Oskar Wilhelm Robert Paul Ludwig Hellmuth von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (31 January 1883 – 12 February 1960) was a German ''
Generalleutnant
is the Germanic variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries.
Austria
Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO rank of O ...
''. The son and
aide-de-camp to Field Marshal and Reich President
Paul von Hindenburg
Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (; abbreviated ; 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany fro ...
had considerable influence on the appointment of
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
as
German chancellor
The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ger ...
in
January 1933.
Early life
Oskar von Hindenburg was born in
Königsberg
Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...
,
East Prussia
East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
(present-day
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...
, Russia), the only son of Paul von Hindenburg (1847–1934) and his wife
Gertrud Wilhelmine (1860–1921). He had two sisters, Irmengard Pauline (1880–1948) and Annemarie (1891–1978). In 1921, he married Margarete von Marenholtz (1897–1988), the couple had four children.
Military career
He followed his father into the
Prussian Army
The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.
The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...
and joined the
3rd Foot Guards regiment in 1903, where he befriended
Kurt von Schleicher
Kurt Ferdinand Friedrich Hermann von Schleicher (; 7 April 1882 – 30 June 1934) was a German general and the last chancellor of Germany (before Adolf Hitler) during the Weimar Republic. A rival for power with Hitler, Schleicher was murdered by ...
. Initially, his career did not prosper, as Hindenburg's superiors considered him to be of low intelligence. Nevertheless, after his father became a German
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
hero upon the
Battle of Tannenberg
The Battle of Tannenberg, also known as the Second Battle of Tannenberg, was fought between Russia and Germany between 26 and 30 August 1914, the first month of World War I. The battle resulted in the almost complete destruction of the Russi ...
, Oskar von Hindenburg's career started to advance thanks to his surname. A
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 and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...
officer at the ''
Armeeoberkommando
''Armeeoberkommando'' ("Army Higher Command"; AOK) was a command level in the German and Austro-Hungarian armies, especially during the World War I and World War II. It was equivalent to a British, French, American, Italian, Japanese, or Imperial ...
'' during the war, he achieved the rank of ''
Hauptmann
is a German word usually translated as captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian, and Swiss armies. While in contemporary German means 'main', it also has and originally had the meaning of 'head', i.e. ' literally ...
'' (Captain) in the
20th Division.
![Bundesarchiv Bild 102-11061, Berlin, Reichsgründungsfeier, Festgottesdienst](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-11061%2C_Berlin%2C_Reichsgr%C3%BCndungsfeier%2C_Festgottesdienst.jpg)
After the war, he continued his career within the newly established German ''
Reichswehr
''Reichswehr'' () was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first years of the Third Reich. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...
'', where he was promoted to
Major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
and acted as his father's liaison officer. After his father became
Reich President
''Reich'' (; ) is a German noun whose meaning is analogous to the meaning of the English word "realm"; this is not to be confused with the German adjective "reich" which means "rich". The terms ' (literally the "realm of an emperor") and ' (lit ...
of the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...
in 1925, Major von Hindenburg acted as his father's aide-de-camp. As his father's closest friend and advisor, he exercised considerable power behind the scenes as he largely controlled access to the President. It was in large part due to his friendship with the younger von Hindenburg, that von Schleicher became Chancellor and one of the elder von Hindenburg's closest advisors. Because of this influence on the President beyond any control by constitutional means, the publicist and writer
Kurt Tucholsky
Kurt Tucholsky (; 9 January 1890 – 21 December 1935) was a German journalist, satirist, and writer. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Kaspar Hauser (after the historical figure), Peter Panter, Theobald Tiger and Ignaz Wrobel.
Tucholsky was on ...
spoke of him as "''... the son of the president, not designated by the Reich's constitution ...''".
