SA) and Schutzstaffel (SS) men from all over Germany. They participated in a massive six-hour march-past in review before Hitler followed by a huge torchlight parade, the likes of which the other nationalist organizations or the government could match. This was the largest parade of paramilitary units seen during the Weimar Republic. The rally was intended to demonstrate both National Socialist power as well as loyalty to their leader. The SA Treffen in Braunschweig was one of the more important meetings in the history of the NSDAP, as it was at this rally that the SA swore complete loyalty and allegiance to Hitler.

The Brunswick rally was hosted by SA-Gruppe Nord under the leadership of then SA-Gruppenführer Viktor Lutze. At the rally, the SA assured Hitler of their loyalty and Hitler in turn increased the size of the SA with the creation of 24 new Standarten (regiments comprised of 300–500 personnel). Three years later in 1934, Hitler rewarded Lutze’s loyalty by appointing him as the SA-Stabschef, succeeding Ernst Röhm who was murdered during the Night of the Long Knives.

The banking crisis and financial collapse in Germany in the summer of 1931 heralded a disastrous new phase of the world depression. It was also integral to the collapse of the Weimar Republic and led to the eventual Nazi seizure of power.

Brunswick was the only state in Germany at the time in which the Nazis held control in political office. It was also the only state in which the SA uniform was permitted to be worn in public, and in which they were allowed to hold military parades and other public functions. The meeting of the National Opposition at Bad Harzburg held on the 11th of October was followed up the very next weekend by a National Socialist rally on an enormous scale in the city of Brunswick itself.

Over 100,000 Nazis entered Brunswick on Saturday and remained through Sunday. The program included numerous parades, a torchlight tattoo, a march past, and several speeches by the leader of the movement, Adolf Hitler himself. At the parade held on Sunday morning, Herr Hitler, in presenting colors to various Nazi storm battalions, said he thought that these would be the last banners to be presented before the final victory of the movement. If they did not lose their nerve at the last moment, no power on earth could prevent them from achieving total victory. Hitler insisted on the necessity for calmness on the part of his followers, but as might have been expected, celebrations were marred by clashes between the National Socialists and their political opponents, in which two people were killed and over sixty injured.

Another large NSDAP event had taken place just eight months prior in February of 1931, a special “Gautag” or regional party day for Gau Südhannover–Braunschweig. The NSDAP Gautag for the state of South Hanover-Brunswick took place on February 21-22, 1931. The Gautagung kicked off in the Konzerthaus with a speech by Hitler, followed up by a march past in front of the Friedrich Wilhelm Monument in front of Braunschweig Castle. Hitler stayed overnight in the Börsenhotel, and the next day gave another speech at the Gauparteitag in the municipal concert hall and had an acceptance of a parade of the SA on the Schlossplatz.

Special collectible cigarette card commemorating the Brunswick Rally. Sammelbild Kampf um´s Dritte Reich Bild 44, Aufmarsch in Braunschweig 1931, Adolf Hitler – Cigarettenfabrik Constanttin, Dresden

The 17th and 18th of October brought the SA meeting in Brunswick at which 104,000 SA and SS men passed in review before Adolf HItler. Here before these faithful fighters the Führer raised before all the world claim to the total state leadership by National Socialism. The men in attendance returned to their every day affairs with enormous enthusiasm and new courage which could not be dampened by the announcement on December 8 prohibiting civilians from wearing the brownshirt uniform in all regions of the Reich. The Nuremberg Rally had also been cancelled in 1931 due to previous clashes between the Nazi’s and Communists and therefore Nuremberg city had forbade hosting the Rally. The Brunswick Rally offered an opportunity to gather and served as a replacement for the bi-annual party convention.

Mystery Location Solved!

Adolf Hitler stayed overnight at Wulfert’s Hotel Torfhaus on 18-19 October 1931 at the conclusion of the Brunswick Rally. Tracking down this location was very challenging, as it is not well documented and the hotel no longer exists. This was possibly the very first road trip Hitler took with Eva Braun, who took these photographs of him out in front of the hotel. Hitler is also seen signing autographs in front of the Torfhaus Schänke, a tavern that was located adjacent to the Wulfert hotel. Torfhaus was a popular ski resort in the 1930’s in the Harz Mountains just west of Mount Brocken. It still remains a popular tourist destination to this day.

The location of the Wulfert’s Hotel Torfhaus stood approximately where the “Wienerwald” restaurant in Torfhaus im Oberharz is now located on the B4. The small village of Torfhaus has changed drastically from the way it appeared during Hitler’s visit in October of 1931. Almost all of the houses were burned down by American soldiers confronting holdout SS-Troops and Volkssturm on 26 April 1945. The Hotel Wendt (Brockenkrug) next door to the Wulfert, owned by the Spengler family, was also destroyed in the skirmish. All that remains at the site of these two hotels is the memorial stone dedicated to pilot Walter Spengler after his tragic death in an air show in 1930. This stone, known as the Spenglerstein, now stands just south of the Torfhaus Harzresort at the entrance to the popular Goetheweg hiking trail.

Postcards showing the Wulfert’s Hotel Torfhaus around the time Hitler and Eva Braun stayed at this location after the Braunschweig Rally, as well as photographs from Eva Braun’s personal albums.

Torfhaus is also known as the place where the German writer Johann Wolfgang Goethe began his first ascent of the Brocken on 10 December 1777.

Heinrich der Löwe 🦁

Adolf Hitler returned to Brunswick on 17 July 1935. In Braunschweig-Lehndorf he paid a visit of the Brunswick Cathedral St. Blasii and the open crypt of Duke Henry the Lion, followed by a short tour of the castle Dankwarderode. He also enjoyed a very special picnic outing in the nearby Harz Mountains with his entourage.