17 replies to this topic

[James L. Kalie]

In researching the impact of this man on Pre-war racing (which apparantly was not much more than one of tolerance by the Teams and Drivers) I have become perplexed by his death in 1942. My research says he died of Cancer while in retirement. There is however a different version that has been published. It is written that he was "mysteriously wiped out in a purge of Hitler's favorite henchmen who'd fallen under suspicion". Does any one out there have any information on this or any comments about this man? Your help is appreciated.

[marion5drsn]

Have you tried these two below? M.L. Anderson


http://www.achtungpa....com/panzer.htm

http://www.thirdreic...hpBB2/index.php

[Dennis Hockenbury]

Having just run across this thread, I too would love to know what was the true cause of death of Adolf Huhnlein.

I checked out both of the site references provided by marion5drsn but alas, no answer on this one.

[David J Jones]

The records in the public records office state that Huhnlein died after 'a long illness'

I wonder if the person penning the precis knew more than is recorded?

[Alex Dekker]

Hühnlein died of cancer. He wasn't loved very well (Dr. Porsche, who knew him well: "a humorless man who seemed to have abselutely no qualification for his job...as he had no mechanical knowledge at all [!]" and "appeared always to be in an ill temper").

But Hühnlein was one of the 'Alte Kämpfer', wearing the NSDAP-honourbadge. Before the war he used to attend the massmeetings of the party and marched near Hitler. Those two knew each other as far as somewhere in the 1920's. There wasn't a plot to kill Hühnlein and he wasn't retired. Because of his illness a lot of work was done by Erwin Kraus, who succeded Hühnlein, after his death.

Kraus was a technical man, but way to weak to get fully control of the NSKK. Parts of the NSKK were transferred to the Luftwaffe (in 1940, while the German army was fighting the French!), other parts went to Speer. The NSKK was (formally) part of the NSDAP, but later in the war it was almost fully absorbed by the Luftwaffe, Wehrmacht, OT or Speers ministerium and even the Volkssturm. Hühnlein was to weak to prevent this, as was Kraus.

Regards,

Alex Dekker

[Dennis Hockenbury]

Thank you Alex. This had been a question of mine for quite some time.

[Alex Dekker]

You're welcome. I've been doing research for quite a time now, I just ran into this post. I just thought 'let's help!'.

Cheers,

Alex

[Hans Etzrodt]

Originally posted by Alex Dekker
...Parts of the NSKK were transferred to the Luftwaffe (in 1940, while the German army was fighting the French!), other parts went to Speer. The NSKK was (formally) part of the NSDAP, but later in the war it was almost fully absorbed by the Luftwaffe, Wehrmacht, OT or Speers ministerium and even the Volkssturm. Hühnlein was to weak to prevent this, as was Kraus...

The NSKK, founded in 1930, and the NSFK, founded in January 1932 were two different animals but belonged to the same family. The NSFK (National Socialist Flying Corps) lost its identity within the DLV (Deutscher Luftsport-Verband) but was resurrected April 1937. The Luftwaffe was another animal and should not be confused with the NSFK.

As of the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, the NSKK was split into three different groups, involving leaders like Todt and Speer. This split of course weakened Hühnlein's authority and in 1944 caused his successor Erwin Kraus to loose control over most of the NSKK.

There is much more to it but has nothing to do with motor sport.

[Henk]

The rank of NSKK-Korpsführer implied absolute responsibility, authority and control over every aspect of German motor sports. Therefore one would be hard-pressed to name another man who has had greater impact on German motor sport activities of the 1930s than Adolf Hühnlein.

A comprehensive account of the history, organization and activities of the NSKK is presented in Motorisierung und "Volksgemeinschaft": das Nationalsozialistische Kraftfahrkorps (NSKK) 1931-1945.

The author of this remarkable historical study is Dorothee Hochstetter, who defended her work in 2003 as a doctorate dissertation at the Technical University of Berlin; this year it was published by Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, Munich.

The thoroughly researched study breaks with the myth of the incompetence of Hühnlein. In her characterization of the Korpsführer, Dorothee Hochstetter concludes that, despite several shortcomings, “Adolf Hühnlein was a man of practice, a perfect organizer, who also in his political activities remained all his life the military leader”.

Apparently, after the war, some prominent former NSKK members ridiculed Hühnlein and marginalized his work. As nobody wished to be accused of sympathy with the Nazi ideology, they tried to present themselves as 'apolitical' industrial managers, engineers, or racing drivers, who had only tolerated the authority of the Korpsführer under the pressure of the ‘Führer Principle’.

