German Day
1st-2nd September 1923
"German Day" (Deutscher Tag) was a massive rally of over 100,000 right-wing nationalist and paramilitary groups held in Nuremberg.
Ostensibly it was held to commemorate Sedan Day, an unofficial holiday in the German Empire that celebrated the Prussian victory over the French on the 2nd September 1870.......this victory was the decisive moment that led to the unification of Germany in 1871.
The 1923 event is historically significant as it established Nuremberg as the hub for the Nazi movement.
Hitler (marked) with members of the SA who were heading for Nuremberg
General Ludendorff inspecting members of the SA (probably at the Deutschherrenfeld) before the start of a memorial service for the dead of WW1
After the service, the participants prepared to march through the city centre and the VIPs were driven to the Hauptmarkt to await their arrival
Hitler and Streicher await the parade approaching the Hauptmarkt in Nuremberg
Ludendorff taking pride of place for the march past
The massed ranks march through the Hauptmarkt to salute Ludendorff and Hitler...the parade lasted over two hours and involved at least 80,000 participants
In the evening patriotic ceremonies were held in a number of meeting halls.
The next day, the departure of the participants took on a festive atmosphere as they carried their banners to the railway station.
A police report on the events of German Day details how there were violent riots between left and right-wing organisations and how minor incidents sparked full-scale clashes.
A few phrases from one of many pages of the police report
Shortly after the rally, the newspaper carried a proclamation drawn up by Hitler and his closest aides which listed the enemies of the party.
These were.........Marxists, Jews, Pacifists, the Weimar Republic, the Parliamentary System, Majority Rule and International Capitalism.
As the ultimate goal of the proclamation was the overthrow of the Weimar Republic, the weeks following the German Day rally were laden with tension.