Adolf Bruno Heinrich Ernst Heusinger (4 August 1897 – 30 November 1982) was a German military officer whose career spanned the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

, the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a Constitutional republic, constitutional federal republic for the first time in ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...

. He joined the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

as a volunteer in 1915 and later became a professional soldier. He served as the Operations Chief within the general staff of the High Command of the German Army in the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

from 1938 to 1944. He was then appointed acting Chief of the General Staff for two weeks in 1944 following

Kurt Zeitzler Kurt Zeitzler (9 June 1895 – 25 September 1963) was a Chief of the Army General Staff in the '' Wehrmacht'' of Nazi Germany during World War II. Zeitzler was almost exclusively a staff officer, serving as chief of staff in a corps, army, and ...

's resignation. Heusinger was later appointed head of the military

cartography Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an i ...

office when the war ended. He later became a

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

for

and served as

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals ...

of the West German military from 1957 to 1961 as well as Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 1961 to 1964.

Early life and career

Heusinger was born in

Holzminden Holzminden (; nds, Holtsminne) is a town in southern Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Holzminden. It is located on the river Weser, which at this point forms the border with the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. His ...

, in the

Duchy of Brunswick The Duchy of Brunswick (german: Herzogtum Braunschweig) was a historical German state. Its capital was the city of Brunswick (). It was established as the successor state of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel by the Congress of Vienna ...

. He entered the

Prussian Army The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power. The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...

in 1915 and became an officer in 1917. After the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Heusinger was retained in the

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' () was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first years of the Third Reich. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshape ...

of the

. In 1931, Heusinger was assigned to the operations staff of the Troop Office ('' Truppenamt'') in the Ministry of the Reichswehr, the German Army's covert

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military ...

that circumvented the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...

, which forbade the institution. In August 1937, Heusinger was assigned to the Operations Staff of the re-established Army General Staff of

. He served there, was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 20 March 1939 and remained in that position until 15 October 1940, when he became its chief.

Second World War

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B24543, Hauptquartier Heeresgruppe Süd, Lagebesprechung

With the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, the German Army High Command (the

OKH The (; abbreviated OKH) was the high command of the Army of Nazi Germany. It was founded in 1935 as part of Adolf Hitler's rearmament of Germany. OKH was ''de facto'' the most important unit within the German war planning until the defeat at ...

) assumed its wartime organisation. Heusinger accompanied the field staff and assisted in the planning of operations for the

invasions of Poland An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity aggressively enter territory (country subdivision), territory owned by another such entity, gen ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

, and France and the Low Countries. He was promoted to colonel on 1 August 1940 and became chief of the ''Operationsabteilung'' in October 1940, which made him number three in the army's planning hierarchy, after the Chief of the General Staff, General

Franz Halder Franz Halder (30 June 1884 – 2 April 1972) was a German general and the chief of staff of the Army High Command (OKH) in Nazi Germany from 1938 until September 1942. During World War II, he directed the planning and implementation of Operati ...

, and the Deputy Chief of the General Staff/Chief Quartermaster, General

Friedrich Paulus Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus (23 September 1890 – 1 February 1957) was a German field marshal during World War II who is best known for commanding the 6th Army during the Battle of Stalingrad (August 1942 to February 1943). The battle ende ...

. After the

invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named afte ...

in June 1941, the OKH became responsible primarily for planning operations in that theatre, and the Armed Forces High Command ('' Oberkommando der Wehrmacht'', or OKW) was responsible for other theatres. Halder was replaced as Chief of the General Staff in September 1942 by General

. Heusinger remained chief of the ''Operationsabteilung'' and was promoted to

Generalleutnant is the Germanic variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries. Austria Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO rank of ...

on 1 January 1943. In June 1944, Zeitzler suffered a nervous breakdown and abandoned his post, and on 10 June, Heusinger temporarily assumed his office as Chief of the General Staff of the Army. In this capacity, he attended the meeting at Hitler's

Wolf's Lair The ''Wolf's Lair'' (german: Wolfsschanze; pl, Wilczy Szaniec) served as Adolf Hitler's first Eastern Front military headquarters in World War II. The headquarters was located in the Masurian woods, near the small village of Görlitz in Ost ...

on 20 July 1944, and he was standing next to Hitler when the bomb exploded that had been planted by

Claus von Stauffenberg Colonel Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (; 15 November 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German army officer best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair. Despite ...

. Heusinger was hospitalised for his injuries in the explosion but was later arrested and interrogated by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

to determine his role, if any, in the

20 July plot On 20 July 1944, Claus von Stauffenberg and other conspirators attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Führer of Nazi Germany, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia, now Kętrzyn, in present-day Poland. The ...

. Although there was evidence that Heusinger had contacts with many of the conspirators, like for all other high-ranking Nazi military leaders, there was no evidence to connect him to the plot, and he was released in October 1944. According to Heusinger's own autobiography, he published an essay ("Denkschrift"), which Hitler received very positively. Heusinger made available all information that he had on the conspirators, who had plotted against the Führer. He reaffirmed that he has not participated in the assassination plot since he still felt an obligation to fulfil his duty as a soldier of the German Reich despite his personal view that the war had been lost. After his release, he was placed into the Führerreserve, a reserve army of high-ranking Nazi military leaders awaiting assignments, and was not assigned to another position until 25 March 1945, when he was made chief of armed forces mapping department (''Chef Wehrmacht-Kartenwesen''). He was later taken prisoner by the Western Allies in May 1945.

