Ostmärkische Sturmscharen

Ostmärkische Sturmscharen (German pronunciation: [ˈʔɔstmɛʁkɪʃə ˈʃtʊʁmʃaːʁən], Eastern March Stormtroopers) was a political paramilitary force founded on December 7, 1930 in Innsbruck, Austria, recruited from the Katholische Jugend (Catholic Youth), later from journeymen and teacher organisations, forming an opposition to the Heimwehr. Kurt Schuschnigg was its "Reichsführer". The Ostmärkische Sturmscharen spread over the entire Austrian territory in 1933, comprising 15,000 members according to their own figures, but never became very popular. In Lower Austria they incorporated the "Lower Austrian Heimwehr" and were supported by the Bauernbund (Austrian Farmers' Federation). The chairman of the Bauernbund Leopold Figl was their "Landesführer". The Ostmärkische Sturmscharen declared themselves a cultural organisation on April 11, 1936, hence the dissolution of all defence forces in October 1936 was for them merely a formality.