Karl Harrer

Karl Harrer (8 October 1890 – 5 September 1926) was a German journalist and politician, one of the founding members of the "Deutsche Arbeiterpartei" (German Workers' Party, DAP) in January 1919, the predecessor to the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers Party – NSDAP); more commonly known as the Nazi Party.

Harrer was "commissioned" by the Thule Society to try and politically influence German workers in Munich after the end of World War I. At the time, Harrer was a reporter with a right-wing newspaper. Harrer convinced Anton Drexler and several others to form the Politischer Arbeiterzirkel (Political Workers' Circle) in 1918. The members met periodically for discussions with themes of nationalism and racism directed against the Jews. Although Harrer preferred that the small group remain a semi-secret nationalistic club, Drexler wanted to make it a political party. Thereafter, Drexler proposed the founding of the DAP in December, 1918. On 5 January 1919 the DAP was formed, in which not only Harrer and Drexler but also Gottfried Feder and Dietrich Eckart were involved. With the DAP founding, Drexler was elected chairman and Harrer was made "Reich Chairman", an honorary title. The DAP was the predecessor to the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers Party – NSDAP); commonly known as the Nazi Party.

Harrer became increasingly unhappy with the direction in which the party was going after Adolf Hitler became an influential force within it. Early in 1920, Hitler moved to sever the party's link with the Thule Society, and to redefine the policies of the DAP. On 24 February 1920 in the Staatliches Hofbräuhaus in München, Hitler, for the first time, enunciated the twenty-five points of the German Worker's Party's manifesto that had been drawn up by Drexler, Feder, and Hitler. Such was the significance of this particular move in expanding the party's public profile that Harrer resigned from the party in disagreement, as he had always believed that it should be a semi-secret elite group rather than a mass popular movement. The Thule Society subsequently fell into decline, and was dissolved about five years later, well before Hitler came to power.

Karl Harrer died, not quite 36, of natural causes in Munich.