Günther von Drabich-Waechter

Günther von Drabich-Waechter
Adjutant Major Günther von Drabich-Waechter (right) with General Georg Carl Wilhelm Friedrich von Küchler (18. Armee) during the Western Campaign
Birth name	Günther Paul Konrad Hans Rudolf von Drabich-Waechter
Birth date	18 July 1892(1892-07-18)
Place of birth	Potsdam near Berlin, Province of Brandenburg, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	23 February 1966 (aged 73)
Place of death	Baden-Baden, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Prussian Army Imperial German Army Reichswehr Heer
Rank	Colonel
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Iron Cross German Cross in Silver
Relations	∞ 1916 Vally von Hünerbein

Günther Paul Konrad Hans Rudolf von Drabich-Waechter (18 July 1892 – 23 February 1966) was a German officer of the Prussian Army, the Imperial German Army, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally Colonel in World War II.

Military career (chronology)

Günther von Drabich-Waechter (standing, third from left) in 1910, Gymnasium Carolinum in Neustrelitz, celebrating Sedantag, a semi-official memorial holiday in the German Empire celebrated on the second day of September to commemorate the victory in the 1870 Battle of Sedan (Franco-German War).

Wounded on 22 August 1914

• 12 March 1912 Joined the Grenadier-Regiment „König Wilhelm I.“ (2. Westpreußisches) Nr. 7 in Liegnitz
  • shortly after achieving his Abitur at the Gymnasium Carolinum in Neustrelitz
• 22 August 1914 Wounded during the Battle of Virton, military hospital
• 10 December 1914 Replacement Battalion/Grenadier-Regiment „König Wilhelm I.“ (2. Westpreußisches) Nr. 7
• 9 April 1915 Personal adjutant of Lieutenant Colonel Oskar Prinz von Preußen (1888–1958)
• 13 August 1919 Discharged from the preliminary Reichswehr
• 1 June 1934 Rejoined the Reichswehr with the Kraftfahrlehrkommando Ohrdruf (code name for the later Panzer-Regiment 2)
• 1 October 1934 Officer in the I. Battalion/Panzer-Regiment 2
  • 20 October 1935 Regiment transferred from Ohrdruf to Eisenach
• 6 October 1936 Commander of the 1st Company/Panzer-Regiment 2
• 12 October 1937 Commander of the II. Battalion/Panzer-Regiment 15 in Sagan
  • Poland Campaign
• 18 December 1939 Adjutant of the 18. Armee under Georg Carl Wilhelm Friedrich von Küchler
  • Western Campaign
  • Operation Barbarossa
• 19 January 1942 Adjutant of the Army Group North (Heeresgruppe Nord)
  • 9 June 1944 severly wounded as adjutant and leader of a Panzergruppe
• 10 June 1944 Führerreserve OKH (VIII)
  • because no further service is documented, it can be carefully assumed, he never returned to active duty.

Family

Descent

Günther was the grandson of Colonel Viktor Ludwig Paul Drabich, as of 4 August 1860 von Drabich-Waechter, as well as son of Lieutenant General Paul Friedrich Wilhelm von Drabich-Waechter, Knight of Honour Johanniter-Orden since 27 February 1911, and his wife (∞ 6 October 1888) Martha Luise, née von Studt (1869–1926), daughter of Real Privy Councilor and Exzellenz Dr. h. c. mult. Konrad Heinrich Gustav von Studt (1838–1921), veteran of the wars of 1864 (Dano-German War), of 1866 and of 1870/71 as reserve officer. Günther had two brothers:

• Viktor Paul Konrad Gustav Louis [Ludwig] (1889–1944), Lieutenant General of the Wehrmacht
• Adolf Friedrich Paul Konrad (b. 27 September 1907 in Neustrelitz), Colonel in General Staff (i. G.) of the Wehrmacht, Chief of the General Staff of the XXXXII Army Corps, German Cross in Gold (awarded on 31 January 1944), missing in action on January 1945, actually POW, murdered by the Russians (another source states died of wounds) at the Sandomierz-Baranów bridgehead on the western bank of the Vistula on 29 January or 23 February 1945. Another source, however, reports that he was KIA in close combat on 18 January 1945, still another reports, he was shot together with General of the Infantry Hermann Adolf Wilhelm Philipp Recknagel by partisans between Petrikau and Tomaszów Mazowiecki on 23 January 1945.
  • ∞ Schmerwitz 29 December 1933 Christfriede Brandt von Lindau; son Hubertus (b. 15 May 1936)

Marriage

On 12 September 1916 in Leipe, 2nd Lieutenant von Drabich-Waechter married his fiancée Vally Helene von Hünerbein (b. 15 December 1893 in Conradswaldau, Kreis Schönau) with whom he had three children:

• Willfried Günther Paul (b. 6 July 1917 in Leipe; ⚔ 12 September 1939 in Poland), 2nd Lieutenant in the 5th Company/Panzer-Regiment 2 (Eisenach)
• Vally Martha Luise (b. 23 July 1921 in Hohenbühl near Glattbrugg)
• Günther Conrad Edwin Paul (b. 22 January 1928 in Hohenbühl near Glattbrugg)
  • He worked in the wine industry for Karin Diehl in the Palatinate. He then moved relatively quickly to Schenk and its subsidiary ("Kehler Lagergesellschaft") and practically managed one of the first German direct sales companies for wine. He offered special wine offers in a beautifully designed, informative catalog - long before other direct mail-order providers started offering similar products. Günther founded "Tastevin Weinhandelsgesellschaft mbH" on 6 October 1989. In the first few years, it served as a platform for his numerous consulting activities in and around the wine industry. Today, it sees itself as a wine expert for fine wines from international cellars for the best addresses. In 1998, Günther von Drabich-Waechter received active support when his daughter Pia joined the company. Since his death in 2008, Pia von Drabich-Waechter (b. 1969 in Baden-Baden) has run the family business alone.

Promotions

• 12.3.1912 Fahnenjunker (Officer Candidate)
• 8.8.1913 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant) with Patent from 19.8.1911
• 5.10.1916 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)

Reichswehr

• 1.6.1934 Hauptmann (Captain) with Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1.4.1933

Wehrmacht

• 18.1.1937 Major with Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1.1.1937
• 17.5.1940 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) with Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1.6.1940
• 18.1.1942 Oberst (Colonel) with Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1.2.1942

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
• Wound Badge (1918) in Black

Between wars

• Knight of Honour (Ehrenritter) of the Johanniter-Orden
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th Class

WWII

• Repetition Clasp 1939 to the Iron Cross 1914, 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 16 September 1939
  • 1st Class on 4 October 1939
• War Merit Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class with Swords
  • 1st Class on 22 January 1942
• Winter Battle in the East 1941–42 Medal on 1 August 1942
• German Cross in Silver on 12 May 1944
• Wound Badge (1939) in Silver as Colonel, adjutant of the Army Group North and leader of a Panzer Group