Küstrin Putsch

The Küstrin Putsch of 1 October 1923, also known as the Buchrucker Putsch after its leader, was a minimally planned attempt against the Weimar Republic by units of the paramilitary Black Reichswehr. It took place after the government on 26 September 1923 called an end to the policy of passive resistance to the occupation of the Ruhr by French and Belgian troops that had begun in January 1923 after Germany defaulted on the war reparations payments required under the Treaty of Versailles.

Küstrin Putsch
Part of Political violence in Germany (1918–33)
Date 1 October 1923 Location Küstrin, Germany Result Putsch failed
Belligerents
Black Reichswehr	Weimar Republic

Groups from the Black Reichswehr called labor commandos (German: Arbeitskommando), led by Bruno Ernst Buchrucker, wanted to bring down the Reich government of Chancellor Gustav Stresemann and replace the parliamentary-democratic republic with a national dictatorship. The putsch was prompted not only by the ending of passive resistance to the occupation of the Ruhr[1] but also by the arrest warrant against Buchrucker for misuse of the labor commandos and by the order from Reichswehr leadership to disband them, something that threatened the economic livelihood of many of their members. The commandos were officially tasked with finding and collecting weapons caches but under Burchrucker often engaged in military drills as part of the Black Reichswehr.[2]

Modern view of the Küstrin Fortress from across the Oder River.

Buchrucker learned about the arrest warrant issued against him on 30 September while in Berlin and drove to Küstrin (since 1945 Kostrzyn nad Odrą, Poland), about 320 kilometers to the southeast. There he ordered the leader of the city's labor commandos, Major Fritz Hertzer, to have his men move inside the fortifications of Küstrin's old town the following morning. He gave as his reason the arrest warrant against him and said that he was seeking the labor commandos' help and protection. The next morning he planned to contact the local commander of the Reichswehr and have him inform the Reichswehr minister of the threatening situation in Küstrin. Buchrucker hoped in that way to have the arrest warrant lifted.[3]

The next morning Buchrucker delivered a reportedly nearly incoherent speech to the men assembled in the Küstrin fortress. He and Hertzer then went to the fortress commander, Colonel Gudowius, explained the situation to him and were immediately told that they were under arrest. Buchrucker pointed out his units' numerical superiority and asked the commander "not to stand in his way, the great national moment has now come". He also declared that he would strike out "not only here in Küstrin but everywhere at the same time". The colonel told him again that he was under arrest and telephoned Reichswehr units in Küstrin and Frankfurt-an-der-Oder for support. Several sergeants loyal to Buchrucker then forcibly entered the colonel's office. Asked by his subordinates for instructions, Buchrucker was unable to come to a decision about what to do. At that point Hertzer, calling Buchrucker a "'limp dishrag", put himself under Gudowius' command.[4]

Hertzer ordered the rest of the work commandos in the fortress to stand down, saying that they had all been lied to and betrayed by Buchrucker. Later that day, the Reichswehr reinforcements from Frankfurt-an-der-Oder, who on their way had by chance met a group of work commandos also going to Küstrin, arrived there together. When the commandos were getting out of their truck, the Reichswehr opened fire on them with a machine gun, killing one and wounding seven. They were the putsch's only casualties. 381 Black Reichswehr work commandos were arrested but released a short time later.  All officers involved remained under arrest.[5]

The Spandau Citadel in Berlin.

In Berlin putschists from the work commandos briefly controlled the Spandau Citadel and Fort Hahneberg, but they were forced to surrender to the Reichswehr. A similar situation in Rathenow, west of Berlin, was defused on 3 October.[5]

Between 22 and 27 October 1923, the trial of 14 people arrested in Küstrin took place before an extraordinary court in Cottbus. It was held without the public present out of fear of endangering public order.[6]  Buchrucker declared in court that he had only wanted to put pressure on the Reichswehr Minister to withdraw the arrest warrant. This was in the interests of the state, he said, because there were "daredevils" in the ranks of the work commandos from whom violence was to be feared if he was arrested. The court did not accept his account. According to its judgment there were sufficient indications that "the events in Küstrin were in fact only part of a larger-scale undertaking."[7] Buchrucker's hour long period of indecision about what to do was taken to mean that he had serious decisions to make. The court also thought that Buchrucker assumed that the Reichswehr would join him or remain neutral. He was sentenced to ten years imprisonment and a fine of ten gold marks for perpetrating high treason but was given amnesty in October 1927 on the occasion of Paul von Hindenburg's 80th birthday.[8] Nine of the other 14 men tried were convicted, with seven of them receiving prison sentences of less than 6 months.