Gerd R. Ueberschär (born 18 August 1943) is a German military historian who specialises in the history of

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

World War II 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 opposing ...

. He is one of the leading contributors to the series ''

Germany and the Second World War ''Germany and the Second World War'' (german: Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg) is a 12,000-page, 13-volume work published by the Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt (DVA), that has taken academics from the military history centre of the German ...

'' and, together with

Rolf-Dieter Müller __NOTOC__ Rolf-Dieter Müller (born 9 December 1948) is a German military historian and political scientist, who has served as Scientific Director of the German Armed Forces Military History Research Office since 1999. Rolf-Dieter Müller, is also ...

, is the author of '' Hitler's War in the East 1941−1945: A Critical Assessment''. Both works have been published in English translations.

Education and career

Ueberschär obtained his doctorate in history from the Goethe University Frankfurt, where he subsequently worked as an assistant professor. Starting with 1986, Ueberschär was a lecturer at the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemb ...

. From 1996 to 2008, he worked as a historian and archivist at the in Freiburg.

Historian of Nazi Germany

Ueberschär is an author and editor of numerous books on the history of

National Socialism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Naz ...

in Germany and 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 ...

. He is one of the lead researchers on the seminal work ''

.'' Ueberschär edited the German-language volume containing 68 biographies of leading military men of

, ''Hitlers militärischer Elite itler's Military Elite' published in 1998 and reissued in 2011. Ueberschär also covered the topic of the

German resistance to Nazism Many individuals and groups in Germany that were opposed to the Nazi regime engaged in active resistance, including attempts to remove Adolf Hitler from power by assassination or by overthrowing his established regime. German resistance was ...

in his 2004 work on

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 ...

, ''Stauffenberg. Der 20 Juli 1944'' and the 2006 work ''Für ein anderes Deutschland. Der deutsche Widerstand gegen den NS-Staat 1933–1945 or Better Germany. German Resistance to Nazism 1933–1945'. He concluded that conspirators' plans for the post-Hitler society were incompatible with today's understanding of democracy; the plotters were hoping for a "genuine national community": "They propagated the constitutional plans were very far from an open democratic society". He also edited the 2002 collected volume ''Der deutsche Widerstand gegen Hitler erman Resistance to Hitler'."Der 20. Juli 1944"
'' Die Zeit'', 15 July 2004

Works

In English

* ''

'' (contributor) * ''With

: Hitler's War in the East 1941−1945: A Critical Assessment'' (1997)

In German

* With

Wolfram Wette Wolfram Wette (born 11 November 1940) is a German military historian and peace researcher. He is an author or editor of over 40 books on the history of Nazi Germany, including the seminal '' Germany and the Second World War'' series from the ...

: ''Bomben und Legenden.'' Rombach, Freiburg i. Br. 1981, . * With

and Wolfram Wette: ''Wer zurückweicht wird erschossen!'' Dreisam, Freiburg i. Br. 1985, . * With Thomas Schnabel: ''Endlich Frieden! Das Kriegsende in Freiburg 1945.'' Schillinger, Freiburg i. Br. 1985, . * With Rolf-Dieter Müller: ''Deutschland am Abgrund.'' Verlag des

Südkurier The Südkurier is a regional daily newspaper in Germany serving the regions northwest of Lake Constance, Hochrhein and Black Forest with its headquarters Konstanz, Germany. The paper appears with a circulation of around 130,000, six times per w ...

, Konstanz 1986, . * ''Freiburg im Luftkrieg.'' Mit einer Photodokumentation zur Zerstörung der Altstadt am 27. November 1944 von Hans Schadek. Ploetz, Freiburg i. Br. 1990, . * ''Generaloberst Franz Halder.'' Muster-Schmidt, Göttingen 1991, . * With Rolf-Dieter Müller: ''Kriegsende 1945.'' Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1994, . ** ''La fine del Terzo Reich.'' Translated by Marisa Margara. Mulino, Bologna 1995, . * With Rolf-Dieter Müller: ''Hitlers Krieg im Osten 1941–1945.'' Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2000, . ** ''Hitler's war in the East 1941–1945.'' Translated by Bruce D. Little. Berghahn Books, New York, Oxford 2002, . * With : ''Dienen und Verdienen. Hitlers Geschenke an seine Eliten.'' Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1999, . * ''Stauffenberg. Der 20. Juli 1944.'' Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2004, . * With Rolf-Dieter Müller: ''1945. Das Ende des Krieges.'' Primus, Darmstadt 2005, . * ''Für ein anderes Deutschland. Der deutsche Widerstand gegen den NS-Staat 1933–1945.'' Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2006, .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ueberschar, Gerd R. 1943 births Living people 20th-century German historians German male non-fiction writers 21st-century German historians German military historians