In the district of Karlsruhe - Hitler's honorary citizenship is symbolically revoked
Adolf Hitler and the then Baden NSDAP Gauleiter Robert Wagner are to have their honorary citizenships symbolically revoked for the Karlsruhe district of Neureut. The city is preparing for this, according to its own statements.
The background to this is that Neureut was not incorporated until 1975. However, Karlsruhe had already revoked the honorary citizenships of the former Nazi leaders in 1946 - and thus well before the incorporation of Neureut. This had not happened there until 1975.
Scientists at the General State Archive in Karlsruhe had suggested in May that the revocation of the honorary citizenship granted to Hitler should be examined. The award had never been formally withdrawn from the dictator. At the time, it was about other current districts and honours.
In many cases, the revocation had already taken place
However, an examination by the administration showed that in the other former independent communities, with the exception of Neureut, honorary citizenships had been revoked. Or that the communities had already been incorporated into the city of Karlsruhe before the revocation in 1946, so that the act there was decisive.
This also applies to the then Reich President Paul von Hindenburg. The city had symbolically revoked his honorary citizenship rights in 2018, according to a statement.
"The honorary citizenship ceases with the death of the honorary citizen," the town hall explained. "Furthermore, a city can symbolically withdraw the honorary citizenship of a person posthumously."
During the Third Reich, countless cities and communities had appointed Hitler as an honorary citizen. In some places, the honour was not withdrawn until decades later.
The city of Karlsruhe is now considering symbolically revoking the honorary citizenship of Adolf Hitler for the district of Neureut, as it was only incorporated into the city in 1975. Despite Karlsruhe revoking the honorary citizenships of former Nazi leaders in 1946, this action did not affect Neureut due to its independence at the time.
In light of the suggestion by scientists at the General State Archive in Karlsruhe, the municipality is examining the revocation of Hitler's honorary citizenship that was never formally withdrawn during his lifetime.
