4th April 1938
Hitler in Salzburg

Hitler in Salzburg

From stadt-salzburg.at. In part:

On 1st April, the Secret State Police, Salzburg State Police Station, appeals to the population to maintain discipline during the visit and to keep the roads clear. On 4th April, it is pointed out that, due to the risk of injury no flowers may be thrown onto the cavalcade. Shops must remain closed according to the instructions of the Gauleiter, with the exception of grocery shops and essential businesses, which were allowed to stay open until 10 o'clock in the morning. In the city of Salzburg, Flachgau and Tenngau schools are to close on 6th and 7th April. With those in the city also to close on the 8th and 9th where quartering was carried out, all except the primary schools.

On 5th April, the Salzburg police group organises traffic measures for the duration of the duration of the 'Führer Rally'. A restricted area is planned (the entire city centre as far as the railway station), in which no vehicles may be driven or parked.

Also on 5th April, the SVB publishes the timetable of the planned special trains.

On the day of the rally, the Hitler Youth assemble at 10 a.m. on Mirabellplatz, the BdM behind the Andräkirche. The Deutsche Jungvolk Stamm 1 (Salzburg City) gathers in the courtyard of the Mirabell Palace, Tribe 2 (Flachgau) in Faberstraße.

The HJ is represented at the rally with a total of 16,000 members.

Hitler arrives in Salzburg at the main railway station at around 2 pm, where he is greeted by Gauleiter Anton Wintersteiger, General Eugen Beyer, SS-Obergruppenführer Josef Dietrich, SS-Obergruppenführer Franz Lorenz, as well as the police and party leadership.

Accompanying Hitler are Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler, SA-Obergruppenführer Wilhelm Brückner, Reich Press Chief Dr Otto Dietrich and SS Gruppenführer Julius Schaub.

The entourage then travelled to the residence, where a reception was held with party leaders from the the city and the state, including State Governor Dr Albert Reitter and Minister Edmund Glaise-Horstenau. Hitler signs the city's Golden Book.

Secondary school pupils of the folk song choir of Salzburg under the direction of Prof. Friedrich Gehmacher performs a 'folk song homage'. Otto Pflanzl recites a poem.

As a gift from the city of Salzburg, Hitler is presented with the Spitzweg painting 'The Sunday Walk', taken from the city museum's collection.

'Der Sonntagspaziergang' (The Sunday Walk) by Carl Spitzweg, painted in 1841. Ref: 13.08.1985 - 15/57. Note: In the late 1930s an art forgery case in Germany involved 54 paintings which had been passed off as Spitzweg originals. They had been painted by a Traunstein copyist named Toni, who worked from reproductions and picture postcards. Toni signed the works "in the style of Spitzweg" with his own name, but fraudsters later removed his name and artificially aged the paintings in order to sell them as originals. At the Stuttgart Criminal Court Assizes, the conspirators were jailed for up to ten years for the swindle.

Hitler then travels to the Austrian Court. There, standing on the balcony, Hitler is cheered by onlookers and asks a boy from the crowd into the hall. This was Heinz Kreibich, son of the authorised signatory of Spänglerbank, Franz Kreibich.

At 3.30 pm the journey to the rally at the Festspielhaus, which lasts until 5 pm. The route includes: Südtirolerplatz, Rainerstrasse, Dreifaltigkeitsgasse, Adolf-Hitler Platz, Bismarckstrasse, Staatsbrücke, Rathausplatz, Kranzlmarkt, Alter Markt, Residenzplatz, Domplatz, and Franziskanergasse.

The rally in the Festspielhaus is opened with a flag march and speeches by Kreisleiter and Gauleiter Fritz Wächtler. In his speech, Hitler speaks of the longing for his homeland: 'For years I dreamed of entering this country despite all those who hated this hour - and now I am here!'.

Around 3,000 people, mainly 'old fighters', attend the speech at the Festspielhaus. The speech, is broadcast over loudspeakers to the streets and squares of the city where 50,000 people are expected. There are 6,000 SA and SS men on hand to keep order. Traditional costume groups and bands are lined up and given priority.

In an appeal in the SZ on 6th April: 'Salzburger! The Führer's ride through the streets of the city must be a triumphal ride. We want to thank our Führer from the bottom of our hearts for coming and for the reintegration of his homeland into the Greater German Reich.'

On 6th April, when the Salzburger Volksblatt appears as the 'second election number' it is devoted entirely to Hitler's visit, with numerous pictures, biographical articles and a message of greeting from Gauleiter Anton Wintersteiger. The Salzburger Zeitung reports similarly.

On 7th April, both newspapers report in detail on the visit, which the SVB describes as, 'Salzburg's most uplifting celebration' and for the SZ' 'The Salzach city's homage to the Führer'.

During the rally, the Salzburg Rescue Organisation had to provide first aid in 214 cases.

On 7th April, Oberführer Franz Lorenz thanked the people of Salzburg in a proclamation for their 'exemplary behaviour and discipline' during the rally, as well as to the security service, which was led by SA-Obersturmbannführer Hans Günther, SA-Sturmhauptführer Friedrich Kaltner, SA-Standartenführer Max Wall and SS-Standartenhauptführer Hermann Koppenwallner.

On 9th April, the colonel of the gendarmerie and commander of the police group Salzburg, Höring, thanked all members of the regulatory police service, the NSKK and the population.

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