Karl August Kleemann

Karl Kleemann
Birth date	15 June 1904
Place of birth	Kollweiler, Bavarian Palatinate, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire
Death date	6 May 1969 (aged 64)
Place of death	Bad Dürkheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, West Germany
Allegiance	National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	NSDAP (No. 1,009,617) Sturmabteilung Wehrmacht
Years of service	1926–1945 1936–1945 1941–1943
Rank	Kreisleiter / Gaustabsamtsleiter SA-Obersturmbannführer Leutnant der Reserve
Battles/wars	World War II
Relations	∞ 17 July 1930 Hert(h)a Frieda Katharina Beck (1908–1995)
Other work	Teacher Politician (NSDAP) Commercial representative

Karl August Kleemann (1904–1969) was a German teacher, officer and politician, among other things a member of the Reichstag and the mayor of Metz (Alsace-Lorraine).

Career (chronology)

• 1904 Son of the Protestant millwright Jakob Kleemann
• 1911-1918 Elementary School in Kollweiler
• 1918-1921 Preparation School in Kusel
• 1921-1924 Teachers' seminar in Kaiserslautern
• 1.5.1924-31.5.1928 Preparatory service at the elementary schools in Kollweiler, Rothselberg and Jettenbach
  • Teacher substitute in Albersbach, Oberohmbach, Frankenthal, Annweiler, Eisenberg and Bolanden
• 1928 Teacher exams
• 1.6.1928-15.4.1931 Assistant teacher in Alsheim-Gronau
• 16.4.1931-15.10.1934 Assistant teacher (since 1.5.1932 teacher) in Steinweiler
• 16.10.1934-15.1.1937 Teacher in Landau
• 16.1.1937-15.10.1940 Teacher (since 1.12.1939 main teacher or Hauptlehrer) in Ludwigshafen
  • On leave since 14.7.1934, since 16.1.1935 without pay
• March 1936-1945 Member of the reichstag (MdR), Wahlkreis 27 (Rheinpfalz-Saar) and member of the German Municipal Council (Mitglied des Deutschen Gemeindetages)
• 1936-1938 Economic policy representative of the Reich Commissioner for the Saarland in Berlin
• March 1938-March 1940 Special advisor to the Reich Commissioner for the reunification of Austria with the German Reich (processes complaints from the politically disciplined, especially civil servants, at the Reich Commissioner's office in Parliament in Vienna)
• March 1940 Envisaged for the Ludwigshafen district office
• 17.10.1940-February 1941 City commissioner of the urban district of Metz
• 16.10.1940-22.11.1944 Mayor of Metz
• January 1941-Mai 1943 War service in the Wehrmacht (voluntary registration)
  • Deployed to the Eastern Front, discharged as a reserve lieutenant in a Panzer intelligence unit
• Spring 1945 Escapes the enemy, but then surrenders to the occupation authorities
• 12.6.1946-18.3.1948 Internment in Landau, then living in Friedelsheim and working as a farmhand (Landarbeiter) at the winery Dr. Senft in Bad Dürkheim
• 17.2.1950 Discontinuation of the denazification proceedings by the Neustadt tribunal (classified as "lesser offender" Minderbelasteter)
• December 1950-29.2.1968 Commercial representative in Friedelsheim

NSDAP

• 17.4.1926 Founder of the local group Kollweiler of the NSDAP
• 17.4.1926-December 1927 Local group leader and treasurer of the local group Kollweiler
• 12.8.1926 Official entry into the NSDAP (Nr. 42316);
• 1928 (until May) District manager/leader (Bezirksleiter) in Kirchheimbolanden
• 1.10.1928-October 1930 Local leader (Ortsgruppenleiter) in Alsheim-Gronau
• 24.11.1930-15.4.1931 Bezirksleiter in Bad Dürkheim
  • Founder of the NSDAP local groups Assenheim, Friedelsheim, Deidesheim, Wachenheim, Leistadt, Weisenheim am Berg, Erpolzheim, Ellerstadt
• 1931 District speaker (Gauredner)
  • 16.4.1931-14.8.1935 District and circuit manager/leader (until July 1933 also Ortsgruppenleiter) of Landau
  • NSDAP candidate in the Reichstag elections on 31.7. and 6.11.1932 and on 5.3.1933
  • 12.3.-17.10.1933 Representative of the special commissioner of the Oberster SA-Führer (OSAF)) Ernst Röhm at the Landau district office
  • 13.7.1934-22.4.1935 Chief of Staff of the Gauleitung Palatinate (Neustadt a. d. Haardt)
• April 1935-31.1.1936 District leader of Bergzabern
  • 17.8.1935-31.1.1936 At the same time district leader of Germersheim
• 1.2.1936-April 1940 District leader of Ludwigshafen
• 1936-1945 SA (honorary, finally SA-Obersturmbannführer)
• March/April 1938 Deputy Gau election officer in the district (Gau) of Vienna
• March 1938-March 1940 Representative of the NSDAP for the city of Vienna to the Reich Commissioner for the reunification of Austria with the German Reich (Beauftragter der NSDAP für die Stadt Wien beim Reichskommissar für die Wiedervereinigung Österreichs mit dem Deutschen Reich)
• 17.10.1940-4.1.1941 Circuit manager/leader (Kreisleiter) of Metz
• May 1943-September 1944 Kreisleiter of Metz-Land
• May 1943-31.10.1944 Provisional (acting) Gau Inspector of the Gau Westmark (Neustadt a. d. Weinstraße, Metz)
• 1.11.1944-19.3.1945 Acting Gaustabsamtsleiter of the Gau Westmark (Saarbrücken, Landstuhl)

Awards and decorations (excerpt)

• Honour Chevron for the Old Guard (Ehrenwinkel für Alte Kämpfer)
• Golden Party Badge
• Anschluss Medal (Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 13. März 1938)
• Winter Battle in the East 1941–42 Medal
• Iron Cross (1939), 2nd Class

Sources

• Franz Maier: Biographisches Organisationshandbuch der NSDAP und ihrer Gliederungen im Gebiet des heutigen Landes Rheinland-Pfalz, Verlag von Hase & Koehler, Mainz 2007