Wilhelmstraße 24: NSDAP Kreisleitung

From 1936 to 1945, the Kreisleitung (district leadership) of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers' Party, NSDAP), including its offices for organization, for treasury, and for human resources, was located in Wilhelmstraße 24. Complying with the Führerprinzip (leadership principle), the Kreisleiter (district leader) and his staff had to enforce Adolf Hitler's and the Gauleitung's (NSDAP regional leadership's) orders. The Kreisleitung's tasks consisted not only of staging the "Volksgemeinschaft" ("people's community"); it also persecuted political enemies and groups of people that were excluded from the "Volksgemeinschaft" as "artfremd" (racially different).

In the March 1933 Reichstag election, 62 per cent of the Tübingen electorate voted for the NSDAP and its German nationalist coalition partners. Immediately after the Machtübernahme (Nazi seizure of power), the Gau- and Kreisleitung ordered the arrest of political enemies and the persecution of Jewish citizens. The "Gleichschaltung" (forced coordination) of city hall, the municipal council, the university, the press, the churches, schools, and Vereine (registered societies) was swiftly implemented. Many willingly adjusted themselves.

The Tübingen Kreisleitung oversaw Ortsgruppen (local branches of the NSDAP), totaling 2,000 members in 1940, as well as other NSDAP organizations, such as the Sturmabteilung ("Storm Detachment" brown-shirt stormtroopers, SA), the Nationalsozialistischer Lehrerbund (National Socialist Teacher's League, NSLB), the NS-Frauenschaft (Nazi Women's Organization, NSF), or the Deutsche Arbeitsfront (German Labor Front, DAF). The NSDAP recklessly enforced the goals of National Socialism. "Blockwarte" (block keepers) in residential areas saw that National Socialism penetrated everyday life. The Tübingen Nazi party organ wrote: "There is nothing that is too minor to be not of concern for the block wardens."

The Kreisleitung staged the "Volksgemeinschaft" in the form of numerous ceremonies, such as May Day (May 1), harvest festival parades, and "Heldengedenktag" (Heroes' Memorial Day). Marching columns and swastika flags dominated the cityscape. Many people enthusiastically participated in the "Volksgemeinschaft." At the same time, everything that was "artfremd"(racially different) and everyone who thought differently was excluded and persecuted.

On the night before April 19, 1945, local military hospital commander Theodor Dobler disobeyed the Kreisleiter's order to militarily defend Tübingen. This resulted in the French occupation of Tübingen without a shot being fired.

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