View source for German Workers' Party

The '''{{lang-de|Deutsche Arbeiterpartei}}''' or '''German Workers' Party''' (''DAP'') was a political party in [[Weimar Republic|Germany]] just after [[World War I]].   It did not last for very long, and became the National Socialist German Workers' Party or [[Nazi Party]] ({{lang-de|Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei}}, acronym ''NSDAP'').
{{For|the German Workers' Party in [[Austria-Hungary]]|German Workers' Party (Austria-Hungary)}}
{{Infobox political party |
|name             = German Workers' Party
|name_native      = Deutsche Arbeiterpartei
|logo             = [[File:Deutsche Arbeiter Partei.svg|100px]]
|leader           = [[Anton Drexler]]<br>[[Karl Harrer]] (1919-1920)
|colorcode        =
|foundation       = January 5, 1919
|dissolution      = February 24, 1920
|ideology         = [[German nationalism]]<br>[[Pan-Germanism]]<br>[[Anti-capitalism]]<br>[[Anti-communism]]<br>[[Anti-Semitism]]
|position         = [[Far-right politics|Extreme right]]
|headquarters     = [[Munich]], [[Weimar Republic|Germany]]
|international    = 
|predecessor      = ''None'' (''de jure'')<br>[[Fatherland Party (Germany)|German Fatherland Party]] (''de facto'')
|successor        = [[Nazi Party|National Socialist German Workers' Party]]
|website          =
}}

==Origins==
Eight days before [[election]]s in [[Bavaria]], the DAP was founded in [[Munich]] in the  ''Café Gasteig'' on [[5 January]] [[1919]] by [[Anton Drexler]] and Michael Lotter. The DAP grew out of the 'Free Worker's Committee for a Good Peace' ({{lang-de|Freien Arbeiterausschuss für einen guten Frieden}})  which Drexler had also started.

Most of the DAP's first members were friends of Drexler's from the [[Munich]] rail depot. Drexler wanted a party that was [[nationalist]] and aimed at ordinary people.  Most other nationalist parties were [[middle class]] parties. The first membership was about forty people.<ref>''Hitler: a study in Tyranny'' by [[Alan Bullock]]</ref>

On [[24 March]] [[1919]], [[Karl Harrer]] (a sports journalist and member of the [[Thule Society]]) joined the DAP to try to get more control over the DAP for the Thule Society.  There were still not many members, and meetings were often held in local [[public house|pub]]s.

==Adolf Hitler joins the DAP==
[[Image:Hitler's DAP membership card.png|thumb|Hitler's DAP party card with the forged membership number 7]]
When [[Adolf Hitler]] was still a corporal in the German army, he was ordered to spy on the DAP during one of its meetings at the ''Sterneckerbräu'' on [[12 September]] [[1919]].

Hitler was very good at making speeches, so  Anton Drexler asked him to join the party. Hitler thought about this, and then joined near the end of September 1919. There were no membership numbers or cards when Hitler joined the party. In January 1920 the DAP began to give membership cards and numbers.  They started at number 501 to make the party look bigger.  Hitler got number 555, but he was also committee member number 7.  Later Hitler said he  was party member number 7, to make it look like he was a founder member of the DAP.

==From DAP to NSDAP==
The small number of party members were quick to believe in Hitler's ideas.

To try to make the party more popular the DAP changed its name on 24 February 1920 to the [[Nazi Party|National Socialist German Workers' Party]]. The name was borrowed from a different Austrian party active at the time ([[Austrian National Socialism|Deutsche Nationalsozialistische Arbeiterpartei]]).  At first Hitler wanted the new name to be the 'Social Revolutionary Party'; but [[Rudolf Jung]] persuaded Hitler to use NSDAP.<ref>[[Konrad Heiden]], "Les débuts du national-socialisme", Revue d'Allemagne, VII, No. 71 (Sept. 15, 1933), p. 821</ref>

== Membership ==

Hitler was the 55th member of the party. Other well-known early members were:

*[[Karl Harrer]]
*[[Anton Drexler]]
*[[Gottfried Feder]]
*[[Dietrich Eckart]]
*[[Alfred Rosenberg]]
*[[Hans Frank]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Weimar Republic]]
[[Category:Former political parties in Germany]]
[[Category:Nazi Party]]
[[Category:1919 establishments in Germany]]
[[Category:1920 disestablishments in Europe]]
[[Category:20th-century disestablishments in Germany]]