- This article concerns the Nazi official Adolf Wagner; for the German economist, see Adolph Wagner.
Adolf Wagner (October 1, 1890- April 1944) was a German soldier and high-ranking Nazi Party official. He served in World War I as an officer in the German Army. A member of the Nazi Party from its earliest days, he was appointed a Gauleiter for various districts in Germany, eventually becoming Gauleiter of München-Oberbayern. He served as the master of ceremonies for the annual commemorations of the Beer Hall Putsch every November 9th in Munich. Wagner angered Hitler in 1941 when he insisted on removing crucifixes from Bavarian classrooms, which outraged the Roman Catholic Church and the general public. The opposition to this move was so strong Wagner was forced to rescind the order, one of the rare circumstances of successful public opposition in Hitler's Germany. Despite this faux pas, Hitler apparently remained on good terms with the thuggish Wagner. When Wagner died in April 1944, two years after suffering a stroke that had effectively incapacitated him, the increasingly reclusive Fuhrer made a rare public appearance to attend his lavish funeral.
