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more than that. He learned the fine points of the advertising business so quickly that he was given the management of the branch after just a few months; six months later he was able to quit his job. Then, on July 1, 1925, he opened his own company in the same field. In case the clients of Walther von Danckelmann wanted to take the opportunity to change their agent, they wouldn’t even be giving up the title of nobility when they chose the new “Karl Wolff-von Römheld Advertising Company.”
    By 1932, the company name was in trouble. Even the elegant lifestyle of the boss was threatened. Therefore, he felt comforted that at least with the Party things were moving in the right direction: the comrades admired his military record; he was allowed to sit on the same bench as the hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg at the Führer training on Theresienwiese; and was again picked for a new task. The Sturmbann II needed an adjutant who knew the rituals of the military and could express himself with confidence.
    Possessing these qualifications, Wolff was assigned a position that he would hold very successfully for more than a decade, growing in influence and moving up in rank. Martin Bormann, one of the most influential Nazi leaders in the Reich, who eventually rose to become “Secretary to the Führer,” often condescendingly referred to the aides as “coat carriers.” But Wolff’s ambition would never let him be content with such a secondary position. He naturally knew that in such a job one always had to stand in the shadow of someone higher up, but he was confident, and rightfully so, that he had the ability to work his way out of obscurity withouthaving to bear full responsibility. Of course, he also knew that the position of adjutant could only be held for any length of time if he could sense the mood of his superior. But he was successful, thanks to his skill in dealing with very different kinds of people, his ability to organize things on his own, and his tactics in the daily battles with his rivals. In this way, the new adjutant of Sturmbann II of the Elite Unit I was able to achieve general approval. Standarteführer Heinrich Hoeflich certified him in a subsequent Personnel Report and Evaluation, stating that Wolff possesses an “amicable, friendly personality.” He also called him a “dedicated National Socialist. Furthermore, he shows an understanding for the needs of the individual SS soldier.”
    With this evaluation, Wolff was already being proposed for his next promotion: to Hauptsturmführer. The announcement was made on January 30, 1933, a date in the calendar chosen for the higher ranks of the SS to be showered with stars and silver oak leaves every year from that point on. It was the day of the Nazi ascent to power.
    As Hitler moved into the German Chancellery in Berlin and a flood of brown uniforms waltzed through the Wilhelmstrasse on that January 30, 1933, there was nothing triumphant going on in Munich. In rather unorganized fashion, groups gathered to cheer and celebrate in the streets and beer halls. There were occasional brawls as the Communists loudly protested those events. In Bavaria, the Catholic clerical party of Prime Minister Dr. Heinrich Held was still holding on, and for the immediate future would continue to remain in power unchallenged. His cabinet in the state parliament, voted in nine months before, still had a sufficient majority.
    One success usually leads to others, and even in Bavaria people of all party denominations began to drift to the National Socialists. However, as the state government announced that it would not allow itself to be drawn away from its democratic course by the new government, it could be sure that its people concerned with their Bavarian independence would, for the most part, stand behind it. Dr. Held announced that the state government resist being driven out of its legitimate offices, even by a Reichskomissar dispatched from Berlin. Such a messenger from