Werner von Fritsch

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Werner Freiherr von Fritsch

From left to right: Generals Gerd von Rundstedt, Werner von Fritsch and Werner von Blomberg at the Unter den Linden memorial for the fallen in Berlin 1934
Supreme Commander of the Army
In office
1 June 1935 – 4 February 1938
Chancellor Adolf Hitler
Preceded by Office established
Succeeded by Walther von Brauchitsch
5th Reichswehr Chief of the German Army Command
In office
1 February 1934 – 1 June 1935
President Paul von Hindenburg
Adolf Hitler
Chancellor Adolf Hitler
Preceded by Kurt Freiherr von Hammerstein-Equord
Succeeded by Himself as Commander-in-Chief of the German Army
Born 4 August 1880(1880-08-04)
Benrath, Landkreis Düsseldorf, Rhine Province, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Died ⚔ 22 September 1939 (aged 59)
Warsaw, Poland
Resting place Invalids' Cemetery
(Invalidenfriedhof)
Berlin, Germany
Military service
Allegiance  German Empire
 Weimar Republic
 National Socialist Germany
Service/branch War and service flag of Prussia (1895–1918).png Prussian Army
Iron Cross of the Luftstreitkräfte.png Imperial German Army
Freikorps Flag.jpg Freikorps
War Ensign of Germany (1921–1933).png Reichswehr
Balkenkreuz.jpg Heer
Years of service 1898–1939
Rank Generaloberst
Commands 1st Cavalry Division
3rd Infantry Division
Supreme Commander of the Army
Battles/wars World War I
World War II
Awards Order of the Red Eagle
Iron Cross
Golden Party Badge

Thomas Ludwig Werner Freiherr von Fritsch (4 August 1880 – 22 September 1939) was a German officer of the Prussian Army, the Imperial German Army, the Freikorps, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally Generaloberst in World War II.

Life

General Curt Liebmann (back turned) reporting to Adolf Hitler, also listening are Werner von Fritsch and Werner von Blomberg (de)
German General Baron Werner von Fritsch.jpg

Werner was born in 1880 in Benrath Castle near Düsseldorf as the son of the future Lieutenant General Georg Ludwig Freiherr von Fritsch (1849–1920) and his wife Adelheid Elisabeth Friederike Karoline, née von Bodelwickelh (1856–1941). His upbringing was shaped by his strict father, who placed great value on love of country, loyalty to duty, reliability, honor and social etiquette. After his Abitur, he joined the Prussian field artillery.

In 1911, he was appointed to the German General Staff, where he served during World War I. He was promoted to be a member of the German High Command in the Weimar Republic. A supporter of the National Socialists he became Commander-in-Chief of the German Army from February 1934 until February 1938 when he resigned due to a false accusation of homosexuality. Just over a year later, before the outbreak of World War II, Freiherr von Fritsch was recalled to service as Colonel-in-chief of the 12th Artillery Regiment. A month before the start of the Second World War, Fritsch declared:

“Final victory is only possible, as the Führer emphasized, if the entire people is internally united and stands firm, ready to invest everything.”

