__NOTOC__ Eberhard Kinzel (18 October 1897 – 25 June 1945) was a general in the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

who commanded several divisions. He was a recipient of the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight' ...

Military career

Kinzel was with section ''Fremde Heere Ost'', FHO or

Foreign Armies East Foreign Armies East, or Fremde Heere Ost (FHO), was a military intelligence organization of the ''Oberkommando des Heeres'' (OKH), the Supreme High Command of the German Army during World War II. It focused on analyzing the Soviet Union and other Ea ...

, until the spring of 1942 when he was replaced by

Reinhard Gehlen Reinhard Gehlen (3 April 1902 – 8 June 1979) was a German lieutenant-general and intelligence officer. He was chief of the Wehrmacht Foreign Armies East military intelligence service on the eastern front during World War II, spymaster of the ...

. The FHO prepared situation maps of the Soviet Union, Poland, Scandinavia and the Balkans; and assembled information on potential adversaries. Kinzel was part of the delegation that participated in the negotiations for the

German surrender The German Instrument of Surrender (german: Bedingungslose Kapitulation der Wehrmacht, lit=Unconditional Capitulation of the "Wehrmacht"; russian: Акт о капитуляции Германии, Akt o kapitulyatsii Germanii, lit=Act of capit ...

with Field-Marshal Montgomery at

Lüneburg Heath Lüneburg Heath (german: Lüneburger Heide) is a large area of heath, geest, and woodland in the northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover and Bremen a ...

on 4 May 1945.

Death

Kinzel, together with his girlfriend Erika von Aschoff, committed suicide on 25 June 1945.

Personal life

Kinzel was the uncle of

Günther Lützow Günther Lützow (4 September 1912 – 24 April 1945) was a German Luftwaffe aviator and fighter ace credited with 110 enemy aircraft shot down in over 300 combat missions. Apart from five victories during the Spanish Civil War, most of his cl ...

Awards and decorations

on 21 December 1942 as chief department GZ 'Zentralabteilung''—central departmentwith the chief of the Generalstab des Heeres XXIX_Armeekorps.html" ;"title="XXIX Army Corps (Wehrmacht)">XXIX Armeekorps">XXIX Army Corps (Wehrmacht)">XXIX ArmeekorpsScherzer 2007, p. 441.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kinzel, Eberhard 1897 births 1945 deaths Military personnel from Berlin German Army generals of World War II Generals of Infantry (Wehrmacht) German Army personnel of World War I Prussian Army personnel Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Liberty, 2nd Class Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross German military personnel who committed suicide People from the Province of Brandenburg Reichswehr personnel Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class 20th-century Freikorps personnel Suicides in Germany