Otto Langmann (1898-1956) was a German pastor and diplomat.Walter Birnbaum: ''Zeuge meiner Zeit. Aussagen zu 1912 bis 1972.'' Musterschmidt, Göttingen 1973,

Biography

In November 1923 he married Ilse Siefert, with whom he had four children. He was appointed parish priest in

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...

. In 1928 he went to Colombia and Ecuador. In 1930, in

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

, he supported a local evangelical community; a year later he joined the

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers ...

and founded the first Nazi group abroad.In: ''Die Deutschen in Guatemala 1930-194'', 30 November 2009
Ein Pfarrer für Guatemala
/ref> Langmann served as the representative of German government in

Montevideo, Uruguay Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . Montevideo is situated on the southern coa ...

(1937-1942) during the Battle of the River Plate in 1939. During this time, he supported the plotters in a failed Nazi coup, as part of a planned takeover of Uruguay. Langmann held his position until the Uruguayan government broke off relations with Germany in 1942. Langmann then returned to Germany, working at the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

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 ...

.''Uruguay, Peru Break Relations with Axis.''
In: ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

.'' 25 January 1942, Uruguay and Peru severed diplomatic relations tonight with Germany, Italy, and Japan. putting into swift effect terms of a compromise anti-axis agreement ... During the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula–Od ...

, Langmann fought as a member of the

Volkssturm The (, ) was a ''levée en masse'' national militia established by Nazi Germany during the last months of World War II. It was set up by the Nazi Party on the orders of Adolf Hitler and established on 25 September 1944. It was staffed by conscri ...

. He was later taken prisoner by the Soviets. He spent ten years in prison camps in

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

. In 1955, Langmann was released and returned to Germany where he died of cancer shortly after.

In fiction

* In the 1956 film '' The Battle of the River Plate'', directed by

Powell and Pressburger The British film-making partnership of Michael Powell (1905–1990) and Emeric Pressburger (1902–1988)—together often known as The Archers, the name of their production company—made a series of influential films in the 1940s and 1950s. T ...

, Langmann was portrayed by

John Chandos Sir John Chandos, Viscount of Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, Saint-Sauveur in the Cotentin Peninsula, Cotentin, Constable of Aquitaine, Seneschal of Count of Poitiers, Poitou, (c. 1320 – 31 December 1369) was a medieval English knight who haile ...

Publications

* ''Deutsche Christenheit in der Zeitenwende''. Hamburg, Agentur des Rauen Hauses 1933. 77 pages

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Langmann, Otto 1898 births 1956 deaths Deaths from cancer in Germany German Protestant clergy Christian fascists Nazi Party members Ambassadors of Germany to Uruguay Uruguay in World War II German Gulag detainees German expatriates in Guatemala German expatriates in Uruguay German prisoners of war in World War II held by the Soviet Union Volkssturm personnel