| Walter Pfrimer | |
|---|---|
| Born | Walter Pfrimer December 22, 1881 Marburg an der Drau |
| Died | May 31, 1968 (aged 86) Judenburg |
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Citizenship | Austrian, German (1938-1945) |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
| Known for | Heimwehr leader |
| Political party | Nazi Party |
Walter Pfrimer (born 22 December 1881 in Marburg an der Drau - died 31 May 1968 in Judenburg) was an Austrian politician and leader of the Heimwehr in Styria. He was the leader of a failed putsch in 1931.
Contents |
As a student he had been a member of the Burschenschaft and an ardent follower of the conservative hard-liner Georg Ritter von Schönerer before settling into a position as a lawyer in Judenburg.[1]
He became a Heimwehr leader early in the movement's life and initially won the financial backing of the Alpine Montangesellschaft, the largest heavy industry concern in Austria.[2] His Heimwehr unit was amongst the best armed, having received weapons from both Bavarian Georg Escherich rightist paramilitary leader and the local Landeshauptmann Anton Rintelen.[1]
Pfrimer advocated Pan-Germanism and Völkische ideals and used the swastika for his Heimwehr units.[1] Like his sometime ally Richard Steidle in Tyrol he unashamedly endorsed fascism for the Heimwehr, unlike other units that were close to the more ideologically pragmatic Christian Social Party.[3] The two fell out however after Pfrimer, who argued that Jews must be treated as a foreign race, suggested that Steidle was too weak on the issue.[4] Pfrimer took up with Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg and helped to ensure that the nobleman replaced Steidle as Heimwehr leader in 1930.[5]
As head of the Heimwehr in Styria he attempted a putsch in 1931, initially in his own region. After rising up in Styria his units launched a marcia su Wien in a direct copy of Benito Mussolini's March on Rome but it proved to be a disaster and Pfrimer became mockingly known as the "half-day dictator" in reference to how long it took to put his attempted rebellion down.[6] He failed to gain support from the other regional leaders and indeed the coup was so poorly organised that it was easily put down by the otherwise weak government of Karl Buresch.[7]
Pfrimer, who was already a figure of some fun in Austria due his weak oratory, his poor hearing and his fat and bald appearance, was damaged irreparably by the fiasco.[6] The failure also represented a further blow to the credibility of the Heimwehr, which lost more members to the Nazi Party as a consequence.[8] Finally in 1933 Pfrimer allied himself and his units to the Nazis and before long his group had been absorbed entirely and he became a strong advocate of Anschluss.[9]