Postwar

An internee from 1945 to 1947, Heusinger testified during the

Nuremberg Trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945 ...

. In 1950, he became an advisor on military matters to

Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman who served as the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of the Christian Dem ...

, the first Chancellor of West Germany. He served in the Blank Office '' Amt Blank'', the office headed by Theodor Blank, which became the West German Ministry of Defense in 1955. Bundesarchiv Bild 183-34150-0001, Bonn, Theodor Blank, Bundeswehrfreiwillige

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-34150-0001, Bonn, Theodor Blank, Bundeswehrfreiwillige

With the establishment of the West Germany Armed Forces ''

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

'' in 1955, Heusinger returned to military service. He was appointed a ''Generalleutnant'' (lieutenant general) on 12 November 1955, in the ''Bundeswehr'' and chairman of the Military Leadership Council (''Militärischer Führungsrat''). In March 1957, he succeeded Hans Speidel as chief of the all-armed forces department (''Chef der Abteilung Gesamtstreitkräfte''). McNamara and German officer

Shortly thereafter, in June 1957, Heusinger was promoted to full general and named the first

Inspector General of the Bundeswehr Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

(''Generalinspekteur der Bundeswehr''), and he served in that capacity until March 1961. In April 1961, he was appointed Chairman of the NATO Military Committee in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morg ...

, where he served until 1964 when he retired. He was, according to news reports, wanted by the Soviet Union in the early 1960s for war crimes committed in the occupied Soviet territories. Heusinger died in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

on 30 November 1982, aged 85. According to documents released by the German Federal Intelligence Service in 2014, Heusinger may have been part of the Schnez-Truppe, a secret army that veterans of the ''Wehrmacht'' and ''

Waffen-SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...

'' sought to establish in the early 1950s.Wiegrefe, Klaus
''"Files Uncovered: Nazi veterans Created Illegal Army"''
Spiegel Online, 14 May 2014

Awards and decorations

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia es ...

(1914) 1st and 2nd Class *

Wound Badge The Wound Badge (german: Verwundetenabzeichen) was a German military decoration first promulgated by Wilhelm II, German Emperor on 3 March 1918, which was first awarded to soldiers of the German Army who were wounded during World War I. Between ...

1918 in Black *

(1939) 1st and 2nd Class * Princely Reuss Honour Cross 3rd Class with Swords * Princely Reuss Silver Merit Medal with Swords *

War Merit Cross The War Merit Cross (german: Kriegsverdienstkreuz) was a state decoration of Nazi Germany during World War II. By the end of the conflict it was issued in four degrees and had an equivalent civil award. A " de-Nazified" version of the War Meri ...

2nd Class (Brunswick) *

Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 (german: Das Ehrenkreuz des Weltkrieges 1914/1918), commonly, but incorrectly, known as the Hindenburg Cross or the German WWI Service Cross was established by Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, Presiden ...

(First World War service medal) * Wound Badge of 20 July 1944 in silver *

(1939), 1st and 2nd Class with Swords *

Wehrmacht Long Service Award The Wehrmacht Long Service Award () was a military service decoration of Nazi Germany issued for satisfactory completion of a number of years in military service. History On 16 March, 1936, Adolf Hitler ordered the institution of a service awar ...

, 2nd Class * Large Merit Cross of the Merit Order of the Federal Republic of Germany with Star and Sash * Commander of the United States Legion of Merit * Commander's Cross of the

Order of the Crown of Italy The Order of the Crown of Italy ( it, Ordine della Corona d'Italia, italic=no or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for civi ...

* Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary * Order of the Cross of Liberty 1st Class with Swords (Finland)

References

Sources

External links

Biography on BMVg website
* http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/biografien/HeusingerAdolf/
Adolf Heusinger - CIA

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

's file on Heusinger, released under the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act. The document shows that Heusinger initialled the

Commissar Order The Commissar Order (german: Kommissarbefehl) was an order issued by the German High Command ( OKW) on 6 June 1941 before Operation Barbarossa. Its official name was Guidelines for the Treatment of Political Commissars (''Richtlinien für die Be ...

and

Commando Order The Commando Order () was issued by the OKW, the high command of the German armed forces, on 18 October 1942. This order stated that all Allied commandos captured in Europe and Africa should be summarily executed without trial, even if in pro ...

, but, due to his cooperative attitude, no further action was taken. {{DEFAULTSORT:Heusinger, Adolf 1897 births 1982 deaths People from Holzminden Lieutenant generals of the Luftwaffe Bundeswehr generals Inspectors General of the Bundeswehr German Army personnel of World War I Commanders of the Legion of Merit Commander's Crosses with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (military) Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Liberty, 1st Class Recipients of the War Merit Cross NATO military personnel Himmerod meeting participants Generals of the German Army Military personnel from Lower Saxony