Upper Rhön restoration blueprint: exploring political persuasions in the lofty Rhön Highlands

In the heart of Germany, between Bavaria, Hesse, and Thuringia, the Rhön region became a battleground for power and propaganda during the Nazi era. This once picturesque and rural area was transformed into an open-air forced labor camp for many of its laborers, far from embodying the "national community" that Hitler and his followers envisioned.

The Rhön development plan, initiated in 1933, aimed to create a "model land" that symbolised the rural ideal of Hitler and his followers for the entire nation. However, this plan was not just about modernization; it was a propaganda project driven by fanatical politicians like Gauleiter Otto Hellmuth from Mainfranken.

The National Socialists, seizing power in 1933, targeted the Rhön region for their "blood and soil" ideology. The region's farmers were derided as "backward" and "degenerate" by party functionaries, who portrayed them as unable to farm and in need of education by the NSDAP. Tens of thousands of men from the Reich Labor Service (RAD) were sent to the Rhön to build new roads, plant forests, and create model farms.

Initially, the hard work on these farms was done by labor service conscripts, later by prisoners of war and forced laborers. Nature and people in the Rhön were exploited as part of the Nazi ideology. Model farms were established, particularly at the Ellenbogen and around Frankenheim, not just for agriculture but also as a stage for party leaders and visitors.

Tragically, Jewish citizens in Rhön villages were disenfranchised, persecuted, deported, and murdered. Some villages lost entire families that had previously been integral to the community. Stolpersteine in Ehrenberg and other places remember the Jewish citizens who were persecuted and murdered.

The power struggles over the Rhön did not end with the farmers. Gauleiter Otto Hellmuth faced competition from Thuringian Gauleiters Fritz Sauckel and Wilhelm Marschler. Hitler had to intervene due to the intensity of these power struggles. Despite this, Jakob Sprenger, the Gauleiter who pushed forward the Rhön Development Plan for the National Socialists in 1933, maintained his leadership over the plan not only in Bavaria but also unchallenged in Hesse and Thuringia.

The party leadership gathered at the Katzenstein to present themselves as the new lords of an ancient realm. The Katzenstein, developed into a Thing site and the so-called "burg of the old guard", became a symbol of the Nazi's appropriation of history and tradition.

The Rhön development plan continued to symbolize oppression and propaganda during the years of the "Third Reich". For the Gauleiters, the Rhön was a prestige battle and a piece of land to be controlled at any cost. The intensity of these power struggles and the exploitation of the region and its people serve as a stark reminder of the dark period in Germany's history.