Hans Ulrich Klintzsch

Hans Ulrich Klintzsch
Birth name	Johann Ulrich Klintzsch
Born	4 November 1898 Lübbenau, German Empire
Died	17 August 1959 (aged 60) Hamburg, West Germany
Allegiance	Weimar Republic (1923–1933) Nazi Germany (1933–1945)
Service / branch	Imperial German Navy Reichsmarine Luftwaffe
Years of service	1919–45
Rank	Fähnrich zur See (Kaiserliche Marine) Oberleutnant zur See (Reichsmarine) Oberster SA-Führer Oberst (Luftwaffe)

Johann "Hans" Ulrich Klintzsch (4 November 1898 – 17 August 1959) was a former Imperial German Navy lieutenant who was an early leader of the Nazi Party's Sturmabteilung (SA).

After the German defeat in the First World War, Klintzsch moved to Munich to continue his studies. It was there he joined the Erhardt Brigade, a Freikorps unit of the early Weimar Republic that had been formed from members of the former Imperial German Navy. In 1920 Adolf Hitler asked the Ehrhardt Brigade to take over the military control of its euphemistically named "gymnastics and sports department" which was actually cover for the fledgling Sturmabteilung (Nazi Stormtroopers). Klintzsch, who had joined the NSDAP that year, took an active role in training the SA members. In late 1920 he was arrested under the suspicion of involvement in the murder of Matthias Erzberger, a Centre Party politician who was killed by two members of the right-wing terrorist group Organisation Consul.

Following his release from prison, Hitler asked Klintzsch to be the Oberster SA-Führer, the supreme commander of the Sturmabteilung (SA). He held the position from 1921 to February 1923 until ceding control of the organisation to Hermann Göring. After his career as SA leader, he returned to civilian life. In 1935, the Nazi Party began offering fast-track promotions to former military officers who had left their services during the reduction of all German armed forces in the post-war Weimar Republic. Klintzsch opted to be reactivated as a major in the Luftwaffe. By the end of the Second World War, he was a colonel of Fliegerführer 6 in Luftflotte 6.

He died during the wedding of his son Fridthjof in 1950.

Decorations and awards

• 1914 Iron Cross 2nd Class and 1st Class
• Silesian probation badge (de) (1921)
• The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 (1934)

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Miller, Michael (2015). Leaders of the Storm Troops Volume 1. England: Helion & Company. ISBN 978-1-909982-87-1.

Further reading

• Krüger, Gabriele (1971) Die Brigade Ehrhardt. Leibniz-Verlag. (in German)
• Tyrell, Albrecht (1969) Führer befiehl. Droste. (in German)
• Tyrell, Albrecht (1975) Vom Trommler zum Führer. Fink. (in German)