Walter Pfrimer | |
|---|---|
 Pfrimer (right) with Heimwehr leaderRichard Steidle,c. 1930 | |
| Born | Walter Pfrimer (1881-12-22)22 December 1881 |
| Died | 31 May 1968(1968-05-31) (aged 86) |
| Citizenship | Austrian,German (1938–1945) |
| Education | Doctor of Law |
| Alma mater | University of Graz |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
| Known for | Heimwehr leader |
| Political party | Nazi Party |
Walter Pfrimer (22 December 1881 – 31 May 1968) was anAustrian lawyer, a nationalist politician and leader of theparamilitaryHeimwehr inStyria. He was the leader of a failedputsch in 1931 and, though charged with treason, he was acquitted. His movement lost influence to theNazi Party and he became an advocate for union with Germany. After theAnschluss took place, he sat as a deputy in theReichstag from 1938 until May 1945. Interned for a year after the end of theSecond World War, he was released and returned to private legal practice.
The son of a wine merchant, Pfrimer studied law at theUniversity of Graz, gaining hisdoctor of law degree in 1906.[1] As a student, he had been a member of theBurschenschaft and an ardent follower of theGerman nationalist andantisemitic hard-linerGeorg Ritter von Schönerer before settling into a position as a lawyer inJudenburg.[2]
Pfrimer became a leader of theHeimwehr (Home Guard), a nationalistparamilitary group, early in the movement's life and initially won the financial backing of theAlpine Montangesellschaft, the largestheavy industry concern in Austria.[3] His Heimwehr unit was amongst the best armed, having received weapons from bothBavarianGeorg Escherich rightist paramilitary leader and the localLandeshauptmannAnton Rintelen.[2]
Pfrimer advocatedPan-German andVölkische ideals and used theswastika for his Heimwehr units.[2] Like his sometime allyRichard Steidle inTyrol, he unashamedly endorsedfascism for the Heimwehr, unlike other units that were close to the more ideologically pragmaticChristian Social Party,[4] and in 1930 publicly advocated the overthrow of the Austrian government and the establishment of a fascist regime.[5] The two fell out however after Pfrimer, who argued thatJews must be treated as a foreign race, suggested that Steidle was too weak on the issue.[6] Pfrimer took up withErnst Rüdiger Starhemberg and helped to ensure that the nobleman replaced Steidle as Heimwehr leader in 1930.[7] He was also a staunch opponent ofsocialism, often leading his men in violent attacks on theSocial Democratic Party of Austria, whilst rejecting parliamentary democracy as un-German.[1]
As head of the Heimwehr in Styria he attempted aputsch in September 1931, initially in his own region. After rising up in Styria, his units launched amarcia su Wien in a direct copy ofBenito Mussolini'sMarch on Rome but it proved to be a disaster and Pfrimer became mockingly known as the "half-day dictator" in reference to how long it took to put his attempted rebellion down.[8] He failed to gain support from the other regional leaders and the coup was so poorly organised that it was easily put down by the otherwise weak government ofKarl Buresch.[9]
Pfrimer was damaged irreparably by the fiasco of the failed putsch.[8] It also represented a further blow to the credibility of the Heimwehr, which lost more members to theNazi Party as a consequence.[10] He fled toYugoslavia before returning to face a treason trial but, in a surprise move, he was acquitted of all charges.[1]
Finally in 1933, Pfrimer allied himself and his units to the Nazis and before long his group had been absorbed entirely and he became a strong advocate ofAnschluss.[11] His membership of theNazi Party was made official on 24 February 1933.[1] When theAnschluss for which he had longed was completed in March 1938, he returned to some prominence. At the10 April 1938 parliamentary election, he was elected to theReichstag as a deputy fromOstmark and retained this seat until the fall of the Nazi regime in 1945.[12]
After theAllies liberated Austria, Pfrimer was taken prisoner by the British forces and held ininternment for a year.[13] Following his release, he returned to his legal practice in Judenburg and lived out his days as a private citizen.[13]
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