Franz Halder

Franz Halder
Chief of the General Staff of the German Army High Command (OKH)
In office 1 September 1938 – 24 September 1942
Leader	Adolf Hitler Walther von Brauchitsch as Commander-in-Chief of the Army (until 19 December 1941)
Preceded by	Ludwig Beck
Succeeded by	Kurt Zeitzler
Born	30 June 1884 Würzburg, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire
Died	2 April 1972 (aged 87) Aschau im Chiemgau, Bavaria, West Germany
Birth name	Franz Julius Halder
Spouse(s)	∞ 1907 Gertrud Erl
Military service
Allegiance	Kingdom of Bavaria German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Royal Bavarian Army Imperial German Army Reichswehr Heer
Years of service	1902–1942/45
Rank	Generaloberst
Battles/wars	World War I World War II Poland Campaign Operation Weserübung Battle of France Eastern Front Operation Barbarossa Operation Typhoon Case Blue
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Meritorious Civilian Service Award

Franz Julius Halder (30 June 1884 – 2 April 1972) was a German officer of the Royal Bavarian Army, the Imperial German Army, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally Generaloberst and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in World War II.

Life

Franz Halder arriving at Malmi Airport, Helsinki, Finland on 29 June 1939

Wilhelm List and Franz Halder

Discharge from active service, January 1945

Halder as a witness of the Nuremberg show trials

An officer (Lieutenant Colonel of the Fallschirmjäger) of the West German Bundeswehr, in front of an honorary detachment, holds a display of awards and decorations of the late Generaloberst Halder whose body lies in state in Munich on 6 April 1972.

Grave

Halder came from a long-established officer family that had served in the army of the Bavarian Wittelsbach for over 300 years. Many were veterans of the Napoleonic Wars. He graduated from Gymnasium with Abitur as a "model student". Five times, the grade "1" is found (religion, German, French, history, gymnastics) and three times, the grade "2" is found (Greek, mathematics, physics). It is striking that Halder always achieved top marks in his educational qualifications, first in the civilian and then in the military. The numerous evaluations by his superiors were correspondingly positive. Furthermore, it can be said that Halder was not a "solely military man" throughout his life, unlike his predecessor in the Kaiser's era, Generalfeldmarschall Alfred von Schlieffen (1833-1913), who is said to have read war stories to his children before they went to bed. The later Chief of Staff to Hitler was always open to other fields of study: biology, mathematics, history, medicine. Peter, the son of the well-known physician Professor Dr. med. Ferdinand Sauerbruch, testified to this. Knight's Cross recipient Peter Sauerbruch served as an orderly to the Army Chief of Staff (1941/1942) and commented on Halder's thirst for knowledge:

"[...] he eagerly explored all possible fields of knowledge; here, too, he was thorough and sometimes too attached to detail. A lecture by an army doctor on epidemics in the Russian region could inspire him to study medical books in depth. [...]"

Halder joined the Bavarian Army on 14 July 1902 as an officer candidate and was assigned to the 3rd Royal Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment "Prince Leopold" under his father, Major General Maximilian Halder, in Amberg (Upper Bavaria). On 3 November 1902, he was sworn-in. He was promoted to Officer Cadet in January 1903 and, after a year at the Munich Military Academy, to 2nd Lieutenant in March 1904. His father proudly wrote in the family chronicle:

The Halders are one of the oldest Bavarian officer families and the oldest artillery officer family in the kingdom, of which members still exist today – some in unbroken succession, for example my son Franz.

• 31 August with effect from 1 October 1906 to 31 July 1907 Commanded to the Royal Bavarian Artillery and Engineering School (shooting course for field artillery)
• 1 October 1911 to 1914 General Staff Training; completed ahead of schedule as the best student in the class before the outbreak of World War I; an assessment:
  • "Outstandingly gifted, very ambitious; strong character. Confident demeanor; consistently polite. Very well suited for service in higher staffs. Good tactical judgment, a strong understanding of what is practically achievable, and emphatic work ethic and enthusiasm in all areas, both in written and oral presentations [...]"
• 7 April 1912 Military interpreter examination for French with distinction (he also spoke and wrote Italian and English)
  • 1914 extended re-examination, again with distinction
• 2 August 1914 Ordonanzoffizier (orderly officer)
  • Bavarian General Staff, General Staff Officer of the 6th, later 5th Infantry Division and in the Army Group Command Crown Prince Rupprecht

