Alban Schachleiter

Who was Alban Schachleiter?

Alban Schachleiter was a Roman Catholic Benedictine monk and musicologist. He was closely associated with the Nazis, and with Adolf Hitler personally.

Schachleiter first became closely associated with the NSDAP, and with Hitler, in late 1922. Originally from Mainz, he served as the long-time abbot of the Emmaus monastery in Prague before being forced out of that position in late 1918 following the establishment of the new Czechoslovak state. After brief stays at several Austrian monasteries, including St. Florian near Linz, by early 1920, he was at Munich's St. Boniface's Abbey. By September 1922 he was noticed for the radicalism of his anti-Semitic agitation and his involvement with groups like the volkisch Bund Bayern und Reich. He cultivated connections with members of Munich's Catholic elite, including w:de:Karl Alexander von Müller, professor of history at the University of Munich and Helene Raff, whose father was the composer Joachim Raff. With Muller he discussed politics and Gregorian chant. Through these connections he first met Hitler in late 1922; the pair were observed by both Muller and Ernst Hanfstaengl engaging in lively and lengthy conversation.