Erhard Heiden
3rd Reichsführer-SS
In office 1 March 1927 – 6 January 1929
Deputy	Heinrich Himmler
Leader	Adolf Hitler
Preceded by	Joseph Berchtold
Succeeded by	Heinrich Himmler
Personal details
Born	(1901-02-23)23 February 1901 Weiler-Simmerberg,German Empire
Died	March 19, 1933(1933-03-19) (aged 32) Nazi Germany
Cause of death	Execution by shooting
Political party	Nazi Party

Erhard Heiden (23 February 1901 – 19 March 1933) was an early member of theNazi Party and the third commander of theSchutzstaffel (SS), the paramilitary wing of theSturmabteilung ("Storm Detachment; SA"). He was appointed head of the SS, an elite subsection of the SA in 1927. At that time the SS numbered fewer than a thousand men and Heiden found it difficult to cope under the much larger SA. Heiden was not a success in the post, and SS membership dropped significantly under his leadership. He was dismissed from his post in 1929, officially for "family reasons". He was arrested after theNazis came to national power in 1933 and executed that same year.

Heiden was born on 23 February 1901 inWeiler-Simmerberg, a city inBavaria.^[1] In 1917, he attended the NCO school in Fürstenfeldbruck.^[2] Little is known about his early life.^[3]

Following Germany's defeat inWorld War I,hyperinflation, mass unemployment, poverty, crime and civil unrest plagued the country.^[4] During that time, Heiden served in aFreikorps unit.^[2] Also in 1919, a smallright-wing political party known as theGerman Workers' Party (DAP) was created and seated inMunich. In 1920, it changed its name to theNational Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party; NSDAP).^[4][5] It rejected the terms of theTreaty of Versailles and advocatedantisemitism and anti-Bolshevism.^[6]

At party meetings in late 1919 and early 1920, hecklers and protesters tried to disruptAdolf Hitler's speeches and fought with party members. It was decided that a permanent group of party members would serve to protect Nazi officials at rallies and disrupt the meetings of opposing parties. The basis for theSturmabteilung ("Storm Detachment"; SA) had been formed.^[7] Heiden became an early member of the Nazi Party and the SA.^[8] In 1923, Heiden joined a small personal bodyguard unit for Adolf Hitler namedStoßtrupp-Hitler ("Shock Troop–Hitler").^[8]

That same year, Hitler felt strong enough to try to seize power in Munich. Inspired byBenito Mussolini's "March on Rome" the previous year, the Nazis aimed to first establish power in Munich and then challenge the government in Berlin. On 9 November 1923, theStoßtrupp, along with the SA and several other paramilitary units, took part in the abortivecoup d'état, resulting in the death of sixteen Nazi supporters and four police officers, an event known as theBeer Hall Putsch. After the putsch, Hitler and other Nazi leaders were incarcerated atLandsberg Prison forhigh treason.^[9] The Nazi Party and all associated formations, including theStoßtrupp, were officially disbanded.^[10]

After Hitler's release from prison in December 1924, the Nazi Party was officially refounded. In 1925, Hitler ordered the formation of a new bodyguard unit, theSchutzkommando ("Protection Command; SS").^[11] It was formed byJulius Schreck and included oldStoßtrupp members such asEmil Maurice and Heiden.^[12][13] That same year, theSchutzkommando was expanded and renamed theSturmstaffel ("Storm Squadron"), and finally theSchutzstaffel ("Protection Squadron"; SS).^[14] Heiden, described byWilliam Shirer as "a former police stool-pigeon of unsavory reputation",^[15] joined the SS in 1925 and was an early advocate of separating the unit from the SA, its parent organization.^[16]

On 1 March 1927,Joseph Berchtold transferred leadership of the SS to Heiden, who was his acting deputy. Berchtold had become disillusioned by the SA's authority over the SS.^[17][18] As head of the SS, Heiden also found it difficult to function under the larger and more powerful SA. Under Heiden's leadership a stricter code of discipline was enforced than would have been tolerated in the SA ranks. Heiden further demanded that the men under his command were not to be involved in party matters which were none of their concern. His intention was to create a small elite unit and obtain higher quality recruits.^[18]

Except for the Munich area, the unit was unable to maintain any momentum. The membership of the SS declined from 1,000 to 280 as the SS continued to struggle under the SA.^[19] As Heiden attempted to keep the small group from dissolving,Heinrich Himmler became his deputy in September 1927. Himmler had a great enthusiasm and vision for the SS and displayed good organisational abilities which Heiden used.^[20] Himmler became the driving force within the SS and in time eclipsed Heiden.^[21]

