Otto Pittinger

Otto Pittinger (born 12 February 1878 in Wörth an der Donau; died August 1926 in Munich) was a Bavarian medical officer, politician and soldier.

While facing trench warfare, his duties were three-fold: he in charge of the health facilities for the reserve quarters and barracks; the creation of officers and convalescent home; a disinfecting and cleaning institution; the establishment of mineral water factories and baths; and all the quality and the health for the facilities serving the troops.

He was instrumental in the creation of the Bavarian Einwohnerwehr ("citizen's militia"), which served as civil defense units responsible for preventing looting and sabotage in rural areas.

[3] Bund Bayern und Reich combined monarchism with Christian traditionalism, as well as vehement anti-Marxism and antisemitism.

In the fall of that year, Pittinger spoke with several leaders within the conservative and nationalist parties about the possibility of establishing a regency.

[7] In August 1922, he met with Adolf Hitler, the recently appointed chairman of the NSDAP, to plan the overthrow of the Reich government in Bavaria.

Pittinger took part in the fight against the putsch by alerting units in Chiemgau, as well as the Bezirksamt ("district office"), of Hitler's actions.

[6] In 1923, Pittinger accused Ernst Röhm, who had temporarily split from Hitler for opportunistic reasons,[9] of misappropriating goods and funds.

Röhm in turn accused Pittinger of cowardice and unpatriotic behavior, and broke from the League, taking his followers into the Reichskriegsflagge.

The death of Pittinger, the weak leadership of von Stetten, and the drop in membership, eventually led to the slow decline of the League, until it was finally dissolved in 1935.