Torbräu

The Torbräu at Tal 37 has been stylized as the legendary founding site of the SS, because it is said that in May 1923, about 20 men led by Josef Berchtold and Julius Schreck founded the ‘Stoßtrupp Hitler’, Adolf Hitler’s team of bodyguards. This came out of the ‘Stabswache’ (Staff Guard) established two months earlier. The men wore black skull caps and black-bordered swastika armbands and swore “loyalty to Adolf Hitler until death.” Members included watchmaker Emil Maurice, later Munich Nazi Party city councilor Christian Weber, and later Munich mayor Karl Fiehler. In November 1923, the ‘Stoßtrupp’ played a significant role in the ‘Hitler Putsch’ with various acts of violence, such as the arrest of several Munich city councilors and the vandalism of the editorial offices of the Social Democratic Münchener Post. After its failure, it was banned. From the core of the Stoßtrupp, the Schutzstaffel (SS) was formed after the re-establishment of the party on November 9, 1925. Today, the Torbräu houses the hotel of the same name and restaurants.