Der Stahlhelm
철모단
A revanchist ex-servicemen’s association formed in Germany after the First World War. It claimed inspiration from Italian fascism and excluded Jewish veterans, but supported a restoration of the Hohenzollern monarchy, setting itself apart from the Nazi Party.
In depth
Franz Seldte, a factory owner and disabled reserve officer, founded it in Magdeburg on 25 December 1918. The largest right-wing paramilitary body of the Weimar years, it was close to the German National People’s Party and opposed the republican, largely Social Democratic Reichsbanner. In 1924, under pressure from Theodor Duesterberg and Georg Maercker, it adopted an “Aryan clause” expelling Jewish members. In 1931 it formed the Harzburg Front with the Nazis and the DNVP. After the seizure of power in 1933 Seldte became Hitler’s labour minister, but the league was absorbed into the SA and dissolved in 1935.