Military career (chronology

  • Joined the Großherzoglich Hessisches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 25 (Großherzogliches Artilleriekorps) in Darmstadt (21 Sep 1898)
  • Detached to Artillery and Engineer School (01 Oct 1902-Oct 1903)
  • Adjutant of the I. Battalion (I. Abteilung) of the 25th Field-Artillery-Regiment (Oct 1903-22 Mar 1913)
  • Detached to the Prussian War Academy (01 Oct 1907-20 Jul 1910)
    • Here he took part in Wilhelm Groener's individual courses and impressed above all with excellent achievements in military history and tactics. He was one of the first in his class to take the final exam on 20 July 1910.
  • Detached / Commanded (kommandiert) to the Great General Staff (Großer Generalstab) in Berlin (20 Mar 1911-01 Apr 1911)
  • Transferred (versetzt) into the Great General Staff (22 Mar 1913-1914)
    • From April 1913 to March 1914 he was a member of the War History Department II of the General Staff, which dealt with Frederick the Great's wars, before he was transferred to the deployment battalion and was thus involved in the German mobilization in August 1914.
  • In the General-Staff of the 1st Guards-Infantry-Division (1. Garde-Division) as well as 47. Reserve-Division; In the General-Staff of the 4th and 10th Army; In the General-Staff of the Commanding General of the Luftstreitkräfte (Kogenluft Ernst von Hoeppner); Chief of Operations (Ia) in the General-Staff of the VI. Reserve-Corps (1914-1918)
  • Chief of Operations (Ia) of the General-Command Border-Protection North (15 Jan 1919-01 Oct 1919)
    • In December 1918, the 8th Army had broken away from the World War front and was only partially present in the Livonia Governorate. In January 1919 the VI. Reserve corps deployed to protect the borders of East Prussia. The corps served at the Army High Command North (AOK Nord) of the Grenzschutz Ost (“Border Guard East”) in Königsberg later Bartenstein under the leadership of Commanding General Ferdinand von Quast. At the beginning of February 1919, the VI. Reserve-Corps took over command in Courland. The commanding general, Major General Rüdiger von der Goltz, was responsible for the Libau Governorate, the Baltic State Army (de), the Iron Division de, the incoming 1st Guards Reserve Division and various smaller Freikorps.
  • In the Staff of Group-Command III (01 Oct 1919-01 Apr 1920)
  • Advisor in the Reichswehr Ministry or RWM (01 Apr 1920-01 Mar 1922)
  • Commander of the II. Battalion of the 5th Artillery-Regiment (01 Mar 1922-01 Apr 1924)
  • Chief of the General Staff of the 1st Division (01 Apr 1924-01 Feb 1926)
  • Department-Director in the RWM/T1 (01 Feb 1926-01 Nov 1928)
  • Commander of the 2nd Artillery-Regiment (01 Nov 1928-01 Mar 1930)
  • Artillery-Leader II, Stettin (01 Mar 1930-01 Oct 1931)
  • Commander of the 1st Cavalry-Division (01 Oct 1931-01 Oct 1932)
  • Commander of the 3rd Division and Commander in Military-District III as successor of Gerd von Rundstedt (01 Oct 1932-01 Feb 1934)
  • Chief of the German Army Command (01 Jan 1934-01 Jun 1935)
  • Commander-in-Chief of the Army (01 Jun 1935-28 Jan 1938)
  • Granted Leave (28 Jan 1938-04 Feb 1938)
  • Retired (04 Feb 1938)
  • Volunteer In the Field with the 12th Artillery-Regiment (01 Sep 1939-22 Sep 1939)

Death

He fell during the battle in Poland early in the war; he was only the second German General to perish in that conflict, first was SS-Brigadeführer and Major General of the Police Wilhelm Fritz von Roettig. The result of the investigation was that his thigh had been torn apart by a small stone that had been catapulted from a pile of stones into which a machine gun had fired. When another officer wanted to tie off his main artery, he just took off his monocle and said: “Oh, don’t bother.” Afterwards he died.

“On Friday, 22 September 1939, Generaloberst Werner Freiherr von Fritsch, the former commander-in-chief of the army, died during a raid on the wall of the slaughterhouse between Zacisze and Zabki by a ricochet from a Polish machine gun near Warsaw. The legend that later circulated that Freiherr von Fritsch sought death contradicts the actual facts.”

