Adolf Hitler's bodyguard
When Hitler returned to Munich from military service in 1918, he became a member of the Nazi Party, an extremist far-right political party in Bavaria. In 1921, he was elected leader of the party. As his speeches promoted violence and racism, Hitler needed permanent security.
Beer Hall Putsch
Hitler remained in the army, in Munich, after World War I. He participated in various "national thinking" courses. These had been organised by the Education and Propaganda Department of the Bavarian Army, under Captain Karl Mayr, of which Hitler became an agent. Captain Mayr ordered Hitler, then an army lance corporal, to infiltrate the tiny "Deutsche Arbeiterpartei", abbreviated DAP (German Workers' Party). Hitler joined the DAP on 12 September 1919. He soon realised that he was in agreement with many of the underlying tenets of the DAP, and he rose to its top post in the ensuing chaotic political atmosphere of postwar Munich. By agreement, Hitler assumed the political leadership of a number of Bavarian "patriotic associations" (revanchist), called the "Kampfbund". This political base extended to include about 15,000 Sturmabteilung (SA, lit. "Storm Detachment"), the paramilitary wing of the NSDAP.