Walther von Brauchitsch Biography

Childhood & Early Life

Walther Heinrich Alfred Hermann von Brauchitsch was born on October 4, 1881, in Berlin, into a Prussian family that had a tradition of working as military officers and statesmen. His father, Bernhard Eduard von Brauchitsch, was a cavalry general. Brauchitsch’s mother’s name was Charlotte Bertha von Gordon.

Brauchitsch studied at the ‘Französisches Gymnasium,’ an exclusive high school in Berlin. He joined the military academy in Potsdam in 1895. Later, he attended the ‘Hauptkadettenanstalt Groß Lichterfelde.’ During his final year, he was included in a class of talented students. Empress Augusta Viktoria, the German empress and the queen of Prussia, selected him as her squire/pageboy.

Career

On March 22, 1900, after his military training, Brauchitsch was appointed as a lieutenant in the ‘Königin Elisabeth Garde Grenadier Regiment’ of the Prussian army. In December 1900, he was appointed to the ‘3rd Garde-Feldartillerie-Regiment.’

During 1903, Brauchitsch worked temporarily as an instructor in the ‘Artillery Instruction School.’ He then had a temporary posting at the ‘Spandau Gun Factory.’ On February 5, 1906, he was appointed as an adjutant to the ‘II Battalion 3 Garde-Feldartillerie-Regiment.’

After serving in the ‘General Staff’ office in Berlin, Brauchitsch was made a first lieutenant in 1909. He was promoted to the position of “Oberleutnant” on October 18, 1909. He was enlisted by the ‘Great General Staff’ in Berlin on April 1, 1912, and was promoted to the position of “Hauptmann” (captain) on December 18, 1913.

During WWI, Brauchitsch served as part of the ‘General Staff’ of the ‘XVI Army Corps.’ From October 17, 1915, he was part of the ‘General Staff’ of the ‘34th Infantry Division.’ He later served in the ‘Guards Reserve Corps.’ He was part of many major battles, including the Battle of Verdun, the Battle of Argonne Forest, the Second and Third Battles of Aisne, and the Battle of Flanders. He earned an ‘Iron Cross, First Class,’ and was made a major of ‘the Guards Reserve Corps’ by the end of WWI.

The ‘German Army’ was reduced in size following the ‘Treaty of Versailles.’ However, Brauchitsch continued serving, mainly in the artillery department. He was recruited in the ‘Reichswehr’ in 1921, where he served as both the commander and a staff officer. In April 1928, he became the “Oberst” (colonel) of the army training department. In 1929, he was made the head of the ‘Department of War.’

Brauchitsch became a general-major on October 1, 1931. Following this, he was sent to the Soviet Union, where he helped improve the collaboration between the Soviet and the German armies.

When Adolf Hitler and the ‘Nazi Party’ came to power in 1933, Brauchitsch was appointed as the chief of the ‘East Prussian Military District,’ the commander of the ‘Group Command 4’ in Leipzig, and the chief of the ‘1st Division’ in Königsberg. On June 21, 1935, he became the first commanding general of the ‘1st Army Corps.’ Soon after the ‘Treaty of Versailles,’ Germany had started re-armament secretly and in a small way, but when the ‘Nazi Party’ came to power in 1933, re-armament was carried out massively, yet surreptitiously.

On April 20, 1936, Brauchitsch was made the “General der Artillerie.” Army Commander-in-Chief Werner von Fritsch was (falsely) accused of being a homosexual and was forced to resign. In his place, Brauchitsch was made the colonel general and the commander-in-chief of the army on February 4, 1938.

Dismissal and Death

In June 1941, Brauchitsch led the German army against the Soviet Union. During the Battle of Moscow, Hitler asked him to co-sign his ‘Commissar Order,’ which made allowances for the continuation of the mass extermination of Soviet civilians and prisoners of war. As Hitler diverted his army toward Leningrad and Caucasus, Brauchitsch tried to explain that they were deviating from their goal, Moscow. When the campaign failed, Hitler blamed Brauchitsch.

Brauchitsch’s health had started deteriorating during the campaign. He had a heart attack on November 10, 1041. On December 19, 1941, he was dismissed as the commander-in-chief, and Hitler took over the command of the army. Brauchitsch went to live in the Brdy Mountains near Prague. When a conspiracy against Hitler failed on July 20, 1944, he wrote an article condemning the act and some of his former colleagues. Later, he explained to Halder that he had done it to save a relative’s life.

Brauchitsch was arrested on May 8, 1945. Later, he was asked to appear as a witness before the ‘International Military Tribunal’ in Nuremberg. He was also indicted for conspiracy with Hitler and for crimes against humanity. He was kept in a prison camp in Southern Wales. However, Brauchitsch died of pneumonia on October 18, 1948, in a Hamburg hospital, before his prosecution (while in British confinement).

Family & Personal Life

Brauchitsch married Elizabeth von Karstedt in 1910. They had three children: two sons and a daughter. He divorced her in 1938, as he wished to marry Charlotte Rueffer. Brauchitsch knew Charlotte Rueffer, the daughter of a Silesian judge, since 1925. However, as his first wife refused to divorce him, his affair with Rueffer remained incomplete. Rueffer married a banker, who later died by drowning. Brauchitsch and Rueffer rekindled their romance later and got married in 1938, after Brauchitsch got his divorce.