Wichard von Alvensleben (May 19, 1902 – August 14, 1982) was a German

agriculturist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the U ...

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 previo ...

Officer, and

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

of the

Order of Saint John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

. He was a member of the aristocratic House of Alvensleben, one of the oldest in Germany. Then a captain, Alvensleben was the commander of Wehrmacht troops stationed in April 1945 at

Bozen Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...

, whence he led a detachment of infantry to liberate a group of high-status prisoners being held by the SS at Niederdorf in the Italian Tyrol.

Early life

Alvensleben was born on May 19, 1902, in

Wittenmoor Wittenmoor is a village and a former municipality in the district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Stendal. Geography The village Wittenmoor is located in the south of the Altmark, on the northe ...

(now part of

Stendal The Hanseatic City of Stendal () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of the Stendal District and the unofficial capital of the Altmark region. Geography Situated west of the Elbe valley, the Stendal town centre is located s ...

) to Ludolf Udo von Alvensleben (1852–1923) and Ida, née von Glasenapp (1866–1924). He was taught in various convent schools at

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

Brandenburg an der Havel Brandenburg an der Havel () is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, which served as the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg until it was replaced by Berlin in 1417. With a population of 72,040 (as of 2020), it is located on the banks of the ...

and passed his Abitur in 1921 at the Klosterschule

Roßleben Roßleben is a town and a former municipality in the Kyffhäuserkreis district, with a population of 4,885 (2017). It is located in Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it is part of the town Roßleben-Wiehe. It is situated on the river Unst ...

. After four years of practical training he commenced studies in agriculture, forestry, and law in

Eberswalde Eberswalde () is a major town and the administrative seat of the district Barnim in the German State ( Bundesland / ''federated state'') of Brandenburg, about 50 km northeast of Berlin. Population 42,144 (census in June 2005), geographi ...

and

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

. In 1927, Alvensleben married Cora von Erxleben and started to work at his wife's country estates at Tankow-Seegenfelde in the district of Friedeberg, then in the

Province of Brandenburg The Province of Brandenburg (german: Provinz Brandenburg) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1945. Brandenburg was established in 1815 from the Kingdom of Prussia's core territory, comprised the bulk of the historic Margraviate of Brandenburg ...

, part of the German

Free State of Prussia The Free State of Prussia (german: Freistaat Preußen, ) was one of the constituent states of Germany from 1918 to 1947. The successor to the Kingdom of Prussia after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I, it continued to be the domina ...

, and at Dertzow in the district of Soldin, New March, also in the Province of Brandenburg, in 1929. In 1936, he bought the forested estate of Viarthlum, in the district of

Rummelsburg Rummelsburg () is a subdivision or neighborhood (''Ortsteil'') of the borough (''Bezirk'') of Lichtenberg of the German capital, Berlin. History Rummelsburg was founded in 1669. On 30 January 1889 it became a rural municipality, with the name of ...

, in the Free State Province of Pomerania. All were in areas transferred to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

by the Potsdam Agreement in August 1945 following the end of World War II. Alvensleben had two daughters, born in 1934 and 1936. A deeply religious Christian, he had become by then a Knight of Justice of the

Military service

In 1939, Alvensleben became an Officer of the German Wehrmacht, earning the rank of Captain, and served in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. He was wounded in 1941 in Russia and received various decorations, including the

Wound Badge The Wound Badge (german: Verwundetenabzeichen) was a German military decoration first promulgated by Wilhelm II, German Emperor on 3 March 1918, which was first awarded to soldiers of the German Army who were wounded during World War I. Between ...

, the

Infantry Assault Badge The Infantry Assault Badge () was a German military decoration awarded to Waffen-SS and ''Wehrmacht Heer'' soldiers during the Second World War. This decoration was instituted on 20 December 1939 by the Commander-in-Chief (''Oberbefehlshaber'') ...

, and the Iron Cross 1st Class. On 29 January 1945, his wife committed suicide at the arrival of the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

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, afte ...

at the family estate in Tankow-Seegenfelde. In late April 1945, a group of 140 high-status prisoners ( Prominenten) were transferred to Tyrol, guarded by SS troops. A Wehrmacht colonel among the prisoners contacted senior German army officers, made known the identity of these prisoners, and conveyed the apprehension that they were all to be executed. A regular German army unit under the command of Captain von Alvensleben was assigned by nearby military authorities to protect the prisoners. Outnumbered, the SS guards moved out, leaving the prisoners behind.Die Befreiung der Sonder- und Sippenhäftlinge in Südtirol (German)
/ref> The prisoners were then set free, with the majority opting for sanctuary for a time in

Pragser Wildsee The Pragser Wildsee, or Lake Prags, Lake Braies ( it, Lago di Braies; german: Pragser Wildsee) is a lake in the Prags Dolomites in South Tyrol, Italy. It belongs to the municipality of Prags which is located in the Prags Valley. During World Wa ...

under the protection of Alvensleben's troops until a U.S. force arrived to take custody.

After the war

In autumn 1945, Alvensleben was released from U.S. custody and started to work as a transport operator in a sugar refinery in

Nörten-Hardenberg Nörten-Hardenberg ( Eastphalian: ''Nörten-Harenbarg'') is a municipality in the district of Northeim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography It is situated on the river Leine, approx. 10 km southwest of Northeim, and 10 km north of G� ...

. In August 1946, Alvensleben married Astrid von Brand (widowed von Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt) and in 1952 he became an administrator of the von Brockdorff estate

Ascheberg Ascheberg () is a municipality in the district of Coesfeld in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The neighbouring cities, towns and municipalities of Ascheberg are (clockwise, starting in the North) the city Münster, the town Drenste ...

near

Plön Plön (; Holsatian: ''Plöön'') is the district seat of the Plön district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and has about 8,700 inhabitants. It lies right on the shores of Schleswig-Holstein's biggest lake, the Great Plön Lake, as well as o ...

. In 1956, Alvensleben was involved with ''

Diakonisches Werk The Diakonie Deutschland is a charitable organization of Protestant churches in Germany (Evangelical Church in Germany), Austria as well as numerous free churches. Its Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city ...

'', a charity organisation of the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

Church at

Rendsburg Rendsburg ( da, Rendsborg, also ''Rensborg'', nds, Rendsborg, also ''Rensborg'') is a town on the River Eider and the Kiel Canal in the central part of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) of Rendsburg-Ecke ...

. He retired in 1974 and died on 14 August 1982, in Ascheberg.

External links

Liberation of KZ inmates at Tyrol showing a picture of von Alvensleben
German)

Literature

*Hartmut Jäckel: ''Menschen in Berlin''. Stuttgart, München 2001, S. 46-48. *Hans-Günter Richardi: ''SS-Geiseln in der Alpenfestung''. Bozen 2005

References