bavarikon4UWithdrawal of the Hoffmann Government to Bamberg, 7 April 1919 (Bamberger Tagblatt, 8 April 1919)
After the proclamation of the Soviet Republic, the Bavarian government under Prime Minister Johannes Hoffmann (1867-1930) reacted promptly and moved its headquarters to Bamberg on 7 April. It was gradually followed by the members of the Bavarian State Parliament. The government announced its withdrawal on 8 April in the Bamberger Tagblatt. In this statement, it opposed rumours and claims by the Revolutionäre Zentralrat that it had resigned. The government insisted on being the "sole incumbent of Bavaria's supreme power". Its legitimacy came from its election by the State Parliament, which had been democratically elected for the first time in January 1919.
On 12 April, the first cabinet meeting took place at the Bamberg Residenz. Hoffmann was anxious to continue regular government issues from Upper Franconia and to continue the work already begun on a new Bavarian constitution together with the State Parliament. Hoffmann rejected the Soviet Republic because he regarded it as a product of Bolshevism. In his opinion, the revolution had ended with the state elections in January 1919.
From Bamberg, for example, the government immediately started measures against the Soviet Republic in Munich. It imposed a blockade on the state capital by cutting off train connections, communications, coal and food supplies. In addition, it launched a propaganda offensive and dropped a large number of flyers over the Munich area. It also led to anti-Semitic excesses, which Hoffmann rejected but did not subdue.