The young officer also impressed during the years of the "Great War." He survived the millions of battles of the First World War, serving in high and higher staffs. The Bavarian was thus spared the horrors of trench warfare. However, as a combatant, the officer was confronted with the effects of a gas attack against the Germans in the Battle of Cambrai (1917), a battle that became famous primarily for the first use of tanks (British). Decades later (2 May 1967), Halder reported on this. According to Halder, he was still under the "indelible, gruesome impressions of the totally gassed area, which a person otherwise truly accustomed to images of war can hardly bear." In conjunction with the award of the Iron Cross First Class, it was stated:

"Captain Halder has participated in all battles of the 3rd Bavarian Army Corps since the beginning of the campaign. In the battles in Lorraine and in the capture of the Meuse Heights, he served as an orderly officer of the General Command. Since 7 January 1915, he has earned great merit through his tireless and outstanding work as the 2nd General Staff Officer of the 6th Bavarian Division. During the fighting in the Bois d'Ailly, he distinguished himself through his reconnaissance in the front lines and, under particularly difficult conditions, as the intelligence officer of the divisional staff among the troops involved in these battles. […]"

His last military position during the war was also of a staff nature, in the Crown Prince Rupprecht Army Group. The monarchist Halder showed special respect and appreciation for the Bavarian Crown Prince, which extended beyond the war. Halder revered him as a representative of the Bavarian royal house and admired his clear, intelligent, and penetrating way of thinking. After the end of the First World War, Halder served as adjutant of the General Staff's headquarters in Munich in 1919. After its dissolution, he was transferred to the Provisional Reichswehr and assigned to the Reichswehr Ministry as a tactical officer. Following the formation of the Reichswehr, he was transferred to Landsberg am Lech in 1923 to the 7th (Bavarian) Artillery Regiment.

• 20 December 1918 Adjutant in the processing departments of the Bavarian General Staff
• 25 March 1919 Bavarian War Ministry (Army Department)
• 1 October 1919 Reichswehr Ministry (Training Department)
• February 1920 Newly sworn-in
• 17 August 1920 General Staff Officer at the Munich City Command
• 1 October 1920: Tactics instructor for junior general staff officers at Military District Command VII (Munich)
• 1 October 1923: Commander of the 4th Battery (High Mountains) Landsberg/Lech of the 7th Artillery Regiment
  • 15 June to 17 July 1925 Training and shooting course (Senne military training area)
• 1 December 1925: Head of General Staff Training at Military District Command VII
  • 3 July to 5 August 1928 7. Kraftfahr-Abteilung (achieved military driver's license)
• 16 March with effect from 1 April 1929: Group Leader II and I of Department T-4
• 29 August with effect from 1 October 1931: Chief of Staff at Military District Command VI (Münster)
• 2 August 1934 Newly sworn-in
• 1 October 1934: Commander of the 7th Artillery Division
• 9 April 1935 Guest at Erich Ludendorff's 70th birthday celebrations
• 15 October 1935: Commander of the 7th Infantry Division, Munich
• 7 November with effect from 12 November 1936: Chief of the Maneuver Staff for the 1937 Wehrmacht Exercises at the Army General Staff
• 12 October 1937: Senior Quartermaster II (Training) at the Army General Staff
• 10 February 1938: Senior Quartermaster I (Operations) at the Army General Staff
• 1 September 1938: Chief of the Army General Staff
• 20 June 1942 Update on the Reichel incident to Hitler and others at Führer Headquarters in East Prussia
• 24 September 1942 Führerreserve (OKH) at disposal of the Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht
• 4 November 1944 Announcement of dismissal proceedings
• 15 January with effect from 31 January 1945 Discharged from active military service; he was to receive his military salary until the end of April 1945.
  • 26 January 1945 Written notification of dismissal handed out to Halder
• 14 October 1946 Officially rehabilitated
• 8 July 1947 In an article in the Süddeutsche Zeitung (Munich), Sigismund Payne Best calls for the release of Franz Halder and Bogislaw von Bonin.
• 7. September 1947 Report by Colonel General Franz Halder for the International Military Tribunal Nuremberg
• 12 to 16 April 1948 Halder as a witness at the Nuremberg Military Tribunal
  • The Trial of the OKW/High Command of the Wehrmacht (Case 12) from 28 November 1947 to 28 October 1948
• 15 to 22 September 1948 Spruchkammerverfahren in Munich (X. Spruchkammer; de-nazification court)
  • Among others, his close friend Colonel Johannes Rohowsky (14 July 1891 – 18 April 1966) as well as Bishop Hans Meiser (Bavaria) testified on his behalf; Halder was acquitted as "not incriminated," incidentally to thunderous applause from the 600 people present in the courtroom.

