The Führer, Adolf Hitler, holds the 'Blutfahne' in his right hand at an NSDAP ceremony to consecrate new SA banners - the Standard bearer is Jakob Grimminger (image is from the 1933 NSDAP cigarette card album "Kampf ums Dritte Reich")
One of the first and most important symbols of the German National Socialist movement was the Blood Flag (Blutfahne). The history of this symbol of National Socialist sacrifice began in Munich in November 1923.
When Hitler staged the 'Munich Putsch' on November 9th 1923, one of the leading Stormtrooper units was the 5th Company of SA Regiment München. Recently awarded their own swastika flag, the 5th Company commander had appointed SA man Heinrich Trambauer to carry the flag on the march.
As the column reached the Feldherrnhalle (Fallen Heroes Hall), the uniformed police blocking the route raised their rifles and opened fire on the National Socialists. Marching next to flag-bearer Trambauer was an SA activist called Andreas Baureidl.
Baureidl was mortally wounded by the first volley of rifle fire and collapsed on top of Trambauer who had thrown himself onto the ground as soon as the police began shooting. The flag was trapped under the body of the dying Baureidl and was covered in his blood. Heinrich Trambauer dragged the flag free, scrambled to his feet and disappeared into the narrow side streets.
Trambauer saw it as his duty to save the flag from being seized by the authorities and took shelter in the house of a friend, Herr Zeigler who lived at Theatinerstrasse 30. Together they stripped the flag from its pole and Trambauer left the house with the folded flag hidden inside his coat.
The blood stained flag was hidden by different NS men and women in Munich until Hitler was released from Landsberg prison when it was returned to him personally by SA activist Karl Eggers.
The fabric of the flag bore the damage of bullet holes from the shooting and was stained by the blood of the dead Baureidl. The flag became known as the 'Blufahne' or Blood Flag; the damage was never repaired and the flag never cleaned.
After Hitler received the flag he had it fitted to a new staff and finial. Just below the finial a silver dedication sleeve was fitted which bore the names of the 16 dead participants of the Putsch. Bauriedl was one of the 16 honorees.
At an NSDAP rally in the city of Weimar on July 4th 1926, the Führer presented the Blood Flag to the recently formed SS and Heinrich Trambauer, survivor of the Munich Putsch, became its standard-bearer.
From 1927 until the outbreak of the Second World War, the Blood Flag was always used in the rituals of consecrating new banners and standards for the NSDAP, SA and SS.
1929 Nuremberg Rally showing the Blood Flag ceremony
All newly awarded standards were touched by the cloth of the Blood Flag, thereby connecting the new colours with the sacrifice of the men of November 1923. The ceremony was always conducted by Adolf Hitler himself; the Blood Flag was held by the standard bearer and the Führer took the cloth in his right hand to perform the ritual of consecration.
By now the Blutfahne had taken almost religious significance in its use and its status. When the original standard bearer, Heinrich Trambauer, became unwell after suffering a fractured skull and other serious injuries in a street battle with Communists, the role of standard bearer was passed to Jakob Grimminger.
Grimminger was another NSDAP veteran of the Munich Putsch and a close comrade of Trambauer. From around 1929 onwards, Grimminger acted as standard bearer until the end of the war in May 1945.
Adolf Hitler reviewing SA members in 1935. He is accompanied by the Blutfahne and its bearer SS-Sturmbannführer, Jakob Grimminger
Detail showing the unrepaired tear in the swastika
The Blood Flag always had a place of honour at rallies and ceremonies throughout the 1930's, and, when not being carried in public, was always stored on public display at the national offices of the NSDAP in Munich - 'the Brown House'.
The Blutfahne was last seen in public at the Volkssturm induction ceremony on 18 October 1944. This ceremony was conducted by Heinrich Himmler and attended by Keitel, Guderian, Lammers, Bormann, Fiehler, Schepmann and Kraus.
NSDAP headquarters in 1927 - the Blood Flag has pride of place on the wall behind the Führer (Bundesarchiv)
The Blutfahne was last seen in public at the Volkssturm induction ceremony on 18 October 1944. This ceremony was conducted by Heinrich Himmler and attended by Keitel, Guderian, Lammers, Bormann, Fiehler, Schepmann and Kraus.
After this last public display, the Blutfahne vanished into history. Its current whereabouts are unknown.
The Disappearance
Mystery surrounds the fate of the Blood Flag after October 1944. The Standard-bearer Jakob Grimminger was interrogated several times by American military intelligence personnel about the location of the Blood Flag but he evidently had lost track of it, or refused to divulge its whereabouts.
One American writer suggested that it was hidden away in South America, smuggled out by U-Boat with other meaningful treasures of the NSDAP and locked away in a bank vault in Santiago, Chile.
Other possibilities are:
* When the Brown House was destroyed in an allied bombing raid late in the war, the Blutfahne was destroyed with it.
* It was sold as an ordinary party flag to a Third Reich collector who doesn't realise the treasure he has.
* It was given to someone the party trusted and is still being kept safe. (location unknown to the general public)
* It was transferred to the Führerbunker and taken away by the Russians. It's known that the Russians took many Nazi flags back to Russia as souvenirs. It could be that the Blutfahne was one of them.
Other possibilities are:
* When the Brown House was destroyed in an allied bombing raid late in the war, the Blutfahne was destroyed with it.
* It was sold as an ordinary party flag to a Third Reich collector who doesn't realise the treasure he has.
* It was given to someone the party trusted and is still being kept safe. (location unknown to the general public)
* It was transferred to the Führerbunker and taken away by the Russians. It's known that the Russians took many Nazi flags back to Russia as souvenirs. It could be that the Blutfahne was one of them.
References: Northlandforum UK
Axis History
Footnote
Jakob Grimminger was a first world war veteran who received the Imperial Iron Cross, 2nd Class. After the war he joined the Nazi Party, participated in the Munich Putsch of 9 November 1923 and later became the official bearer of the Blutfahne. He rose through the ranks to become an SS-Standartenführer (Colonel); he was also appointed a Councillor for the City of Munich. He survived the Second World War after which, it is believed, he managed to obtain work as a street sweeper. Grimminger died in Munich in poverty and obscurity on 28 January 1969, at the age of seventy-seven.