Hitler's appointment
In a meeting with the "
camarilla" around
Franz von Papen
Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen, Erbsälzer zu Werl und Neuwerk (; 29 October 18792 May 1969) was a German conservative politician, diplomat, Prussian nobleman and General Staff officer. He served as the chancellor of Germany i ...
and State Secretary
Otto Meissner
Otto Lebrecht Eduard Daniel Meissner (13 March 1880, Bischwiller, Alsace – 27 May 1953, Munich) was head of the Office of the President of Germany from 1920 to 1945 during nearly the entire period of the Weimar Republic under Friedrich Ebert a ...
on 22 January 1933, Oskar von Hindenburg, who like his father had long been opposed to making Hitler chancellor, was persuaded to support the plan to have Hitler appointed but having von Papen control him from behind the scenes as Vice-Chancellor. At the same time, Oskar was stuck in the major
Eastern Aid (''Osthilfe'') scandal, concerning a Weimar Republic programme for developing the agrarian economy in eastern Germany. Moreover, he was under pressure due to his manor in
Neudeck, which the German government with large contributions from German industrialists on initiative of
Elard von Oldenburg-Januschau
Elard Kurt Maria Fürchtegott von Oldenburg-Januschau (20 March 1855 - 16 August 1937) was a German Junker and conservative politician.
He embodied the prototype of the arch-conservative, militaristic and anti-democratic East Elbian Junkers both ...
gave to President Hindenburg on the occasion of his 80th birthday on 2 October 1927. The president had titled the deed in the name of his son Oskar, according to his political opponents ostensibly to avoid payment of inheritance taxes. Shortly after Hitler's appointment, Hindenburg and his descendants were officially exempt from taxes by law.
World War II
Discharged from active military service in the rank of Major General in 1934, Oskar von Hindenburg had retired to Neudeck manor. 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 ...
, Oskar von Hindenburg was again appointed General commanding in East Prussia, where he supervised several prisoner of war camps. Promoted to ''Generalleutnant'' in 1942, he finally requested permission to resign because he considered the position to be a demotion when compared to his previous military and government positions. As a member of the ''
Führerreserve
The (“Leaders Reserve” or "Reserve for Leaders") was set up in the German Armed Forces during World War II in 1939 as a pool of temporarily unoccupied high-ranking military officers awaiting new assignments. The various military branches an ...
'', he lived in Neudeck until the advance of
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
troops late in the war forced him to flee to his brother-in-law in
Medingen. Previously, he had supervised the dismantling of the
Tannenberg Memorial
The Tannenberg Memorial () was a monument to the German soldiers of the Battle of Tannenberg, the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes and the medieval Battle of Tannenberg (1410). The victorious German commander, ''Generalfeldmarschall'' Paul von ...
honoring his father's 1914 victory over the Russians. He also had his parents' remains moved west. In the 1950s, Polish authorities razed the site, leaving few traces.
Later life
In the
Nuremberg trials
The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II.
Between 1939 and 1945 ...
, Oskar von Hindenburg was a witness against Franz von Papen. In 1956, he won a lawsuit against South German Publishers, which in 1954 posthumously published the book by Baron Erwein von Aretin, ''Crown and Chains. Memories of a Bavarian Nobleman'' alleging that in 1930 Oskar von Hindenburg had obtained illegal funding from the Eastern Aid programme. Oskar von Hindenburg lived in Medingen,
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
after the war. Having suffered a heart attack in early 1960 he traveled to a spa in
Bad Harzburg
Bad Harzburg (; Eastphalian: ''Bad Harzborch'') is a spa town in central Germany, in the Goslar district of Lower Saxony. It lies on the northern edge of the Harz mountains and is a recognised saltwater spa and climatic health resort.
Geogra ...
, where he died on 12 February 1960. He was buried at Waldfriedhof Medingen.
Assessment
![Bundesarchiv Bild 102-13660, Oskar von Hindenburg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-13660%2C_Oskar_von_Hindenburg.jpg)
Allegations that President Hindenburg appointed Hitler chancellor because of pressure from Oskar have never been conclusively established. Nevertheless, Franz von Papen, who had served as chancellor until he was supplanted by Schleicher in December 1932, was negotiating behind Hitler's back to become chancellor again of a presidential government, which would rule by decree under
Article 48 of the
Weimar Constitution
The Constitution of the German Reich (german: Die Verfassung des Deutschen Reichs), usually known as the Weimar Constitution (''Weimarer Verfassung''), was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic era (1919–1933). The c ...
. He almost certainly would have succeeded except for the influence of Oskar on his father. Other factors are important, but, in the view of
Klaus Fischer
Klaus Fischer (born 27 December 1949) is a German former professional footballer and coach. He was a key player on the West Germany national team that lost the 1982 World Cup final to Italy. As a forward, he was noted for his bicycle kicks, ...