Putsch and Post-WWII

Franz Halder had contacts with the putschists since 1938, including Erwin von Witzleben and Ludwig Beck, but did not take an active role. After the assassination attempt of 20 July 1944, his conspiratorial connections became known, and he was interned in the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp. On 31 January 1945, he was officially released from the Wehrmacht and transferred to the Dachau camp, where he remained imprisoned until September 1947, even after the camp was captured by the US Army.

According to official history, Halder, his wife, and his eldest daughter were interned in the Flossenbürg concentration camp (one source states as of 28 July 1944). Effective 31 January 1945, Halder was officially discharged from the Wehrmacht and transferred to Dachau concentration camp until shortly before the end of the war. In an "express letter" dated 5 April 1945, SS-Gruppenführer Heinrich Müller announced the transfer of ten special prisoners to Dachau concentration camp. They arrived there shortly thereafter and were later liberated by the Wehrmacht in Niederdorf. These prisoners were Generaloberst Franz Halder, General Georg Thomas, Hjalmar Schacht, Kurt Schuschnigg with his wife and child, General Alexander von Falkenhausen, Sigismund Payne Best, Molotov's nephew Kokorin, and Colonel Bogislaw von Bonin. It remains strange, however, that there is nothing about Halder's internment in the Wehrmacht personnel files; in his discharge papers, where he is still addressed as Generaloberst, the home address Hohenaschau 81, Post Aschau, Chiemgau is given.

US General Leonard T. Gerow appeared at Lake Braies on 7 May 1945 and informed the surprised prisoners that they were to be transported to Naples on 8 and 10 May 1945. All connections to the north had been cut off, so the only route open was south. On 8 May 1945, the Second World War ended with the surrender of the German Wehrmacht. On that Tuesday and the following Thursday, the Americans transported the former special and family prisoners in two groups from Lake Braies to Verona, 250 kilometers away. From there, they were flown by military aircraft 700 kilometers to Naples, where they landed at what was then the Capodichino military airfield. In Naples, they were separated by nationality. The Germans (including the Austrians), Czechoslovaks, Hungarians, and the Swede Carl S. Edquist were taken to the island of Capri, and most of them were quartered in the now-defunct Hotel Eden Paradiso in Anacapri. The "liberation by the Americans" ended there with renewed internment, albeit under similarly pleasant conditions as at Lake Braies. The former prisoners of the other nationalities were returned to military service or allowed to return home. On 13 May 1945, Germans who appeared to be "tainted" by their role in the Third Reich, such as General Alexander von Falkenhausen, Generaloberst Franz Halder, Colonel Bogislaw von Bonin, Prince Philipp of Hesse, Hjalmar Schacht, General Georg Thomas, and Fritz Thyssen, were brought back from Capri to Naples and again imprisoned, this time as POWs under the Allied flag, some for several years. Hjalmar Schacht was even indicted by the Allies at Nuremberg as a major war criminal, but was acquitted in the fall of 1946. The other Germans—men, women, and children—had to continue to endure Capri, unknown why or for how long, and without news of their relatives back home.

Halder was imprisoned by the Americans for two years after the war. After his release, he was Director of the Operational History (German) Section of the Historical Division of the United States Army in Königstein/Taunus and Karlsruhe and oversaw the Foreign Military Studies programme. When it was wound up in 1961, President John F. Kennedy awarded Halder the Meritorious Civilian Service Award, one of America’s highest non-military decorations. On 19 October 1963, he was awarded honorary membership of the Clausewitz Society.