Upon the dismissal of Heiden, Himmler assumed the position ofReichsführer-SS with Hitler's approval in January 1929.^[22][a] There are differing accounts of the reason for this dismissal. The party merely announced that it was for "family reasons".^[23] It was also suggested at the time that the dismissal was due to Heiden associating with Jews.^[16] Starting in 1928, Heiden was co-owner of a clothing supply business that sold uniforms to the SS. Another company in Munich supplied Heiden and his partner with the pants which were used for the SS uniforms. It was discovered that this other company was owned by a Jew. Further, it was alleged that Heiden had been making large profits on the clothing sales to the SS for uniforms. This led to Heiden having to resign as head of the SS.^[2] Historian Adrian Weale believes the primary reason for his dismissal was due to him being ineffective in the job. There were also rumors that he was a police informer.^[24] Himmler's biographer,Peter Longerich, says that beyond the official announcement, "we have no further clues to explain either Heiden's dismissal or Himmler's appointment".^[25] Under Himmler, the SS greatly expanded over time, with his ultimate aim being the one to turn it into the most powerful organization in Germany.^[26]

In March 1933, after a visit to his friend Emil Maurice, Heiden was arrested by members of theSicherheitsdienst ("Security Service"; SD) while he was having dinner in the Orlando coffee house in Munich. He was murdered sometime later, presumably by members of the SD.

Heiden was officially listed as missing on 18 March 1933. On 28 March 1933, Paul Schulz wrote the following about Heiden's disappearance:

"Today I find out that some time ago (14 days) the former SS leader Hayden [sic] disappeared. In the evening he was visiting his friend Maurice and went from there to his apartment, which is only a few houses away. On the way he visited a pub nearby, drank his beer and ate alone. After a while, an SA man came and asked to speak to him, asking him to come outside. Since that time he has not returned. After half an hour this SA man came again and fetched Hayden's coat and hat. Hayden left without a coat or hat and without paying."^[27]

Shortly after Heiden's disappearance, Heiden's mother asked his old friend Maurice to look for him. He turned to Josef Gerum for help, who finally went withAugust Schneidhuber to see Himmler about the disappearance. When Gerum and Schneidhuber asked him about Heiden's whereabouts, Himmler, Gerum later claimed, reacted "out of temper" and forbade any interference.^[28] According to Schulz, at the end of March an SS-Sturmfuhrer told Maurice that if he said another word about the Heiden affair or made any further inquiries into his whereabouts, he was a "goner". When Maurice raised the incident with Hitler, Hitler recommended that he withdraw from Munich for a while.^[27]

Heiden's body was discovered months later, on 13 August 1933, in the Neufinsing works canal near Erding (according to the Erding district court) and buried on 15 September.^[16] According to Karl Ortner, his body had a gunshot wound to the head. The probable date of death was officially set as 19 March 1933.^[29]

• Karl Hanke

• Cook, Stephen; Russell, Stuart (2000).Heinrich Himmler's Camelot: the Wewelsburg Ideological Center of the SS, 1934–1945. Kressmann-Backmeyer.ISBN 978-0-9670443-0-9.
• Evans, Richard (2003).The Coming of the Third Reich. Penguin.ISBN 978-0-14-303469-8.
• Goldhagen, Daniel (1996).Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust. Knopf.ISBN 978-0-679-44695-8.
• Hamilton, Charles (1984).Leaders & Personalities of the Third Reich. R. James Bender Publishing.ISBN 0-912138-27-0.
• Kershaw, Ian (2008).Hitler: A Biography. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.ISBN 978-0-393-06757-6.
• Kiekenap, Bernhard (2008).SS-Junkerschule: SA and SS in Braunschweig. Appelhans.ISBN 978-3-937664-94-1.
• Longerich, Peter (2012).Heinrich Himmler: A Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-959232-6.
• McNab, Chris (2009).The SS: 1923–1945. Amber Books Ltd.ISBN 978-1-906626-49-5.
• Miller, Michael (2015).Leaders of the SS and German Police, Vol. 2. San Jose, CA: R. James Bender.ISBN 978-1-932970-25-8.
• Shirer, William L. (1991).The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany. London: Random House.ISBN 978-0-09-942176-4.
• Toland, John (1976).Adolf Hitler. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company.ISBN 0-385-03724-4.
• Weale, Adrian (2010).The SS: A New History. London: Little, Brown.ISBN 978-1-4087-0304-5.
• Wegner, Bernd (1990).The Waffen-SS: Organization, Ideology and Function. Blackwell.ISBN 0-631-14073-5.

• 1901 births
• 1933 deaths
• Heinrich Himmler
• Military personnel from Munich
• Nazi Party officials
• Nazis executed by Nazi Germany by firearm
• Nazis who participated in the Beer Hall Putsch
• People from Bavaria executed by Nazi Germany
• People from the Kingdom of Bavaria
• Reichsführer-SS
• Sturmabteilung personnel
• 20th-century Freikorps personnel
• People convicted of treason against Germany

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