, without Oskar and State Secretary Meissner's behind-the-scenes influence Papen would have had a much tougher time convincing President Hindenburg to invite "that
Bohemian corporal" and the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
to form a government at all.
William Shirer
William Lawrence Shirer (; February 23, 1904 – December 28, 1993) was an American journalist and war correspondent. He wrote ''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich'', a history of Nazi Germany that has been read by many and cited in scholarly w ...
, in his book ''
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany'' is a book by American journalist William L. Shirer in which the author chronicles the rise and fall of Nazi Germany from the birth of Adolf Hitler in 1889 to the end of World Wa ...
'', stated that Oskar von Hindenburg was promoted to Major General after the plebiscite unifying the offices of President and Reich Chancellor and that he remained a loyal Nazi. He faded from the history of the Third Reich after the plebiscite, but Shirer argued that the final act in Hitler's consolidation of power was vital, and without Oskar von Hindenburg's earlier influence with his father on behalf of Hitler's bid to be invited to form a government after the fall of Chancellor von Schleicher on 28 January 1933, Hitler might not have ascended to power at all.
The other obvious influence in Hitler's favour was the likelihood of a coalition government with the conservative
German National People's Party
The German National People's Party (german: Deutschnationale Volkspartei, DNVP) was a national-conservative party in Germany during the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the Nazi Party, it was the major conservative and nationalist party in Wei ...
(DNVP). That almost fell apart at the last minute as well since the coalition partners were so intent arguing over prospective cabinet appointments (the Nazis were ultimately outnumbered in the Cabinet 8–3) that they left President Hindenburg waiting well past the appointed time for the meeting at which Hitler was named chancellor. The president almost cancelled the meeting in exasperation. Hitler being named chancellor was not certain until it was announced, and it was Oskar von Hindenburg and his work with his father that in Shirer's view tipped the balance in Hitler's favour. Shirer also claimed that Oskar received 5,000 additional acres to his estates at Neudeck in addition to rapid advancement in the German Armed Forces.
According to Günther von Tschirschky und Bögendorff, a interwar German diplomat and associate of the elder Hindenburg who later defected to the UK, President Paul Von Hindenburg's last will and testament had criticised the Nazis and supported democracy. Oscar Von Hindenberg, as a Nazi supporter, was alleged to have handed this document over on Hitler's request. The defector said in 1947 that “Hitler would never have come into power, and there would have been no war, if the wishes of Hindenburg had been known to the German people.”
By contrast,
Wolfram Pyta argues that Oskar's influence on his father has been overemphasised, that the selection of Hitler as chancellor was not a matter on which the President would have allowed himself to be led by his son, and that there is no evidence that Oskar played any role in Hitler's appointment.
[Pyta, ''Hindenburg'']
References
Notes
Bibliography
*Klaus Fischer. ''Nazi Germany: A New History''. New York: Continuum, 1995.
*O.C. Hiss, ''Hindenburg: Eine Kleine Streitschrift'', Potsdam: Sans Souci Press, 1931.
*
Wolfram Pyta. ''Hindenburg. Herrschaft zwischen Hohenzollern und Hitler'', Munich: Siedler, 2007, ISBN 978-3-88680-865-6.
*
William Shirer
William Lawrence Shirer (; February 23, 1904 – December 28, 1993) was an American journalist and war correspondent. He wrote ''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich'', a history of Nazi Germany that has been read by many and cited in scholarly w ...
,
''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich''
*
Snyder, Louis Leo ''The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich'', New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976.
*
Henry Ashby Turner
Henry Ashby Turner, Jr. (April 4, 1932 – December 17, 2008) was an American historian of Germany who was a professor at Yale University for over forty years. He is best known for his book ''German Big Business and the Rise of Hitler'' (1985) ...
''Hitler's Thirty Days to Power: January 1933'', Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1996.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hindenburg, Oskar Von
1883 births
1960 deaths
Military personnel from Königsberg
People of the Weimar Republic
German Army personnel of World War I
Prussian Army personnel
Major generals of the Reichswehr
Lieutenant generals of the German Army (Wehrmacht)
German anti-communists
Paul von Hindenburg
Children of national leaders
German Army generals of World War II