Death

Retired Colonel General Franz Halder died in Bavaria on 2 April 1972 following a heart attack. The funeral took place on 6 April 1972 with military honors by the Bundeswehr. Among the many prominent mourners was Reinhard Gehlen. Halder rests in the village cemetery in Oberhausen near Weilheim in a shared grave with his wife Gertrud, who died exactly on year later on 2 April 1973.

Family

Franz Halder was born in Würzburg as the son of the Protestant Bavarian artillery officer and later Major General Maximilian "Max" Anton Halder (1853–1912) and his wife Emilie Mathilde, née Steinheil. His only sibling, sister Anna Emma (b. 18 July 1883; d. 1918) would later marry Bavarian officer Major Casimir von Keller (1879–1945).

Marriage

On 25 September 1907 in München, 2nd Lieutenant Halder married his fiancée Gertrud Amalie Barbara Anna Erl (11 July 1886 – 2 April 1973), daughter of Catholic Royal Bavarian Major Rudolf Erl. They would have three daughters:

• Irmingard (b. 14 August 1909 in München); ∞ artillery officer, later Colonel (as of 1 October 1944) Georg Seiderer (b. 15 October 1904), DKiG; their first son was Franz Rolf Seiderer (b. 29 July 1933 in Landsberg), banker, later treasurer (appointed 1977) of the European Space Agency (ESA) in Paris
• Ruth Anna Mathilde Gertrud (7 September 1913 in München); ∞ 1934 Lieutenant General Cord von Hobe, 9 children
• Gertrud "Gerti" (b. 27 October 1914 in München); ∞ Lieutenant Colonel Maximilian "Max" Leyherr (b. 18 August 1908 ), officer of the Reichswehr and Wehrmacht, DKiG, commander of the Grenadier-Regiment 689, battle commandant of Aachen until 12 October 1944 (succeeded by Gerhard Wilck) and finally with the 47. Volksgrenadier-Division, promoted to Colonel shortly before his death, ⚔ 23 April 1945 in southwest Germany.

Promotions

• 14 July 1902 Fahnenjunker (Officer Candidate)
• 29 January 1903 Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
• 9 March 1904 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
• 7 March 1912 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
• 9 August 1915 Hauptmann (Captain)
  • 26 September 1919 received Patent from 8 November 1914
• 17 March 1924 Major with effect from 1 March 1924 and Patent from 1 April 1923
• 1 February 1929 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
• 1 December 1931 Oberst (Colonel)
• 1 October 1934 Generalmajor (Major General)
• 2 August 1936 Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) with effect from 1 August 1936
• 10 February 1938 General der Artillerie (General of the Artillery) with effect from 1 February 1938
• 19 July 1940 Generaloberst

