Karl Harrer (8 October 1890 - 5 September 1926) was a German
journalist and politician, one of the founding members of the "
Deutsche Arbeiterpartei" ("German Workers' Party", DAP) in 1919, the party that soon would become the
Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (
NSDAP).
Harrer was also a member of the Thule Society, which gave him the task of founding a "Politischer Arbeiterzirkel" ("political workers' union"), an order he carried out together with Anton Drexler in October 1918. On January 5, 1919, the DAP was formed, in which not only Harrer and Drexler but also Gottfried Feder and Dietrich Eckart were involved.
Harrer became the party's first chairman (adopting the title of "Reichsvorsitzender"); however, his plans to continue the DAP as a secret society similar to the Thule Society collided with Adolf Hitler's, who had also joined the party. Towards the end of 1919, their rivalry became more and more apparent; Harrer accused Hitler of megalomania, and ultimately resigned from all party offices and left the party after pressure from Hitler on January 5, 1920. The chairmanship passed first to vice chairman Drexler, and to Hitler himself in 1921.
