The Tannenbergbund initially enjoyed support amongst rural political movements in Schleswig-Holstein, although it never presented a serious challenge to the Nazis.Rudolf Heberle, 'The Political Movements Among the Rural People in Schleswig-Holstein, 1918 to 1932, I', The Journal of Politics, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Feb., 1943), pp. 3-26 Among surviving senior officers of the Kaiserreich, Ludendorff's politics were viewed with a mixture of skepticism and disbelief. Field Marshal August von Mackensen, who had commanded an army corps at Tannenberg, wrote that "der Mann ist krank" (the man is sick).Theo Schwarzmüller, Zwischen Kaiser und "Führer". Generalfeldmarschall August von Mackensen. Eine politische Biographie. Munich: Deutsche Taschenbuch Verlag, 1995, p. 235. Similarly, Paul von Hindenburg had no truck with the Tannenbergbund as he and Ludendorff had been estranged since the 1925 election, culminating in the two not shaking hands and Hindenburg snubbing Ludendorff's speech at the dedication of a Battle of Tannenberg memorial in 1927.John Wheeler-Bennett, The Wooden Titan: Hindenburg, London: Archon books, 1963, pp. 315-316 Given its composition of more junior officers loyal to Ludendorff, the Tannenbergbund failed to win over the support of the masses, and before long it lost a number of members to the Nazi Party.Snyder, op cit The Tannenbergbund was banned as soon as Hitler came to power,L. Poliakov, The History of Anti-Semitism, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003, p. 159 although the group carried on until Ludendorff's death in 1937 before finally being suppressed by Hitler's government.Bracher, op cit
