The failed 1923 coup attempt, though crushed within two days, gave Hitler national prominence and a platform that accelerated the Nazi Party's eventual rise to power.
Key Facts
- Date
- 8–9 November 1923
- SA members involved
- ~600 at Bürgerbräukeller
- Marchers on Feldherrnhalle
- ~2,000 Nazis
- Total deaths
- 20 (15 Nazis, 4 police, 1 bystander)
- Hitler's sentence
- 5 years in Landsberg Prison
- Time served by Hitler
- 9 months (released 20 Dec 1924)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Inspired by Mussolini's March on Rome, Adolf Hitler sought to exploit political and economic instability in the Weimar Republic. He planned to seize Munich as a launching point for a broader march on Berlin, aiming to overthrow the national government. Bavaria's Minister-President Gustav Ritter von Kahr had previously blocked Hitler's planned gatherings, creating direct tension between Nazi leadership and Bavarian authorities.
On the evening of 8 November 1923, Hitler and approximately 600 SA members stormed the Bürgerbräukeller beer hall, where Kahr was speaking. Hitler fired a shot into the ceiling and declared the revolution had begun. The following day, around two thousand Nazis marched toward the Feldherrnhalle, where police blocked their advance. The confrontation left twenty dead. Hitler fled but was arrested two days later and charged with treason.
Hitler's subsequent 24-day trial gave him a national and international platform to broadcast his nationalist ideology. Convicted of treason and sentenced to five years, he served only nine months, during which he dictated Mein Kampf. After release, Hitler abandoned armed revolution in favor of pursuing power through electoral and legal means, reshaping Nazi strategy and propaganda for the decade that followed.