Georg Brandt

Georg Brandt
Birth name	Julius Georg Brandt
Birth date	24 August 1876(1876-08-24)
Place of birth	Woltersdorf, Kreis Jerichow, Province of Saxony, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	21 April 1945 (aged 68)
Place of death	Berlin, German Reich
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Prussian Army Imperial German Army Reichswehr Heer
Years of service	1894–1931 1939–1942
Rank	General der Kavallerie (General of the Cavalry)
Battles/wars	Boxer Rebellion (de) World War I World War II
Awards	Iron Cross House Order of Hohenzollern
Relations	∞ 1905 Erna Schreiber

Julius Georg Brandt (1876–1945) was a German officer of the Prussian Army, the Imperial German Army, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally General of the Cavalry in World War II.

Military career (chronology)

• Fahnenjunker in the 15th Dragoon-Regiment / 3. Schlesisches Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 15 (24 Sep 1894-01 Dec 1898)
• Transferred to the Horse Jäger Squadron of the XV. Army-Corps / Jäger-Schwadron zu Pferde beim XV. Armeekorps (01 Dec 1898-09 Jul 1900)
• Transferred into the East Asian Mounted Regiment / Ostasiatisches Reiter-Regiment (09 Jul 1900-06 Jun 1901)
• Transferred to the East Asian Horse Jäger Squadron (06 Jun 1901-16 Feb 1904)
• Discharged to the Reserve-Officer-Corps of the 15th Dragoon-Regiment (16 Feb 1904)
• Reactivated (18 Aug 1904)
• Employed again by the 15th Dragoon-Regiment (18 Aug 1904-01 Sep 1909)
• Detached to the War-Academy / Königlich Preußische Kriegsakademie (01 Oct 1905-21 Jul 1908)
• Detached to the Grand General Staff / Großer Generalstab in Berlin (01 Apr 1909-19 Jul 1911)
• Squadron-Chief in the 11th Dragoon-Regiment / Eskadronchef im Pommerschen Dragoner-Regiment „von Wedel“ Nr. 11 (19 Jul 1911-09 May 1915)
• Transferred into the General-Staff of the Field Army / Generalstab des Feldheeres (09 May 1915-01 Sep 1915)
• Transferred into the General-Staff of the 9th Cavalry-Division / 9. Kavallerie-Division (01 Sep 1915-1916)
• With the General-Staff of the Cavalry-Corps von Schmettow (1916-1918)
• Chief of the General Staff of the Special-Purpose-General-Command 67 / Generalstab des Generalkommandos z. b. V. Nr. 67 (1918-12 Aug 1919)
• Commander of the 11th Dragoon-Regiment (12 Aug 1919-01 Oct 1919)
• Leader of the 20th Cavalry-Regiment / Reichswehr-Kavallerie-Regiments 20 der Reichswehr-Brigade 20 (01 Oct 1919-15 Apr 1920)
• With the Staff of the 2nd Mounted-Regiment / Reiter-Regiment 2 (15 Apr 1920-10 Sep 1921)
• Chief of Staff of the Inspection of Cavalry / Chef des Stabes der Inspektion der Kavallerie (10 Sep 1921-01 Apr 1925)
• Commander of the 3rd Mounted-Regiment / 3. (Preußisches) Reiter-Regiment (01 Apr 1925-01 Oct 1928)
• With the Staff of Group-Command 1 / Gruppenkommando 1 in Berlin (01 Oct 1928-01 Feb 1929)
• Commander of the 1st Cavalry-Division / 1. Kavallerie-Division in Frankfurt an der Oder (01 Feb 1929-01 Dec 1929)
• Inspector of Cavalry / Inspekteur der Inspektion der Kavallerie (01 Dec 1929-31 Jan 1931)
• Retired from the Reichswehr (31 Jan 1931)
• Placed to Disposal (Army) (15 Aug 1939)
• Commanding General of Grenzschutz-Abschnitts-Kommando 3 / Higher Command XXXIII (15 Aug 1939-01 May 1942); Battle of France
  • Generalmajor Karl Sauter, responsible for the French and British POW camps, was subordinated to the Höheres Kommando z. b. V. XXXIII
• Führer-Reserve (01 May 1942-31 Aug 1942)
• Retired (31 Aug 1942)

Death

General der Kavallerie a. D. Brandt had lost his wife and his beloved son Heinz, the Red Army was murdering and raping through the Reich. During the Battle of Berlin, he decided to determine his own fate and chose suicide on 21 April 1945.

