Adolf Freiherr von Harnier, died the day after being liberated by US forces through the effects of his incarceration in Straubing. Adolf Hitler's 1923 "Beer Hall Putsch" in Munich had the restoration of the monarchy as its pretext. However, it was carried out without the crown prince's knowledge and support, and collapsed. Rupprecht again did not want to take the crown by illegal means and thereby assured himself of Hitler's lasting enmity. Adolf Hitler made it clear at the time (and at his trial) that he believed in a Republic (in the strict sense of a land ruled by the people) and opposed the idea of a monarchy. "Monarchism", in a Bavarian context, was not the belief that a King should have direct power, but rather the belief that a monarch should be part of a traditional constitutional system of checks and balances, the very thing that Adolf Hitler both opposed and passionately hated. Funeral of Ludwig III The funeral of Ludwig III on 5 November 1921 was feared or hoped to spark a restoration of the monarchy. Despite the abolition of the monarchy, the former King was laid to rest in front of the royal family, the Bavarian government, military personnel, and an estimated 100,000 spectators, in the style of royal funerals. Prince Rupprecht did not wish to use the occasion of the passing of his father to reestablish the monarchy by force, preferring to do so by legal means. Michael von Faulhaber, Archbishop of Munich, in his funeral speech, made a clear commitment to the monarchy while Rupprecht only declared that he had stepped into his birthright. 1932–33 In 1932, when it became ever more likely that the National Socialists under Adolf Hitler could take power in Bavaria and Germany, the restoration of the monarchy was seen as the only possible way to avoid this fate. Talks about a possible restoration were held as early as May 1932 between Baron Erwein von Aretin and Bavarian prime minister Heinrich Held. The Bavarian conservative and labour parties supported such a move. Fritz Schäffer, leader of the Bavarian People's Party, planned to create the position of Generalstaatskommissar for the crown prince. Wilhelm Hoegner and Erhard Auer, leaders of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, supported the move. However, the Bavarian government under Heinrich Held hesitated to carry out such a step in February 1933, being discouraged to do so by the