In an official report, his adjutant, 2nd Lieutenant of the Reserve Rosenhagen, describes his superior's last seconds:

“It was now 9:40 a.m. on 22 September 1939. Our artillery was only firing a little. I had the impression that the attack would not make any progress here and therefore suggested that the Generaloberst go back, on the grounds that the Generaloberst wanted to go to the army senior command in Ortelsburg. The Generaloberst agreed and went back initially crawling and then in a stooped position. West of Pw. Lewinow we jumped over the stone dam that Pw. Lewinow leads to Zacesce in a west-southwest direction. Between the houses behind the dam we again received machine gun and rifle fire from behind our lines. Assuming they were our own shooters, I waved, but it was the enemy. When the fire didn't stop, we walked upright to the ditch and moved east in the southern ditch. The Generaloberst received a shot in the left thigh, which tore his artery. He collapsed immediately. I opened his tunic and pants and took off his suspenders to tie off his thighs. Generaloberst said: 'Oh, don’t bother.' Then he lost consciousness and died before I got his suspenders off. About a minute passed between the wound and his death.”[1]

Burial

On the evening of 25 September 1939, the coffin was placed on the carriage of a 10.5 cm light field howitzer 18 towed by a special motor vehicle 11 or Sd.Kfz. 11 (half-track vehicle) transferred from the Stettiner train station to the OKH (Army High Command) in the Bendlerblock (Tirpitzufer). Hitler had ordered a state ceremony in Berlin for 26 September 1939. In the morning, the coffin of the fallen officer was in the Great Hall of the Reich War Ministry, where the family, Eitel Friedrich von Prussia, August von Mackensen, Erich Raeder and the department heads were able to say goodbye in peace. Lieutenant Colonel i. G. Helmuth Groscurth reported in his diary how dignified and profound this was. The Generaloberst was then taken to the Neue Wache, the memorial for the fallen soldiers on Unter den Linden. Thousands of Berliners waited in the pouring rain. After the laying in state and the speeches, the coffin was buried in the Invalids' Cemetery, and many followed there on foot. The funeral speech was given by the Protestant field bishop Franz Dohrmann. Music was played, Generalfeldmarschall von Mackensen recited the Lord's Prayer at the open grave, and at the end the tattoo.

“25. September 1939: The coffin containing the remains of Generaloberst Freiherr von Fritsch, who died off Warsaw, arrives at the Stettiner train station in Berlin in the evening. He is transferred in a solemn, military funeral procession by the Army High Command on the banks of the Tirpit. September 26, 1939: In Berlin, the ceremonial state ceremony for Colonel General Freiherr von Fritsch, who fell before Warsaw, took place at the Unter den Linden memorial. Generalfeldmarschall Göring places a laurel wreath on the coffin on behalf of the Führer; The Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Generaloberst von Brauchitsch, gives the commemorative speech.”[2]

Promotions

Staatsakt für Werner Freiherr von Fritsch, 26. September 1939 (2).png
  • 21 September 1898 Fahnenjunker (Officer Candidate)
  • 22 May 1899 Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
  • 27 January 1900 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
  • 18 October 1909 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
  • 22 March 1913 Hauptmann (Captain)
  • 16 September 1917 Major
  • 15 November 1922 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
  • 1 March 1927 Oberst (Colonel)
  • 1 November 1930 Generalmajor (Major General)
  • 1 June 1932 Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General)
  • 1 February 1934 General der Artillerie (General of the Artillery)
  • 20 April 1936 Generaloberst

Awards, decorations and honours

Honours

  • Regimentschef (Colonel-in-Chief) of the Artillerie-Regiment 12 of the Wehrmacht on 15 June 1938
  • In memory of the German officer, some barracks bear the name "Fritsch", including the former "Fritsch barracks" in Koblenz.

References

  1. ↑ DER SPIEGEL 34/1948 from 21. August 1948, p. 18
  2. ↑ Unser Kampf in Polen
  3. ↑ Rangliste der Königlich Preußischen Armee, 1913, p. 23
  4. ↑ Rangliste des Deutschen Reichsheeres, 1931, p. 107
  5. ↑ Klaus D. Patzwall: Das Goldene Parteiabzeichen und seine Verleihungen ehrenhalber 1934-1944, Studien der Geschichte der Auszeichnungen, Volume 4, Norderstedt 2004
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