Albrecht Aschoff

Oberst (a. D.) Dr. jur. Albrecht Aschoff
Birth name	Albrecht Ludwig Wilhelm Aschoff
Birth date	11 April 1899(1899-04-11)
Place of birth	Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	11 August 1972 (aged 73)
Place of death	Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Rhineland-Palatinate, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Imperial German Army Reichswehr Heer
Years of service	1916–1919 1934–1935 1935–1945
Rank	Oberst
Commands held	II. Abteilung/Artillerie-Regiment 76 Panzer-Regiment 8 16. Panzer-Division
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Iron Cross War Merit Cross German Cross in Gold
Other work	Politician

Albrecht Ludwig Wilhelm Aschoff (1899–1972) was a German officer of the Prussian Army, the Imperial German Army, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally Oberst of the artillery and leader of a Panzer division in WWII as well as jurist, politician and member of the German Bundestag. He was a member of the Defense Committee and of the European Parliament until 1965

Career (chronology)

• Summer 1916 Notabitur (Humanistisches Gymnasium in Berlin)
• Joined the Thorner Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr. 81 as Fahnenjunker (officer candidate)
• 30 September 1917 Leutnant, vorläufig ohne Patent (2nd Lieutenant, provisionally without patent)
• 1919 Discharged
• 1919 to 1932 member of the German People's Party (DVP), most recently on the central board (Zentralvorstand)
• 1920 to 1923 Law studies at the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin, at the Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelm University in Bonn and at the University of Rostock
  • 1920 Member of the Alemannia Bonn fraternity (Mitglied der Burschenschaft Alemannia Bonn)
  • 1923 traineeship exam (Referendarexamen)
  • 1926 Dr. jur. (Munzinger states 1927)
• 1927 assessor exam (Assessorexamen)
• 1927 to 1934 Lawyer (Rechtsanwalt) in Berlin
• 1 May 1933 Member of the NSDAP (Mitgliedsnummer 2.849.058)
  • he maintained a close relationship to the Staatskommissar für Berlin Dr. Julius Lippert
• May 1934 Oberleutnant of the Reichswehr (reactivated)
• 1 October 1934 Hauptmann with rank seniority (RDA) from 1 June 1934
  • Battery chief in the 3. (Preußisches) Artillerie-Regiment (V. reitende Abteilung in Sagan)
  • 1935/1936 Commander of the 1. Batterie/I. Abteilung/Artillerie-Regiment 76
  • Autumn 1939 Commander of the II. Abteilung/Artillerie-Regiment 76
• 1 February 1940 Major (86)
• 1 February 1942 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
  • In the staff of the Wehrwirtschafts- und Rüstungs-Stab (OKW)
    • The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht Wehrwirtschafts- und Rüstungsamt was founded in 1935 as an economic planning staff of the Reichskriegsministerium. The Wehrwirtschafts- und Rüstungsamt' powers were confined to gathering statistical data or preparing economic intelligence on foreign countries. When the Reichskriegsministerium was abolished in 1938, the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht took over the Wehrwirtschafts- und Rüstungsamt.
  • Summer 1942 Liaison officer with the 8th Italian Army in the Stalingrad area
  • Autumn 1942 Chief of the German Economic Staff at the Commander-in-Chief Tunisia (Chef des Deutschen Wirtschaftstabes beim Oberbefehlshaber Tunesien; Tunesienfeldzug); In this context, had huge phosphate deposits confiscated in Tunisia in order to use them for wartime production in Germany.
• 1 June 1943 Oberst (Colonel)
  • Chef des Stabes "Rüstung und Kriegsproduktion" (RuK) der Militärverwaltung beim Militär-Oberbefehlshaber Oberitalien
  • 7 August 1943 The mobilized Wirtschaftsstab Aschoff (cover name) with the OKW-Auffrischungsstab München was assigned to the Heeresgruppe B under Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel with several WEKs and Wkdos (Wirtschaftskommandos)
    • Heeresgruppenwirtschaftsführer (HeWiFü) B Aschoff transfered the Nachschubstab z. b. V. (cover name for the WEK 4 or Wehrmacht-Erfassungs-Kommando 4) in the Bologna area, where the II. SS-Panzer-Korps was stationed. He transfered the WEK 1 to Parma in the area of ​​the 87th and 51st Mountain Corps. On 21 August 1943, he ordered the establishment of a branch of the economic staff in Bolzano/Bozen with the task of preparing all defense measures in the Brenner-Verona area, in particular securing and taking over of motor vehicles of all kinds. The use of the military economic departments - the camouflage designation was dropped after the occupation of treacherous Italy (Fall Achse) - this has been done according to plan since 9 September 1943, largely taking into account the planned structure of the field commands of Army Group B (Rommel) was instructed by the OKW on September 12, “in all cities of Northern Italy to set up German headquarters or field headquarters" in order, among other things, "to ensure the functioning of the Italian economic life". From 17 September 1943, Rommel's HeWiFü, Aschoff, tried to organize a negotiable Italian central authority, in the form of a 7-member economic committee based in Milan. The economic representatives appointed by him were to be vis-à-vis the Italian economy, be authorized to give instructions and make them serve German purposes.
  • Late autumn 1943 Commander of the Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment 80/8. Panzer-Division as successor to Oberst Helmut von Scotti
    • Other sources state, he was, before that, temporarily in command of the 92nd Artillery Regiment.
  • The 8. Panzer-Division's fighting lasted until 8 March 1945, ending with the recapture of Lauban (Kampf um Lauban).
  • 19 to 24 April 1945 Charged with the deputy leadership (mit der stellvertretenden Führung beauftragt) of the 16. Panzer-Division
    • other sources state from 1 to 19 April 1945; he was relieved of his command due to the "charge of defeatism" but stayed with the division. His successor was Oberst Kurt Treuhaupt.
  • 8 May 1945 At the end of the war he was taken prisoner by the Russians

