Political Figure - Max Amann was a politician and journalist. He was an early member of the Nazi party and also the SS. He held the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer in the SS though the title was purely honorary and gave him no true authority in the SS. During World War I Amann served in the in the Royal Bavarian 16th Infantry Regiment, the same unit as Adolf Hitler and was even Hitler's sergeant. He served as Feldwebel (equivalent to a Staff Sergeant) and is photographed with Hitler during the war. Their relationship continued after the war and Amann is believed to have been one of Hitler's very few true friends. After the war Amann attended business school and worked in a Munich law firm. He joined the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) in October 1921, as the Party's business manager. After 1922, he also led the Nazis' publishing house, "Eher Verlag", which, among other things, published the SS magazine "Das Schwarze Korps" (The Black Corps). In November 1923 he participated in Hitler's ill-fated "Bell hall Putsch" and received a brief prison sentence. In 1924 he was elected as a NSDAP candidate to the Munich city council and in 1933 became a Nazi member of the Reichstag for Upper Bavaria/Swabia. However, as a party official Amann was a poor speaker and debater and his handwriting was atrocious. His Chief of Staff and deputy, Rolf Rienhardt, performed these duties for him. Perhaps Amann's most notable contribution to history was persuading Hitler to re-title his first book from the laborious, "Four and a Half Years (of Struggle) Against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice" to "Mein Kampf" (My Struggle", which Amann also published, and became a major source of Eher-Verlag's income. After the Nazi's came to power, Amann was named president of the Reich Media Chamber and Reich Press Leader. He established Nazi Party control over the publishing industry and closed/seized newspapers that did not fully support Hitler's regime. He also had the power to seize any paper that ran counter to the Nazi pogrom. Once seized, he bought them for mere pfennigs on the mark or at auction where he was many times the only bidder. The combined income he obtained from publishing Mein Kampf with the monies generated by the control of the printed media he became the largest newspaper publisher in Germany and one of the largest in the world. Nazism made Amann a very rich man and in 1942 he was earning 3.8 million Reichs Marks a year. In 1945, after the war was over, Amann was arrested by Allied troops, having been named as a "Hauptschuldiger" (Prominent Guilty Party). He was sentenced to ten years in a labour camp on 9/8/1948 but was released in 1953. Stripped of his property, pension rights and practically all of his fortune, he died in poverty on 3/30/1957 in Munich. Max Amann was the holder of the following verified badges/decorations for his service in World War I and to the Nazi Party:
- Nazi War (Hindenburg) Cross, First Class with Swords
- Nazi Blood Order (Beer Hall Putsch participant)
- Gold Party Badge
- WW I Wound Badge
- Bavarian Cross of Military Merit, Third Class with Swords
- Bavarian Medal of Military Service, Third Class
- WWI Service Medal with Swords
- SS Long Service Medal - 20 Years
- SA Sports Badge in Bronze
Max Amann is buried in Munich at the Ostfriedhof (East cemetery). He shares a grave with his wife Anna and their son Rudolf. Please note the grave stone photo is courtesy of ww2.gravestone, and the owner, Mr. Rob Hopmans. *NOTE - Amann lost his left arm in a hunting accident with Ritter von Epp in 1921.