Leo Philipp Franz Hepp (15 August 1907 – 24 October 1987) was a German military officer, who served as a high-ranking signals officer in the Nazi German Wehrmacht during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and as a

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 ...

in 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 ...

after the war.

Early life and education

Hepp was born in Ulm, the son of military veterinarian Dr. Leo Hepp (1871–1950). He completed his secondary education at Karlsgymnasium in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, taking his ''

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

'' in the spring of 1925.

Career

Pre-war

After taking his ''Abitur'' earlier in 1925, Hepp enlisted in the

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 was assigned to Signals Detachment 5 in Bad Cannstatt. After attending the Infantry School in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

and Artillery School in Jüterbog, he was commissioned as a

Leutnant () is the lowest junior officer rank in the armed forces of Germany ( Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the military of Switzerland. History The German noun (with the meaning "" (in English "deputy") from Middle High German «locum ...

in Signals Detachment 5 and a few years later he was promoted to

Oberleutnant (English: First Lieutenant) is a senior lieutenant Officer (armed forces), officer rank in the German (language), German-speaking armed forces of Germany (Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the Swiss Armed Forces. In Austria, ''Oberle ...

. From 1935 to 1937, Hepp was an intelligence instructor at the Munich '' Kriegsschule'' of the Wehrmacht.

World War II

During World War II, he initially served on the Western Front in France as a staff officer of the 12th Army, before being sent in December 1940 to the Balkans. On 2 March 1941 he arrived in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, and when the 12th Army participated in the occupation of Greece shortly thereafter he served as a logistics staff officer in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

and

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. From July 1942 to May 1943, he served as the personnel staff officer for the 9th Infantry Division, with the rank of

Oberstleutnant () (English: Lieutenant Colonel) is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to lieutenant colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, ...

. From February 1944 to the end of the war in May 1945, Hepp served as chief of staff for the Chief Signals Officer at the

Oberkommando der Wehrmacht The (; abbreviated OKW ː kaːˈveArmed Forces High Command) was the Command (military formation), supreme military command and control Staff (military), staff of Nazi Germany during World War II, that was directly subordinated to Adolf ...

, under General der Nachrichtentruppe Erich Fellgiebel and Generalleutnant Albert Praun.

Post-war

After the war, Hepp was kept as a prisoner of the United States military, and called as a witness at the

Nuremberg Trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

. He joined the

Gehlen Organization The Gehlen Organization or Gehlen Org (often referred to as The Org) was an intelligence agency established in June 1946 by U.S. occupation authorities in the United States zone of post-war occupied Germany, and consisted of former members of the ...

, a German intelligence agency established in

Allied-occupied Germany The entirety of Germany was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II, from the Berlin Declaration on 5 June 1945 to the establishment of West Germany on 23 May 1949. Unlike occupied Japan, Nazi Germany was stripped of its sov ...

by the U.S.

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the first intelligence agency of the United States, formed during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines ...

, serving as the head of signals intelligence from 1946 to 1956. Under Hepp's leadership, West Germany's first electronic listening posts were set up to spy on

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, including the famous post at

Tutzing Tutzing is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district of Starnberg (district), Starnberg in Bavaria, Germany, on the west bank of the Starnberger See. Just 40 km south-west of Munich and with good views of the Alps, the town wa ...

disguised as the private firm "Südlabor GmbH". His department of the Gehlen Organization was very helpful to the U.S. intelligence community's efforts to track the movements of Soviet fighter and attack aircraft units. His successor as head of signals intelligence was his old boss Albert Praun.

Bundeswehr

In September 1956, Hepp joined the newly formed armed forces of West Germany, the

. From December 1959 to October 1960, he was commander of the newly formed 10th Panzer Division headquartered in Sigmaringen. From October 1960 to September 1961, he was Deputy

Inspector of the Army The Inspector of the Army ( or ''InspH'') is the title held by the commander and highest ranking officer of the German Army (unless the Inspector General is an army officer) of the modern-day German Armed Forces or ''Bundeswehr''. The Inspector i ...

and Chief of the

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 rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

, based 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 ...

. In October 1961, Hepp was appointed the commander of the II Corps headquartered in Ulm, and in February 1962, he was promoted to the rank of Generalleutant. While he was corps commander, he had to handle the controversy surrounding the "Nagold affair" in 1963. This ensued when a recruit collapsed from heat exhaustion during a march of the 6/9 Fallschirmjäger Training Company from

Nagold Nagold () is a town in southwestern Germany, bordering the Northern Black Forest. It is located in the '' Landkreis'' (district) of Calw (Germany/Baden-Württemberg). Nagold is recorded for the first time in a historical document dating back to ...

on July 25, and died in hospital a week later. Hepp made the decision, without consulting the Federal Ministry of Defence, to disband the training company for not adhering to proper training methods. In May 1967, Hepp was awarded the Grand Cross of Merit with Star. In September 1967, Hepp retired from the Bundeswehr and passed command of II Corps on to Generalleutnant Karl Wilhlem Thilo.

Federal Intelligence Service

After his retirement from the military, Hepp returned briefly to intelligence, serving in the

Federal Intelligence Service The Federal Intelligence Service (, ; BND) is the foreign intelligence agency of Germany, directly subordinate to the Chancellor's Office. The BND headquarters is located in central Berlin. The BND has 300 locations in Germany and foreign cou ...

from 1970 to 1972 as the leader of the signals intelligence division at

Pullach Pullach, officially Pullach i. Isartal (, ), is a municipality in the district of Munich (district), Munich in Bavaria in Germany. It lies on the Isar Valley Railway and is served by the S7 (Munich), S 7 line of the Munich S-Bahn, at the Großh ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hepp, Leo 1907 births 1987 deaths Military personnel from Ulm Reichswehr personnel German Army officers of World War II Bundeswehr generals People of the Federal Intelligence Service Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Lieutenant generals of the German Army German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States