Post-WWII

• Oktober 1955 Repatriated
• 1956 Member of the FDP
  • In 1959, he was already chairman of the Ruhr district association (Vorsitzender des Bezirksverbands Ruhr) and the Rhineland state association (Vorsitzender des Landesvorstandes der FDP von Nordrhein-Westfalen).
• Spring 1957 Lawyer in Essen and at the same time worked as a member of the management of mining organizations (Angehöriger der Geschäftsführung des Unternehmerverbandes Ruhrbergbau)
• Ratsherr, later Oberverwaltungsrat der Stadt Essen (Board of Directors)
  • Between 1960 and 1962 he was a member of the council in Essen, but resigned this office in favor of his Bundestag mandate.

Dr. Aschoff was also a member of the German Bundestag from 17 October 1961 to 17 October 1965 (one legislative period). He was elected via the FDP state list in North Rhine-Westphalia. From 1961 to 1963 he was a delegate of the Bundestag in the European Parliament. In addition, he had been Chairman of the Bundestag's Economic Committee since 9 January 1963. In 1963, industry had most of its affiliates in the Economic Committee relevant to energy policy members. The committee comprised a total of 27 people, 13 of whom were CDU members. Of these nine MPs were considered to be close to the industry. Committee chairman was Albrecht Aschoff (FDP), who was also well disposed towards the industry. His deputy was Peter Wilhelm Brand (CDU). Dr. Aschoff was from 1970 to 1972 Vice President of the Economic and Social Committee of the EEC (Vizepräsident des Wirtschafts- und Sozialausschusses der Europäischen Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft) and a member of the advisory board of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung) from 1971 to 1972.

Family

Albrecht was the son of Sanitätsrat Prof. Dr. med. Albert Aschoff (1868–1945). His younger sister Elisabeth (1902–1986) was married to Kriegsgerichtsrat Prof. Dr. jur. Ludwig Ferdinand Eberhard Schmidt since 1922. His uncle was the Großherzoglicher Badischer Geheimer Hofrat Dr. med. Dr. jur. h. c. Karl Albert Ludwig Aschoff (1866–1942), his paternal grandfather was Geheimer Sanitätsrat Dr. med. Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig Aschoff (1838–1912), his maternal grandfather was Geheimrat Prof. Dr. jur. Ernst Petrus Wilhelm Kahl (1849–1932).

Awards and decorations (excerpt)

• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
  • EK II on 26 October 1917
  • EK I on 10 April 1919
• Lippe War Merit Cross (Fürstlich Lippisches Kriegsverdienstkreuz)
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th Class
• Sudetenland Medal
• Repetition Clasp 1939 to the Iron Cross 1914, 2nd and 1st Class
• General Assault Badge (Allgemeines Sturmabzeichen) in Silver
• Winter Battle in the East 1941–42 Medal
• War Merit Cross, 2nd and 1st Class with Swords
• Honour Roll Clasp (Ehrenblattspange des Heeres) on 19 August 1941
• German Cross in Gold on 25 May 1942 as Major and Commander of the II. Abteilung/Artillerie-Regiment 76/6. Panzer-Division
• Medal for the Italian-German campaign in Africa
• Africa Cuff Band (Ärmelband „Afrika“)
• Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1971

Writings (selection)

• Zur Auslegung des Artikels 4 der Reichsverfassung, 1926 (Dissertation)
• Die Rechtsnatur des Lieferungsvertrages im Verkaufssyndikat – Eine kartellrechtliche Untersuchung, Carl Heymanns Verlag, Berlin 1930
  • 14 editions published between 1929 and 1931 in German
• Vorträge anläßlich der Tagung der Mitglieder, Freunde und Förderer des UCC [Urberger Contact-Centrum] am 1. und 2. September 1962 in Urberg

Further reading

• Amtliches Handbuch des Deutschen Bundestages; 4. 1961, p. 13
• Albrecht Aschoff, in: "Internationales biographisches Archiv 45 / Munzinger-Archiv", 30 October 1972