{{short description|Nazi German leader in the Saar}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Alois Spaniol | image = Alois Spaniol.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Spaniol, {{circa|1934}} | office = ''Landesführer'', Saar | term_start = 14 June 1933 | term_end = 26 February 1934 | predecessor = ''Position created'' | successor = ''Position abolished'' | office2 = Leader, {{interlanguage link|Deutsche Front|de}} | term_start2 = 14 July 1933 | term_end2 = 26 February 1934 | predecessor2 = ''Position created'' | successor2 = {{interlanguage link|Jakob Pirro|de}} | office3 = ''Bürgermeister'' of Andernach | term_start3 = 1 April 1935 | term_end3 = 8 March 1945 | predecessor3 = | successor3 = | birth_date = 19 September 1904 | birth_place = Lisdorf, Rhine Province, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire | death_date = {{death date and age|1959|1||1904|9|19}} | death_place = Ettlingen, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany | party = Nazi Party | spouse = | children = | alma_mater = }}
'''Alois Spaniol''' (19 September 1904 – January 1959) was a leader of the Nazi Party in the Saar and ''Bürgermeister'' of Andernach in Nazi Germany.
== Early life == Spaniol was born in Lisdorf (today, part of Saarlouis) the son of a schoolteacher. He attended ''Volksschule'' and the Saarlouis ''Gymnasium'' until 1921, earning his ''Abitur''. He then entered the teacher training college in Merzig, dropping out after three years. He worked in various unskilled jobs for the next seven years until becoming unemployed in 1931 during the Great Depression.{{sfn|Lilla|2005|p=239}} By the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, the Territory of the Saar Basin had been taken from Germany and administered by a joint French-British Governing Council under a League of Nations mandate. Spaniol's political career began in 1923 when he became active in nationalist ''Völkisch'' circles dedicated to restoring the Saar to Germany.
== Nazi Party career == Spaniol joined the Nazi Party (NSDAP) on 1 May 1931 (membership number 519,608) and by July became the ''Ortsgruppenleiter'' (Local Group Leader) in Lisdorf. He also enrolled in the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA), the Party's paramilitary organization, and rose from SA-''Scharführer'' to SA-''Truppführer'' of the SA ''Sturm'' in Saarlouis with over one hundred members.<ref>Hans Peter Klauck: [http://www.hpklauck.de/spaniol.pdf ''Alois Spaniol – Ein strammer NSDAP-Funktionär aus Lisdorf''] (PDF; 127 kB)</ref> In October 1932 he advanced to ''Kreisleiter'' (County Leader) in Saarlouis-Merzig.<ref name="SB">[http://www.saarland-biografien.de/frontend/php/ergebnis_detail.php?id=2113 Alois Spaniol entry] in the [http://www.saarland-biografien.de/frontend/php/index.php Saarland Biographien]</ref> In December 1932, he was made Deputy ''Gauleiter'' for the Saar.{{sfn|Miller|Schulz|2012|p=49}}
On 6 May 1933, Josef Bürckel, the Nazi Party ''Gauleiter'' of the Rheinpfalz, also formally replaced Karl Brück as ''Gauleiter'' of the Saar.{{sfn|Miller|Schulz|2012|p=98}} However, the Saar Governing Council refused to acknowledge his authority, ruling that a resident of Germany was not allowed to represent the Party in the Saar. On 14 June 1933, Spaniol took charge in Bürckel's place with the title of ''Landesführer der NSDAP im Saargebiet'' (State Leader of the NSDAP in the Saar Area).<ref name="SB" /> Shortly afterward, the {{interlanguage link|Deutsche Front|de}} (German Front) was formed as an umbrella organization of the Nazis and other right-wing and middle-class nationalist parties (including the Catholic Centre Party) to campaign for the return of the Saar to Germany.{{sfn|Zentner|Bedürftig|1997|p=330}} On 14 July 1933, Spaniol became its first leader and also was appointed to the newly reconstituted Prussian State Council by Prussian Minister President Hermann Göring.{{sfn|Lilla|2005|pp=32, 298}} However, he soon found himself in conflict with Bürckel who was still directing the Party's Saar policy from Germany.{{sfn|Paul|1987|p=71}} On 26 February 1934, Spaniol was ousted by Bürckel who replaced him with {{interlanguage link|Jakob Pirro|de}} as leader of the ''Deutsche Front''. Bürckel also sought a Party expulsion procedure against Spaniol but this was unsuccessful.{{sfn|Paul|1987|p=71}}
Losing out in the power struggle with Bürckel, Spaniol was recalled from the Saar and given a position as Saar consultant in the Reich Economics Ministry in Berlin as of 1 March 1934. After the Saar plebiscite restored the Saar to Germany (effective 1 March 1935) Spaniol was appointed ''Bürgermeister'' of Andernach in the Rhine Province on 1 April 1935, retaining this office until 8 March 1945 when the city was liberated. From 1936 he also worked as a ''Reichsredner'' (Reich orator).{{sfn|Lilla|2005|p=239}}
During the Second World War, Spaniol performed military service with the ''Wehrmacht'' from March 1942 and was mainly deployed with a propaganda company on the eastern front. After the end of the war, he was held in the British internment camp in Recklinghausen from 1946 to 1948. After his release, he lived in Ettlingen and worked as a commercial clerk in the timber industry.<ref name="SB" />
Spaniol's date of death was researched by historian Gerhard Paul and, according to "information from the personnel department of the city administration of Andernach," it was established as January 1959.{{sfn|Paul|1987|p=228}}
== References == {{reflist|30em}}
== Sources == *[http://www.saarland-biografien.de/frontend/php/ergebnis_detail.php?id=2113 Alois Spaniol entry] in the [http://www.saarland-biografien.de/frontend/php/index.php Saarland Biographien] *{{cite book |last=Lilla |first=Joachim |title=Der Preußische Staatsrat 1921–1933: Ein biographisches Handbuch |publisher= Droste Verlag |location= Düsseldorf |year= 2005 |isbn= 978-3-770-05271-4}} *{{cite book |last1= Miller |first1= Michael D. |last2= Schulz |first2= Andreas |title=Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders of the Nazi Party and Their Deputies, 1925–1945 |volume=1 (Herbert Albrecht - H. Wilhelm Hüttmann) |publisher=R. James Bender Publishing |year=2012 |isbn= 978-1-932-97021-0}} *{{cite book |last=Paul |first=Gerhard |title=Die NSDAP des Saargebietes: 1920-1935 |publisher= Saarbrücker Druckerei und Verlag |location= |year= 1987 |isbn= 978-3-925-03611-8}} *{{cite book |editor-last1 = Zentner |editor-first1= Christian |editor-last2 = Bedürftig |editor-first2= Friedemann |year = 1997 |orig-date = 1991 |title= The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich |publisher = Da Capo Press |location = New York |isbn = 978-0-306-80793-0}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Spaniol, Alois}} Category:1904 births Category:1959 deaths Category:German Army personnel of World War II Category:German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom Category:Kreisleiter Category:Mayors of places in Rhineland-Palatinate Category:Members of the Prussian State Council (Nazi Germany) Category:German Nazi propagandists Category:People from Saarlouis Category:Politicians from the Rhine Province Category:Sturmabteilung personnel