After several years of parliamentary deadlock the National Socialists took power in January 1933. The Hitler government quickly transformed the country into a one-party dictatorship. Although the scale of the killings for which the regime would later be remembered was not yet something that most people could have imagined, it very quickly became apparent that people identified as Jews and/or non-Nazi political activists were at heightened risk of persecution, arrest and worse. The aftermath of the Reichstag fire, which occurred at the end of February 1933, demonstrated that leading members of the (now outlawed) Communist Party were in particular danger. The speed with which leading communists were rounded up before or shortly after dawn directly after the fire had been reported triggered questions in the international press - never convincingly answered - over how the government came to be so well prepared to announce the identities of those to be blamed for it. Hoernle himself avoided arrest through what one source identifies as a happy coincidence. During the night in question he was out, safely hidden at the home of Hedda Ickert (1902-1989), the woman who at around this time became his second wife.