Awards, decorations and honours

• Prinz-Regent-Luitpold Jubiläums-Medaille on 13 October 1905
• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 14 September 1914
  • 1st Class on 22 December 1915
• Military Merit Order (Bavaria), 4th Class with Swords (BMV4⚔/BM4⚔) on 15 December 1914 (returned 1919)
• Saxon Albert Order (Albrechts-Orden), Knight 1st Class with Swords (SA3a⚔) on 8 April 1917
• Military Merit Cross (Austria-Hungary), 3rd Class with the War Decoration (ÖM3K) on 1 February 1918
• House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross with Swords (HOH3⚔) on 2 October 1918
• Bavarian Military Merit Order, 4th Class with Swords and Crown (BMV4⚔mKr/BM4⚔mKr) on 8 March 1919 (the former decoration from 1914 had to be returned)
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords on 15 December 1934
• Hungarian World War Commemorative Medal (Ungarische Kriegs-Erinnerungs-Medaille) with Swords
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th to 1st Class on 2 October 1936
  • On 14 July 1942, after 40 years of service, he was entitled to receive the special class with oak leaves (Sonderklasse mit Eichenlaub), but it is not documented whether this happened because of the suspension of the award during the war.
• Hungarian Order of Merit, 1st Class (Grand Cross) with Swords
  • Grand Cross on 20 August 1938 (permission to accept and wear on 14 December with effect from 6 December 1938)
  • Swords on 31 May 1941
• Anschluss Medal on 21 November 1938
• German Red Cross Decoration, Star of the Medal of Honor (Stern des Ehrenzeichens des Deutschen Roten Kreuzes) on 19 Mai 1939
  • some sources state that it would instead be the Decoration of Honour for German People's Care (Ehrenzeichen für deutsche Volkspflege), 1st Class (four-pointed breast star as a special class)
• Sudetenland Medal with the “Prague Castle” clasp on 22 May 1939
• Order of the Yugoslav Crown, Grand Cross on 1 June 1939 (permission to accept and wear on 25 July 1939)
• Order of the White Rose of Finland, Grand Cross on 3 July 1939 (permission to accept and wear on 25 July 1939)
  • he was in Finland from 29 June to 3 July 1939 and was awarded the White Rose by Prime Minister Aimo Kaarlo Cajander.
• Repetition Clasp 1939 to the Iron Cross 1914, 2nd and 1st Class
• Knights Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 October 1939 as General of Artillery and Chief of the Army General Staff
• Medal to Commemorate the Homecoming of the Memelland on 21 November 1939
• Order of the Crown of Italy, Grand Cross with Grand Ribbon on 27 August 1940
• Imperial Order of the Yoke and Arrows, Grand Cross on 26 December 1940
• Spanish Cross of Military Merit, IV. Class (Grand Cross) with White Decoration (con distintivo blanco) on 1 January 1941
• Finish Order of the Cross of Liberty, 1st Class with Swords, Star and Oak Leaves on 25 March 1941 (one alternative source states 25 March 1942)
• Bulgarian Order of Saint Alexander, I. Grade (Grand Cross) with Swords on 15 July 1941
• Romanian Order of Michael the Brave, 3rd and 2nd Class on 14 October 1941
• Slovakian War Victory Cross (Slowakisches Kriegssiegerkreuz), 1st Class with Star on 16 January 1942
• Japanese Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1st Class on 12 August 1943 (one alternative source states 26 September 1942)

Honours

• Honorary member of the Clausewitz Society
• Meritorious Civilian Service Award in November 1961 as Director of the Operational History (German) Section of the Historical Division of the United States Army
  • President John F. Kennedy awarded Halder the Meritorious Civilian Service Award, one of America’s highest non-military decorations. The Meritorious Civilian Service Award is the second highest Department of the Army honorary award, and may be granted by the Secretary of the Army or a major commander. Nominees for this award must have established a pattern of excellence, normally demonstrated by the receipt of lower level awards.

Gallery

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Writings

• Das Deutsche Heer von 1920–1945, 1945 for the Nuremberg show trials
  • The treatise was written by Generals Walther von Brauchitsch (1938–1941 Commander-in-Chief of the Army), Erich von Manstein (Commander-in-Chief of the 11th Army and Army Group South), Franz Halder (1938–1942 Chief of the Army General Staff), Walter Warlimont (1938–1944 Deputy Chief of the Wehrmacht General Staff) and Siegfried Westphal (Chief of Staff of the Commander-in-Chief West).
• Position of a "Chief of the General Staff" of higher German command authorities in the war 1939–1945, 1947
• Hitler als Feldherr, Münchener Dom-Verlag, München 1949
• Kriegstagebuch. Tägliche Aufzeichnungen des Chefs des Generalstabes des Heeres 1939–1942, 3 Volumes, Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1962–1964
  • Volume 1: Vom Polenfeldzug bis zum Ende der Westoffensive. 14. August 1939–30. Juni 1940, 1962
  • Volume 2: Von der geplanten Landung in England bis zum Beginn des Ostfeldzuges. 1. Juli 1940–21. Juni 1941, 1963
  • Volume 3: Der Rußlandfeldzug bis zum Marsch auf Stalingrad. 22. Juni 1941–24. September 1942, 1964

Further reading

• Heidemarie Gräfin von Schall-Riaucour (granddaughter): Aufstand und Gehorsam. Offizierstum und Generalstab im Umbruch. Leben und Wirken von Generaloberst Franz Halder. Generalstabschef 1938–1942, Wiesbaden 1972
  • Generaloberst Franz Halder – Generalstabschef 1938–1942, 2006

Sources

• Federal Archives of Germany (Bundesarchiv) BArch PERS 6/28 and PERS 6/299779