Wilhelm Burgdorf

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class="fn" colspan="2" style="background-color: #B0C4DE; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;" | Wilhelm Burgdorf
colspan="2" style="background-color: #B0C4DE; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;" |
colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 90%; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaa; line-height: 1.5em;" | File:Oberst Wilhelm Burgdorf I.jpg
Colonel Burgdorf
Birth date 15 February 1895(1895-02-15)
Place of birth Fürstenwalde, Province of Brandenburg, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date 2 May 1945 (aged 50)[1]
Place of death Berlin, German Reich
Allegiance File:Flag of the German Empire.svg German Empire
File:Flag of Germany (3-2 aspect ratio).png Weimar Republic
File:Flag of the NSDAP (1920–1945).svg National Socialist Germany
Service/branch File:Iron Cross of the Luftstreitkräfte.png Imperial German Army
File:Freikorps Flag.jpg Freikorps
File:War Ensign of the Reichswehr, 1919 - 1935.png Reichswehr
File:Balkenkreuz.jpg Heer
Years of service 1914–1945
Rank General of the Infantry
Battles/wars
  • World War I
  • World War II
Awards Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Relations ∞ 1930 Erika Hahn

Wilhelm Emanuel Burgdorf (15 February 1895 – 2 May 1945) was a German General during World War II who served as a commander and staff officer in the Wehrmacht (German army). In October 1944, he was appointed Chief of the Army Personnel Office and Adjutant to Adolf Hitler. In this capacity, it is said that he played a role in the suicide of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Burgdorf and General Hans Krebs committed suicide at the same time in the Führerbunker on, depending on the sources, 1 May or 2 May 1945 at the conclusion of the Battle of Berlin.[2]

Life

File:Oberst Wilhelm Burgdorf II.jpg
Signature during Operation Barbarossa
File:Wilhelm Burgdorf, children.jpg
Children (birth dates)
File:Traueranzeige für Wilhelm Burgdorf vom 13.10.2021 aus Haller Tagblatt.jpg
Wilhelm, oldest son of General Burgdorf

Wilhelm Burgdorf was the son of the pastor Friedrich Wilhelm Albert Burgdorf and his wife Marie Wilhelmine Frederike, née Blümner (d. 12 January 1931).

Military career

Burgdorf joined the Prussian Army on 3 August 1914[3] at the outbreak of World War I as an officer cadet of the Imperial German Army and was commissioned as an infantry officer in Grenadier-Regiment „Prinz Karl von Preußen“ (2. Brandenburgisches) Nr. 12 in 1915. After the war he served in the Freikorps (Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Regiment 12), the Reichswehr and was promoted to Captain in 1930. In the Wehrmacht he became an instructor in tactics at the military academy in Dresden with the rank of Major in 1935 and was appointed an Adjutant on the staff of the IX corps in 1937. He was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1938 and served as the commander of the 529th Infantry Regiment from May 1940 to April 1942. In May 1942, he became head of Department 2 of the Army Personnel Office and Deputy Chief in October 1942, when he was promoted to Major-General.

In October 1944 Burgdorf was promoted to Chief of the Army Personnel Office (Wehrmacht) and Chief Adjutant of the Wehrmacht.[4] At that time, he was further promoted in rank to Lieutenant-General, and one month later (in November 1944) to a full General of the Infantry. Burgdorf retained that rank and position until his death. He had stated that 'Every officer and every judge of the Wehrmacht have to act with strongest measures against doubters in the German final victory'. "An officer who expresses himself disparagingly about the leadership of the National Socialist state should not be tolerated."[5]

Family

On 18 June 1930, Hauptmann Burgdorf married his fiancée Erika Hahn, daughter of the factory owner Eugen Hahn. They had four children:[6]

  • Wilhelm (b. 24 April 1931; d. 10 October 2021)
  • Erika (b. 9 February 1933; d. 19 May 2010), married Dennler-Oppliger
  • Märten (b. 25 May 1934), Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of WashTec AG (until 2003), Dr. jur., founder of Dr. Burgdorf GmbH (BETA FINANZ GMBH, SWISTTAL) in 2002
  • Barbara (b. 25 January 1936; d. 28 January 2020), married Neu

Promotions

  • Fahnenjunker (Officer Candidate): 3 August 1914
  • Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier: 24 December 1914
  • Fähnrich (Officer Cadet): 31 January 1915
  • Offiziers-Stellvertreter (Deputy Officer): 2 April 1915
  • Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant): 18 April 1915 (without Patent)
    • 5 April 1917 received Patent as Leutnant with effect from 22 November 1913
    • later received new Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1 September 1915
  • Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant): 1 June 1925
    • later received new Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1 April 1925
  • Hauptmann (Captain): 1 February 1930
  • Major: 1 November 1935
  • Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel): 1 August 1938
    • later received new Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1 October 1937
  • Oberst (Colonel): 14 September 1940 with RDA from 1 September 1940
  • Generalmajor: 1 October 1942
  • Generalleutnant: 8 October 1943 with RDA from 1 October 1943
  • General der Infanterie (General of the Infantry): 9 November 1944[7]

Awards and decorations

References

  1. ↑ General Burgdorf apparently committed suicide after midnight on 2 May, although some other sources state it occurred before midnight on 1 May.
  2. ↑ Junge, Traudl, Until The Final Hour, English-language edition, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 2003, pps: 167, 175-6, 183, 192, 211. ISBN: 0-297-84720-1
  3. ↑ General der Infanterie Wilhelm Burgdorf
  4. ↑ Junge, 2003, p. 211.
  5. ↑ Der Spiegel 28/1978
  6. ↑ Burgdorf, Wilhelm, lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de
  7. ↑ Wilhelm Burgdorf, Ritterkreuzträger 1939-1945
  8. ↑ Junge, 2003, p. 211.





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