Ludwig Ruckdeschel

Ludwig Ruckdeschel
Ruckdeschel in 1938
Gauleiter of Bayreuth
In office April 1945 – May 1945
Preceded by	Fritz Wächtler
Succeeded by	none
Member of the German Reichstag
In office 1933–1945
Deputy Gauleiter of Bayerische Ostmark
In office 1933–1944
Personal details
Born	(1907-03-15)March 15, 1907 Bayreuth, German Empire
Died	November 8, 1986(1986-11-08) (aged 79) Wolfsburg, West Germany
Nationality	German
Political party	Nazi Party
Residence	Bayreuth, Bavaria
Religion	Protestant (until 1936) Gottgläubig (from 1936)

Ludwig Ruckdeschel (15 March 1907 – 8 November 1986) was the Nazi Gauleiter of Bayreuth during final month of the Gau's existence before the collapse of Nazi Germany in 1945. Before this, from 1933 to 1941, he served as the deputy of Gauleiter Fritz Wächtler, whom he had executed on orders by Martin Bormann. From 1933 to 1945 he was also a member of the German Parliament, the Reichstag.

During the Second World War Ruckdeschel served in the Waffen-SS, rising to the rank of a Sturmbannführer, a rank equivalent to a major. After the war he was arrested in 1947 and eventually sentenced to 13 years in prison but released in 1952.

Ruckdeschel was born in Bayreuth, then part of the Kingdom of Bavaria within the German Empire in 1907. After finishing his education he became a merchant.

Ruckdeschel joined a nationalist youth organisation in 1921 and the SA in 1923. He was a founding member of the local branch of the Nazi Party in Bayreuth in early 1925 and became closely associated with Gauleiter Hans Schemm. From 1928 onward he became a permanent employee of the Gau administration of the Nazi Party. In this role he was responsible for the publication of right-wing books and newspapers.

With the Nazis rise to power in 1933 he became deputy Gauleiter of the Gau Bayerische Ostmark which was renamed Gau Bayreuth in June 1942. He also became a member of the Reichstag in November 1933 and held this office until 1945.