1933: Hitler comes to power - Offenbach is brought into line

On the morning of January 31, clashes broke out in the city center. Nazis are beaten up in the area of Große Marktstraße and Herrnstraße. In the "Straße der Republik", now Kaiserstraße, the police use rubber truncheons to disperse rioters. Three people are injured in a brawl on Waldstraße between Marktplatz and Bleichstraße. A communist demonstrator is taken to hospital with stab wounds.

At 6 pm, the communists organize a rally on Wilhelmsplatz. From there, around 3000 demonstrators march through the city. Some demonstrators are arrested by the police for "insulting the Reich Chancellor".

The unrest escalates on February 1. Units of the SA, SS and the "Stahlhelm" front fighters' league celebrate the seizure of power with a torchlight procession. At the intersection of Frankfurterstrasse and Kaiserstrasse, opponents from the procession are attacked with torches.

Around 300 communists take to the streets in the old town. Windows are shattered in Nazi attacks on SPD and KPD offices and on the meeting places of political opponents. Two people are injured in a shootout in Domstraße.

On this day, the Darmstadt state government bans all open-air gatherings throughout Offenbach. At the same time, the new government of the Reich issued an "Ordinance for the Protection of the German People" restricting civil liberties. The authorities set up an auxiliary police force made up of "Germans standing on national soil". These are usually members of the SA and the SS. They have free rein to hunt down dissidents.

As if nature had something to say about it: the political earthquake was accompanied by an actual tectonic tremor on February 8. It is felt throughout the south of the city. The walls shake, especially in Tempelsee.

In the Reichstag elections on March 5, the Nazi Party in Offenbach achieved the highest number of votes, but still far fewer than the SPD, KPD and Zentrum combined. But now the already breathtaking pace is increased even further. On March 11, the Offenbacher Zeitung reports: "All countries brought into line". On March 24, it reports on the passing of the Enabling Act, with which the Reichstag emasculates itself. Pictures of concentration camps appear in the newspaper. In Dachau, this is a former gunpowder factory. Offenbach opponents of the regime are imprisoned in a former sugar factory in Osthofen in Rheinhessen. The Nazis call it "protective custody".

At the end of March, the Nazis take control of Offenbach's town hall, then in the Büsingpalais. In the morning, the SA and SS line up on Wilhelmsplatz. They march into Herrnstraße and line up in the Büsinghof. The head school inspector Ringshausen climbs onto the balcony and declares Lord Mayor Max Granzin and Mayor Aull deposed. They triumphantly hoisted the swastika flag on the palace. A whole series of municipal officials are forced to retire. The provisional mayor is Dr. Schönhals, a government councillor from the tax office.

Jewish Offenbach residents can see what is about to happen on April 1. On this Saturday, SA police march in front of Jewish stores, defile shop windows and prevent customers from entering. The Nazis have called for a nationwide boycott. It is presented as a protest against "foreign atrocities".

On April 6, the brown storm sweeps street names out of the city. August-Bebel-Ring becomes Adolf-Hitler-Ring, Waldpark on Bieberer Berg becomes Adolf-Hitler-Park, Rathenaustraße becomes Hermann-Göring-Straße. Straße der Republik becomes Kaiserstraße, Wilhelm-Liebknecht-Ring becomes Hessenring, Karl-Marx-Straße becomes Lindenstraße, Aliceplatz becomes Horst-Wessel-Platz, Friedrich-Ebert-Ring becomes Schlageterring, Wilhelmsplatz becomes Platz der SA. And these are not the only renamings.

One bastion is still to be taken, the trade union building in Austraße. The storming of the free trade unions is prepared with a grand staging, the "National Labor Day" on May 1st. Offenbach flaunts its flags. Even Jewish businesses are encouraged to fly flags, but they are not allowed to display the swastika. In addition to the swastika flag, the black-white-red Reich flag is also permitted.

The day begins with marching music and flag-raising ceremonies in the factories. At 8.30 a.m., a "field service" is staged on the "Lagerhausplatz" in front of today's Leather Museum. At 9 a.m., loudspeakers on Lagerhausplatz, Wilhelmsplatz and Aliceplatz broadcast the central rally from Berlin's Lustgarten.

At noon, a procession of thousands of people marches through the city. It takes an hour and a half to watch the parade of businesses, clubs and associations, the SA, SS and Hitler Youth. Even "Marxist clubs and associations" are allowed to take part. They are just not allowed to display flags and symbols. Two weeks later, associations close to the left-wing parties are banned. On the afternoon of May Day, people can enjoy themselves at a public festival in the Stadtgarten. But then they march again, this time to Wilhelmsplatz. The broadcast of another rally from Berlin can be heard there.

The next day, the SA occupies the trade union building. The trade unions are dissolved.

Two Offenbach labor leaders were pardoned by the Nazis from Osthofen concentration camp on the occasion of the holiday. Heiner Galm and Paul Rodemann are shocked to see that many of their comrades are impressed by the Nazis. A large number of swastika flags in the former left-wing strongholds such as Biergrund shook both of their world views. Georg Kaul, editor-in-chief of the Social Democratic party organ "Abendblatt" and temporary member of the state parliament, was even driven to his death by the opportunism of the many. When he died on May 2, he left behind a note with the inscription: "I am ashamed of so much lumpen-mindedness".

Anyone who still doesn't know what the lesson is will be given another lesson on May 22. In honour of the composer, who was born 120 years ago and died 50 years ago, a Richard Wagner celebration will be held in front of Isenburg Palace. A grandstand is set up. Teachers and students from the later Hochschule für Gestaltung have decorated the square. Swastika flags hang in front of the Renaissance façade of the palace. A pyre is piled in the center of the square, which is lined with torchbearers. At the climax of the celebration, "un-German" books are burned on it, novels and poems as well as political and philosophical works. At least 4000 people cheer enthusiastically.

On May 23, the new city councillors hurry to follow the example of most German cities. Adolf Hitler and Reich President von Hindenburg become honorary citizens of the city of Offenbach.

In the summer of 1933, just six months after the "seizure of power", there are no other parties apart from one of them, but there is a previously unknown organization. A local Offenbach group of the Reichsluftschutzbund is founded. We are now only six years away from war.

By Lothar R. Braun