Julius Streicher
Prior to World War II Jewish life and culture played an important role in the whole Hesselberg region. Jewish settlers had already been mentioned in writs in the 14th century and many Jews achieved eminence as merchants and scholars. The National Socialists were active in the villages around Hesselberg, they destroyed synagogues and expelled or displaced Jews to internment camps. The notorious anti-semitic publisher Julius Streicher, as the head of the Frankish Nazi district, established Hesselberg as a meeting place of the Nazis. After the NSDAP came to power in 1933 the annual "Frankish Days" (held until 1939) developed from party manifestations. Those were the largest manifestations in Franconia besides the Nuremberg rally. Hermann Göring attended the Frankish Days twice as a speaker and Adolf Hitler also once attended. Up to 100,000 visitors on the Osterwiese listened to the virulently anti-Semitic speeches of Julius Streicher. At that time Hesselberg was named "Heiliger Berg der Franken" (Holy Mountain of the Franks). No remains of this dark time are left on Hesselberg. The lofty Nazi plans were never put into practice—the construction of the Adolf-Hitler-School was not realised, nor the Julius-Streicher-Mausoleum. Prior to World War II the Nazis could only finish an administration building with a garage. Later this garage was used as a chapel by the refugees that were placed on Hesselberg.