Family

Georg was the son of the land and manor owner Albert Julius Brandt (also on the board of the Marienstuhl Egeln sugar factory). His older sister Catharina "Käthe" Maria Elisabeth Brandt (b. 30 December 1869 in Woltersdorf; b. 25 February 1947 in Sondershausen) was married to the administrative lawyer and politician Julius Bertram Max Schwing (b. 12 November 1857 in Karnitz; d. 17 May 1909 in Sondershausen).

Marriage

Lieutenant Brandt of the 3rd Silesian Dragoon Regiment No. 15 married on 19 September 1905 in Haguenau/Rhineland his fiancée Erna Schreiber (b. 21 February 1886), daughter of the district president Arthur Schreiber. Their children were Dr. Ilse Brandt, Dr. Horst Brand and their oldest, the officer Heinz Arthur Brandt, German Show Jumping Champion and in 1936 a member of the German gold medal-winning team at the Berlin Olympics.

Major-General Heinz Brandt

In 1932, Heinz Brandt was the German Show Jumping Champion and in 1936 was a member of the German gold medal-winning team at the Berlin Olympics. In the tournament's individual competition finished equal 16th with 20.00 points. Brandt was a professional soldier from 1925 and had a brilliant career in the Deutsche Wehrmacht. He attended a course at the cavalry school in Hanover from 1927-28 and was commissioned a lieutenant. In 1939 he was commanded to the Generalstab des Heeres. In May 1943, Brandt was promoted to Oberst (Colonel).

On 20 July 1944, Brandt took part in a briefing meeting at Wolfsschanze (Wolf’s Lair), during which Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg attempted to assassinate the Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler by placing a bomb under the table. Brandt pushed the briefcase containing the bomb with his foot behind a pedestal so he could get a better look at the deployed location map. Hitler was only slightly injured in the explosion, but Brandt was seriously injured and lost one leg. He died the next day from his wounds in a hospital in Rastenburg. Posthumously, he was promoted on 22 July 1944 to the rank of Major-General. He left behind his wife Olga Helene Hedwig Ursula, née Mehring (b. 26 September 1910 in Hannover; ∞ 11 February 1933), and son Peter.

Promotions

• Fahnenjunker / Officer Candidate (24 September 1894)
• Fähnrich / Officer Cadet (18 June 1895)
• Sekondeleutnant / 2nd Lieutenant (2 June 1896)
• Oberleutnant / 1st Lieutenant (18 August 1906)
• Rittmeister (20 March 1911)
• Major (22 March 1916)
• Oberstleutnant / Lieutenant Colonel (1 October 1921 with rank seniority or Rangdienstalter from 1 October 1920)
• Oberst / Colonel (1 April 1925)
• Generalmajor (1 February 1929)
• Generalleutnant (1 February 1930)
• Charakter als General der Kavallerie z. V. (1 September 1940 with rank seniority or Rangdienstalter from 1 January 1939)
• General der Kavallerie z. V. (1 December 1940)

Awards and decorations

• Prussian Centenary Medal 1897 (Zentenarmedaille) on 22 March 1897
• China Commemorative Medal (China-Denkmünze) for combatants
• Prussian Order of the Crown (Preußischer Kronenorden), 4th Class with Swords
• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
• Friedrich-August-Kreuz, 2nd and 1st Class (OFA1/OK1)
• Military Merit Cross (Austria-Hungary), 3rd Class with the War Decoration (ÖM3K)
• House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross with Swords (HOH3⚔)
• Prussian Long Service Cross for 25 years (Königlich Preußisches Dienstauszeichnungskreuz)
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords (HOH3⚔)
• Repetition Clasp 1939 to the Iron Cross 1914, 2nd and 1st Class
  • 1st Class on 16 June 1940