Infantry Regiment 9 of
Potsdam
Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...
(I.R. 9) was an
infantry
Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...
regiment
A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation.
In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...
in
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...
's
Reichswehr
''Reichswehr'' (; ) was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first two years of Nazi Germany. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...
and
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
's
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
, descended from famed
1st Prussian Regiment of Foot Guards in the
German Empire
The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
's Deutsches
Reichsheer.
Garrisoned at the cradle of
Prussian army and rich with tradition, it was nicknamed 'Count Nine' (Graf Neun) or 'I.R. von 9' by its detractors because of high percentage of Prussian aristocrats and purported arrogance in its ranks.
Today it is most remembered for the fact that nineteen of its officers (or former officers) were involved in conspiracy against Hitler, more by far than any other German regiment. Most of them were executed or committed suicide after the failure of the
20 July plot
The 20 July plot, sometimes referred to as Operation Valkyrie, was a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the chancellor and leader of Nazi Germany, and overthrow the Nazi regime on 20 July 1944. The plotters were part of the German r ...
to assassinate Hitler. Major General
Henning von Tresckow
Henning Hermann Karl Robert von Tresckow (; 10 January 1901 – 21 July 1944) was a German military officer with the rank of major general in the German Army who helped organize German resistance against Adolf Hitler. He attempted to assassin ...
and Lieutenant Colonel
Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenburg in particular were central figures in
German resistance.
The regiment's tradition is continued by the
Wachbataillon
The Wachbataillon (full name: ''Wachbataillon beim Bundesministerium der Verteidigung'' (WachBtl BMVg) (Guard Battalion at the Federal Ministry of Defence (Germany), Federal Ministry of Defence)) is the Germany, German ''Bundeswehr's'' honour gu ...
of the
Bundeswehr
The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...
.
Officers who conspired against Hitler
Lieutenant Colonel
Hasso von Boehmer
Hasso von Boehmer (9 August 1904 – 5 March 1945) was a German lieutenant colonel on the General Staff and one of the 20 July Plotters.
Hasso von Boehmer belonged to Infantry Regiment 9 (I.R. 9) from Potsdam, from which also came many of th ...
Major
Axel Freiherr von dem Bussche-Streithorst
Captain Dr. Hans Fritzsche
Lieutenant Colonel Helmuth von Gottberg
Lieutenant Colonel Ludwig Freiherr von Hammerstein
Lieutenant Colonel (res.)
Carl-Hans Graf von Hardenberg
Lieutenant General
Paul von Hase
Karl Paul Immanuel von Hase (24 July 1885 – 8 August 1944) was a Nazi Germany, German career soldier and figured among the members of the German_resistance_to_Nazism, resistance against Adolf Hitler's Nazism, Nazi regime.
Life
Von Hase was bo ...
Lieutenant
Ewald Heinrich von Kleist
Colonel
Hans Otfried von Linstow
Captain
Friedrich Karl Klausing
Major (res.
Ferdinand Freiherr von Lüninck
Major (res.) Herbert Meyer
Lieutenant Georg-Sigismund von Oppen
Major
Kurt Freiherr von Plettenberg
Colone
Alexis Freiherr von Roenne
Lieutenant Colonel (res.)
Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenburg
Lieutenant Colone
Gerd von Tresckow
Major General
Henning von Tresckow
Henning Hermann Karl Robert von Tresckow (; 10 January 1901 – 21 July 1944) was a German military officer with the rank of major general in the German Army who helped organize German resistance against Adolf Hitler. He attempted to assassin ...
Lieutenant Colonel i. G
Hans-Alexander von Voß
Captain (res.)
Achim Freiherr von Willisen
Colonel
Claus von Stauffenberg
Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (; 15 November 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German army officer who is best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair, part of Op ...
Captain (res.)
Richard von Weizsäcker
References
{{Authority control
Infantry regiments of Germany
Infantry units and formations of the Wehrmacht
Regiments of the German Army in World War II