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Karl Linder | |
|---|---|
| Gauleiter of Gau Hesse-Nassau South | |
| In office 1 October 1926 – 1 April 1927 | |
| Preceded by | Walter Schultz |
| Succeeded by | Jakob Sprenger |
| DeputyGauleiter of Gau Hesse-Nassau South | |
| In office 1 January 1928 – 17 August 1932 | |
| Gauleiter of Gau Hesse-Nassau South | |
| In office 17 August 1932 – 31 December 1932 | |
| Preceded by | Jakob Sprenger |
| Succeeded by | Jakob Sprenger |
| DeputyGauleiter ofGau Hesse-Nassau | |
| In office 1 January 1933 – 15 March 1933 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Heinrich Reiner |
| SecondBürgermeister ofFrankfurt am Main | |
| In office 13 March 1933 – 30 June 1937 | |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Kremmer |
| DeputyGauleiter ofGau Hesse-Nassau | |
| In office 1 July 1937 – 8 May 1945 | |
| Preceded by | Heinrich Reiner |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Friedrich Wilhelm Karl Linder 5 April 1900 Frankfurt am Main,Kingdom of Prussia,German Empire |
| Died | 17 March 1979 (aged 78) Groß-Bieberau,West Germany |
| Political party | National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) |
| Profession | Civil Servant |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  German Empire |
| Branch/service |  Imperial German Army |
| Years of service | 1918 |
| Unit | Infantry Regiment 81 |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
Karl Linder (5 April 1900 inFrankfurt am Main – 17 March 1979 inGroß-Bieberau) was aNazi Party (NSDAP) official who served asGauleiter of Gau Hesse-Nassau South andGau Hesse-Nassau as well as in many governmental positions, including as SecondBürgermeister of Frankfurt am Main. A member of theSturmabteilung (SA), Linder held the rank of SA-Brigadeführer.
The son of a businessman, Linder attended elementary, middle and high school in Frankfurt. In June 1918, he volunteered for military service inWorld War I and served during the closing months of the war with a communications replacement company and in Infantry Regiment 81. After the war, Linder joined theFreikorps and fought in theSpartacist uprising in early 1919. He then took courses in civil service and commercial trade. He also studied economics at theUniversity of Frankfurt am Main but broke off his studies in 1920. That year, Linder joined the Finance Administration in Frankfurt as a civil service candidate. He passed his civil service examinations in 1923 and worked in the Finance Department as a senior tax secretary and tax inspector until 1933.[1]
In September 1923, Linder joined theNational Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP). The Party was banned in the aftermath of theBeer Hall Putsch, but re-established in February 1925. Linder rejoined the Party on 2 June 1925 (membership number 5,284). He became the Gau Treasurer for Gau Hesse-Nassau South, and on 1 October 1926, succeededWalter Schultz asGauleiter, serving until 1 April 1927 when he was succeeded byJakob Sprenger. Linder then became the Gau Business Manager serving until 1 January 1928. On that date he became DeputyGauleiter to Sprenger who valued Linder's organizational talent, propaganda skills and knowledge of public finances. In addition, he held the post of Gau Treasurer from 1 July 1927 to 31 March 1929.[2]
In May 1928 Linder became aStadtverordneter (City Councillor) of Frankfurt. Also in 1928, Linder became a member of the State Committee for Hesse-Nassau. In November 1929, he was elected to the Municipal Parliament ofWiesbaden and theLandtag (Provincial Parliament) of Hesse-Nassau, becoming the leader of the Nazi Party faction in that body. Linder also served as a Party Reichsredner (National Speaker) and was engaged in propaganda activities. In the national election of September 1930, Linder was elected to theReichstag from electoral constituency 19 (Hessen-Nassau). He remained aReichstag deputy until the end of National Socialist rule in May 1945.[3]
When Sprenger moved up to the position ofLandesinspekteur on 17 August 1932, Linder succeeded him asGauleiter of Hesse-Nassau South. However, in December 1932, the entireLandesinspekteur system was repealed, following the fall from power ofGregor Strasser whosebrainchild it was. On 1 January 1933, Sprenger returned asGauleiter of the newGau Hesse-Nassau (formed by the merger of Gau Hesse-Nassau South and Gau Hesse-Darmstadt) and Linder returned as his DeputyGauleiter. From April 1933 to September 1939, Linder also headed the Gau Department of Municipal Politics, and was simultaneously the Chairman of the Hesse-Nassau office of the German Municipal Association.[4]
In March 1933, Linder left the DeputyGauleiter position after he was appointed SecondBürgermeister and head of human resources for the city of Frankfurt underOberbürgermeisterFriedrich Krebs. Linder set about dismissing numerous civil servants who were Jewish or political opponents of the Nazi Party, even before the anti-SemiticLaw for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service was passed in April. In early 1933, he was also named to thePrussian State Council. From March 1933 to July 1937, Linder served as the editor of the magazineDas Rathaus (The Town Hall). In January 1935, he was appointed to the Prussian Provincial Council for Hesse-Nassau, serving through the end of the Nazi regime in 1945.[5]
On 1 July 1937, when he relinquished his position as SecondBürgermeister of Frankfurt, Linder was again appointed DeputyGauleiter of Gau Hesse-Nassau. He held this office until the end of the regime. On 20 April 1941, Linder was promoted to the Party rank ofBefehlsleiter (Command Leader). In late March 1945, when the American army was invading Hesse-Nassau, Linder opposed the orders to destroy the bridges over theMain River. During theBattle of Frankfurt, just before the fall of the city on 29 March 1945, Linder fled toThuringia.[6]
Linder went into hiding in the last days of the war, eventually escaping toAustria. He disappeared for the next five years, working as a laborer under assumed names. Returning to Hesse, Linder presented himself to the authorities in March 1950 and was briefly interned. The CentralDenazification Arbitration Chamber of Hesse closed the case against Linder in November 1951. It found insufficient evidence for his being classified as a major offender. No additional details are known about Linder's life.[6]
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