Probably most star drivers had little sympathy for Hühnlein because he strongly disagreed with their self-centered lifestyle. After the war, only Caracciola wrote some positive words about his personality by remembering him as “a good-natured man with a speech disorder, who believed in his national-socialistic ideal, who did not enrich himself and had never tried to take advantage of his influential position.”

[Hans Etzrodt]

Originally posted by Henk
...A comprehensive account of the history, organization and activities of the NSKK is presented in Motorisierung und "Volksgemeinschaft": das Nationalsozialistische Kraftfahrkorps (NSKK) 1931-1945.

The author of this remarkable historical study is Dorothee Hochstetter, who defended her work in 2003 as a doctorate dissertation at the Technical University of Berlin; this year it was published by Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, Munich...

The book does not reveal any of Hühnlein's manipulations with the 1939 European Championship outcome.

[Henk]

Originally posted by Hans Etzrodt
The book does not reveal any of Hühnlein's manipulations with the 1939 European Championship outcome.

Exactly. Apparently Dorothee Hochstetter is not a habituée of TNF.

Last year, however, another German doctorate dissertation started with the discussion of a popular TNF topic that has your interest – the origin of the term ‘Silberpfeile’. Uwe Day traced the term back to the AVUS races of 1932 when radio commentators used it for the streamlined Mercedes-Benz of Manfred von Brauchitsch.

Uwe Day treated German racing in the 1930s with the eye of a culture historian. His research concentrated on the prominent role of racing in Nazi propaganda. He analyzed the interplay of mass media, Nazi institutions, automobile industry and star racers in promoting the glorification of the achievements of Nazism and German technology.

His dissertation was presented at the University of Bremen under the title Mythos ex machina – Medienkonstrukt “Silberpfeil” als massenkulturelle Ikone der NS-Modernisierung.

A pdf file of a slightly reduced version can be downloaded from
http://elib.suub.uni...iss1128_day.pdf

Recently, a commercial version has been published as Silberpfeil und Hakenkreuz - Autorennsport im Nationalsozialismus (be.bra Wissenschaft Verlag, Berlin, 2005).

[Breadmaster]

Originally posted by Hans Etzrodt
The book does not reveal any of Hühnlein's manipulations with the 1939 European Championship outcome.

It was only a matter of time before someone said that!

[Alex Dekker]

This is really great info! I've published an article about Dutchmen serving within the NSKK last week in a Dutch journal. I'm still working on a book on this topic. And here it is: a load of usefull information about the German racing! Great! Thanks a lot!

[Henk]

Originally posted by James L. Kalie

.... There is however a different version that has been published. It is written that he was "mysteriously wiped out in a purge of Hitler's favorite henchmen who'd fallen under suspicion".

This story probably goes back to period newspaper reports quoting an apparently propagandistic dispatch by the Soviet news agency Tass, in which it was suggested that Adolf Hühnlein had died under mysterious circumstances as a victim of the SS.

Earlier, however, according to Dorothee Hochstetter, grand prix racing may have saved Hühnlein from being arrested, and possibly executed by the SS.

On June 30, 1934, SA leadership was largely wiped out during the purge by SS units, which became known as the ‘Night of the Long Knives’. Hühnlein was a good friend of the Head of the SA, Ernst Röhm. After the war, when he was subjected to posthumous trial by a German denazification tribunal Spruchkammer), his wife Paula, Ernst Kraus and others testified that the SS had searched his office and his house. He had escaped arrest because he was in Paris at the occasion of the French Grand Prix.

[Stefan Ornerdal]

To the right - Korpsführer Hühnlein.
Alfred Neubauer going bananas behind the car.

http://www.formula2.net/Mercedes35.htm


Stefan

[Henk]

Great cartoon.

Hühnlein was always wearing spurred boots.
That’s why in German motor sports circles he was nicknamed ‘gespornter Heini’.

[monoposto]

There was a documentary on TV in the UK in the past couple of weeks ( UK TV History ? ) on the assasination of Reinhard Heydrich ( the Butcher of Prague ) where Heydrich was shown walking with AH, and with what looked like our man in tow.

These programmes have a way of being on a 33.333 day loop, so no doubt it will be on again soon . . .

[Graham Gauld]

Just for the record herewith a photo of Korpsfuhrer Huhnlein with Bernt Rosemeyer at the Berne Grand Prix.