Jakob Ritter von Danner

Jakob Ritter von Danner (7 August 1865 in Queichheim/Landau – 28 December 1942 in Munich) was a general in the Royal Bavarian Army, the Imperial German Army and the Reichswehr. As commandant of the Munich garrison of the Reichswehr, he was a central figure in putting down the attempted Beer Hall Putsch by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in 1923.

Early life and family Jakob Danner was born on 7 August 1865 in Queichheim in the Bavarian Palatinate as the son of Ludwig Danner and Karolina, née Reich. On 1 December 1913, he married Anna, née Fuchssteiner.

Military Service Danner entered the Royal Bavarian Army on 13 August 1884 as an officer candidate in the Royal Bavarian 17th Infantry Regiment "Orff" in Germersheim and was commissioned a lieutenant on 7 July 1886. He was promoted to Oberleutnant (first lieutenant) on 22 December 1893, initially without a patent but later receiving a patent of 6 November 1894. For a Bavarian commoner, award of this order of knighthood conferred nobility. Danner received his patent of nobility from the King of Bavaria on 20 September 1917, taking the title "Ritter von". He was named commander of the Bavarian 21st Infantry Brigade on 30 September 1918, and led that brigade through the end of the war and into 1919. During the post-war unrest, he led the "Gruppe Danner" of the III Bavarian Army Corps.

On 1 October 1920, Colonel Ritter von Danner took command of the Munich city garrison (Stadtkommandantur München) and was promoted to Generalmajor on 1 July 1921. He led this command, which also entailed serving as deputy commander of Military District VII (Wehrkreis VII), until his retirement. It was during this period that the Nazi Party, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler and its allies, attempted a coup d'état to overthrow the Bavarian government. General Ritter von Danner reacted quickly, placing troops on alert and acting to ensure that the commander of Wehrkreis VII, which controlled all troops in Bavaria, did not support the putsch attempt or vacillate in the face of it. Three days after the failure of the Beer Hall Putsch, Hitler was arrested and charged with treason. Ritter von Danner was promoted to Generalleutnant on 1 January 1925 and retired on 31 July 1925.

Later years After retirement, Generalleutnant Ritter von Danner served as the first president of the Bavarian Warrior League (Bayerischer Kriegerbund) and later as the second president of the Reich Warrior League "Kyffhäuser" (Reichskriegerbund „Kyffhäuser“). He died on 28 December 1942 in Munich.

Decorations and awards Kingdom of Bavaria: Military Order of Max Joseph, Knight's Cross (1 September 1917) Military Merit Order, Officer's Cross with Swords (26 September 1917) Military Merit Order, 3rd Class with Crown and Swords (5 February 1917) Military Merit Order, 3rd Class with Swords (22 December 1914) Military Merit Order, 4th Class with Crown (30 December 1913) Military Merit Order 4th Class with Swords (1901) Officer's Service Decoration Cross, 1st Class (23 May 1918) Jubilee Medal of the Bavarian Army (12 March 1905) Kingdom of Prussia: Order of the Red Eagle, 4th Class (8 September 1909) Order of the Crown, 4th Class with Swords Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross with Swords (9 May 1917) Iron Cross, 1st (26 April 1915) and 2nd Class (30 September 1914) German Empire: China Medal (1901) Wound Badge (1918) in Silver (mattweiß) Austria-Hungary: Order of the Iron Crown, 3rd Class with War Decoration (19 July 1917) Military Merit Cross, 3rd Class with War Decoration Inhaber Jubilee Medal (2 December 1908)