Franz Xaver Ritter von Epp (16.10.1868 Munich – 31.1.1947 Munich)

Epp was a career military officer and had already been involved from 1904 to 1906 as a company commander with the colonial forces and in the quelling of the Herero uprisings in "German South West Africa". During the First World War, he was commander of the Bavarian infantry bodyguard regiment (ultimately as colonel) and was awarded a noble title in 1917.

In March 1919, he formed the "Free Corps Epp" named after him at the request of the Reich Defense Minister Gustav Noske in Ohrdruf, Thuringia; it took part in the defeat of the soviet republic, albeit less decisively than later claimed. His Free Corps was incorporated into the Reichswehr. In 1920, Epp worked with Police President Pöhner and the right-wing militias to replace the Social Democratic State Premier Hoffmann and install the Bavarian 'cell of order’; in 1921, he became commander of the 7th (Bavarian) Reichswehr division. Controversial in the Reichswehr because of his political activities, he left it in 1923, even before the Hitler-Ludensdorff Putsch, during which he kept a low profile. In 1927, Epp, who enjoyed great popularity among the middle classes as the "savior of Munich," was briefly a member of the Bavarian People's Party (BVP), but then joined the Nazi Party and the SA (Reichstag deputy and group leader).

The Nazi Party rewarded his commitment in 1933 with the post of Bavarian Reich Representative. Epp no longer played a crucial role at that point and primarily performed ceremonial duties. The Nazis valued him because he had an integrating effect on the Catholic population due to his ostentatious Catholicism and against the backdrop of his historical role. Epp died in American internment custody.