Fritz Kiehn
Fritz Kiehn (born October 15, 1885,; died September 1, 1980) was a cigarette paper manufacturer and Nazi party member of the Reichstag 1932 to 1945.
With the help of her dowry, he was able to purchase a stationery shop in 1912, where he sold paper, books, office supplies, and typewriters to local businesses, including the renowned harmonica and accordion manufacturer Hohner.
[4][5] During the election campaigns of 1932, Fritz Kiehn emerged as one of the key Nazi agitators in southern Württemberg and one of the largest financial backers of the regional NSDAP.
Through the process of Gleichschaltung (Nazi consolidation of power), Kiehn secured leadership positions in industrial enterprises as both an NSDAP representative and holder of public offices, including seats on the supervisory boards of major companies.
[7] Kiehn was well aware of Hitler's rearmament plans, which promised a prosperous future for Magirus with many more contracts expected in the coming years.
Shortly after joining the company, he signed a purchase order for a three-quarter majority of Magirus shares, facilitated by the Tuttlingen manufacturer Otto Stäbler and financed by a loan.
The transactions were handled by the Stuttgart bank “Pick & Cie,” which had been seized from its owner in 1933 and was backed by Stäbler as a major partner.
As a result, he ended up spending four times the initially planned amount and had to seek financial support from his bank and other lenders.
By the end of 1935, Kiehn had achieved his goal of becoming the owner of Magirus, though the rising stock prices had placed him in significant financial difficulty.
One intimate enemy was the Gau economic advisor and thus Nazi functionary responsible for Aryanizations in Württemberg, Walter Rheile.
The “Gauamtsleiter für Technik” Rudolf Rohrbach was also an opponent of Kiehn, who secured admission to higher Nazi circles with invitations to take part in hunting trips, among other things.
In 1938, Kiehn acquired the cigarette packaging factory of Hugo Büttner in Berlin, a Jewish businessman persecuted by the Nazis.
Although the Berlin Gau economic advisor had initially planned for another buyer, the deal had not been finalized, and Kiehn outbid the competitor, paying 300,000 Reichsmarks.
Additionally, starting in 1938, Kiehn sought to oust the Jewish owners of the Fleischer tissue paper factory in Eislingen/Fils, attempting to seize control of the company despite resistance from the Württemberg Gau economic advisor, Rheile.
The following year, the government of Württemberg's Minister-President Gebhard Müller granted him a 3-million DM loan to rehabilitate a former munitions company in Tuttlingen.
In 1968, Kiehn hosted Baldur von Schirach, the former NS Reichsleiter and Reich Youth Leader, who had been convicted at the Nuremberg Trials and later released from prison.
In the 1960s, Fritz Kiehn owned the Momella hunting farm in Tanzania, where the film Hatari starring John Wayne and Hardy Krüger was shot.
[10] His zoological and ethnographic collection included over 600 objects, featuring hunting trophies and specimens of local wildlife, as well as bears and nearly all African antelope and big cat species, along with ivory and rhino exhibits.
[4] In November 2007, Kiehn’s extensive collection of works by the Nazi-era sculptor Fritz Behn, which he had made accessible as a private museum in Bad Dürrheim, was dismantled and auctioned off in Munich.
