Klaus Reinhardt (15 January 1941–30 November 2021) was a German Army
general
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry.
In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
. He was the commander of the
German Army Forces Command
The Army Forces Command () in Falckenstein Barracks in Koblenz was one of the two leadership pillars of the German Army, together with the German Army Office, before it was merged into the Army Command (Germany), Army Command (''Kommando Heer ...
, the NATO ''Joint Headquarters Center'' (formerly ''Headquarters Allied Land Forces Central Europe''), and
KFOR in
Kosovo
Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
. Reinhardt died on 30 November 2021, at the age of 80. He was the son of Nazi bureaucrat
Fritz Reinhardt.
Military career
Reinhardt was born in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
. In 1960, he entered the West German Army as an officer candidate with the mountain infantry forces. From 1963 on, he served as a platoon leader with the Gebirgsjägerbataillon 222 in
Mittenwald and later continued as an operations officer from October 1966 to October 1967.
From 1967 to 1972, he studied history and political sciences at the
University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...
, earning a
doctoral degree
A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...
with his dissertation about the strategic failure of
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
in the
Battle of Moscow
The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II, between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated H ...
. In 1968, he was already promoted to
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
and served as company commander with Gebirgsjägerbataillon 221 in Mittenwald. From 1973 to 1975, he passed the General Staff course at the ''Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr'' in
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
. In 1975 he additionally passed the US Command and General Staff Officer course at
Fort Leavenworth
Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth, Kansas, Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., an ...
.
In October 1976, Reinhardt was promoted to
lieutenant colonel and served as operations staff officer (
G-3) of NATO's
Central Army Group (CENTAG) in
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...
. From January 1978 to October 1980 he used to be assistant to the Vice Inspector General of the West German Military, General
Jürgen Brandt at the ministry of defence in
Bonn
Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...
. From 1982 he took command of the Gebirgsjägerbataillon 231 in
Bad Reichenhall
Bad Reichenhall (; Central Bavarian: ''Reichahoi'') is a spa town, and administrative center of the Berchtesgadener Land district in Upper Bavaria, Germany. It is located near Salzburg in a basin encircled by the Chiemgau Alps (including Mount Stau ...
. From 1982 to 1983 he served as operations officer (G-3) in the staff of the 1st Mountain Division in
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; ) is an Northern Limestone Alps, Alpine mountain resort, ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen (district), district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ...
. After his promotion to full colonel he served as military assistant to the then minister of defence
Manfred Wörner
Manfred Hermann Wörner (24 September 1934 – 13 August 1994) was a German politician and diplomat. He served as the defense minister of West Germany between 1982 and 1988. He then served as the seventh Secretary General of NATO from 1988 to ...
and in 1986 till September 1988 as commander of the Gebirgsjägerbrigade 23 in Bad Reichenhall.
On 1 October 1988, he was promoted to
brigadier general and the same day took over as Chief of Staff Section IV (Planning; NATO Forces, conception of the Federal Armed Forces, coordination of the budgetary means for the military and planning of armament) within the Armed Forces Staff of the German Ministry of Defence in Bonn.
In October 1990 he was appointed
major general and commander of the
Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr in
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
. During this time, he also used to be vice president of the ''Clausewitz Society'' and a member of the scientific advisory council of the German Military History Research Office (MGFA). As commander of the command and general staff college, he changed the academy into a strategic and operational think tank and opened it to officers from Eastern European countries, which is one reason why he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the
University of Budapest.

In June 1993, he was promoted to
lieutenant general
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...
and appointed commander of the
3rd Army Corps in
Koblenz
Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary.
Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...
, which he also had to disband due to military reforms. In 1994, he built up the German Army Forces Command in Koblenz as commanding general and made it a key element for the German military missions abroad. He formally led the German military missions in Somalia (UNOSOM), Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina (
IFOR
The Implementation Force (IFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peace enforcement force in Bosnia and Herzegovina under a one-year mandate from 20 December 1995 to 20 December 1996 under the codename ''Operation Joint Endeavour''.
Background
In ...
,
SFOR).
In April 1998, he was promoted to
general
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry.
In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
and appointed Commander NATO Joint Headquarters Centre (today
Allied Force Command Heidelberg). He actively participated in the NATO structure reform process. From October 1999 to April 2000, he served as commander of
KFOR in Pristina, Kosovo, and was in charge of 50,000 soldiers from 39 nations. Klaus Reinhardt retired in March 2001. Afterwards, he began to work as a freelance journalist and writer, as well as a lecturer in modern history and political science.
Reinhardt is buried at the cemetery of Garmisch in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Views
In 1993, as the commander of the III, Corps, Reinhardt was heavily criticised by high-ranking conservative politician
Alfred Dregger
Alfred Dregger (10 December 1920 – 29 June 2002) was a German politician and a leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Dregger was born in Münster. After graduating from a school in Werl, he entered the German Wehrmacht in 19 ...
for banning Bundeswehr soldiers from participating in a memorial service at a German war cemetery that also held the graves of fallen
Waffen-SS
The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...
soldiers on ''
Volkstrauertag
' (, ) is a commemoration day in Germany two Sundays before the first day of Advent. It commemorates members of the armed forces of all nations and civilians who died in armed conflicts, to include victims of violent oppression. It was first obs ...
''. Reinhardt argued that he meant no disrespect to the young soldiers that had died for Germany but found that the ideology of the Waffen-SS was incompatible with the values of democracy.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reinhardt, Klaus
1941 births
2021 deaths
Military personnel from Berlin
Bundeswehr generals
Generals of the German Army
Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
University of Freiburg alumni
Non-U.S. alumni of the Command and General Staff College
Commandants of the Bundeswehr Command and Staff College