Abstract
In accordance with the authoritarian “Führer principle,” Hitler had
built up the NSDAP in the shape of a pyramid. Power flowed exclusively
from top to bottom. Hitler himself stood at the pinnacle of the
hierarchy and had unlimited power of command. All other party offices
had comprehensive “Führer power” over the authorities subordinate to
them. Thus competence and responsibility were supposed to be guaranteed
on every level and in every area. After the “Law against the Formation
of New Political Parties” was decreed on July 14, 1933, the NSDAP was
the only party allowed in Germany. Henceforth, it played a double role
as both a mass organization and an elite institution. On the one hand,
it tried to integrate the general population into the National Socialist
movement; on the other, it also considered itself responsible for the
education of the Nazi leadership elite.