__NOTOC__ Wilhelm Adam (15 September 1877 – 8 April 1949) was a German general who served in the

Bavarian Army The Bavarian Army was the army of the Electorate (1682–1806) and then Kingdom (1806–1919) of Bavaria. It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereignty (''Wehrhoheit'') of Bavaria into that of t ...

, the

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 ...

and 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 ...

. Adam was born in

Ansbach Ansbach (; ; East Franconian: ''Anschba'') is a city in the German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränkische Rezat, a ...

, joining the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

in 1897, and serving in Bavarian telegraph and Communication units before being detached to the

Bavarian War Academy The Bavarian War College, also Bavarian Staff College ( Ge: ''Bayerische Kriegsakademie'') was the highest military facility to educate, instruct, train, and develop ''general staff officers''. It was active from 1867 to the beginning of World Wa ...

in 1907. During World War I, Adam fought as a company leader of a Bavarian pioneer unit, but only for a short period. Towards the end of 1914, Adam became a

General Staff Officer 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 ...

on the Staff of the Army High command. But right at the end of the war he was back to being a Bavarian engineer unit leader. With the end of the war, Adam served in various posts within the

, from posts such as a liaison officer to the Bavarian Military Ministry and being an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

battalion commander, in the 20th Infantry Regiment. By Hitler's rise to power in 1933, Adam was Chief of the Troop Office and soon was commanding a division and was also at the same time commanding Military District VII. Adam retired on 31 December 1938, but he was recalled for service from 26 August 1939. After several years of being at the disposal of the army he retired in 1943 and died in 1949 in

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; Bavarian: ''Garmasch-Partakurch''), nicknamed Ga-Pa, is an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ''GAP''), in the O ...

Memoir

Adam's unpublished

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

was preserved for many years after the war in a Bavarian

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

. It is now in the Institute of Contemporary History archives in Munich as file ED109/2.

Promotions

*Fahnrich (25 January 1898) *Leutnant (10 March 1899) *Oberleutnant (28 October 1905) *Hauptmann (1 October 1911) *Major (14 December 1917) *Oberstleutnant (1 February 1923) *Oberst (1 February 1927) *Generalmajor (1 February 1930) *Generalleutnant (1 December 1931) *General der Infanterie (1 April 1935) *Generaloberst (1 January 1939)

Awards and decorations

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...

of 1914 * Prince Regent Luitpold Medal * Military Merit Order, 3rd class with swords (Bavaria) * Knight's Cross 2nd Class of the

Albert Order The Albert Order (german: link=no, Albrechts-Orden or Albrechtsorden) was created on 31 December 1850 by King Frederick Augustus II of Saxony to commemorate Albert III, Duke of Saxony (known as Albert the Bold). It was to be awarded to anyone wh ...

with swords

Literature

* Hackl, Othmar: ''Die Bayerische Kriegsakademie (1867–1914).'' C.H. Beck´sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, München 1989, , p. 393. * Stahl, Friedrich-Christian: ''Generaloberst Wilhelm Adam.'' In:

Gerd R. Ueberschär Gerd R. Ueberschär (born 18 August 1943) is a German military historian who specialises in the history of Nazi Germany and World War II. He is one of the leading contributors to the series ''Germany and the Second World War'' and, together with ...

(Hrsg.): ''Hitlers militärische Elite. 68 Lebensläufe''. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2011, , p. 1–8. * Heuer, Gerd F.: ''Die Generalobersten des Heeres. Inhaber höchster deutscher Kommandostellen.'' Moewig, Rastatt 1988, , p. 1–8. *

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adam, Wilhelm 1877 births 1949 deaths People from Ansbach People from the Kingdom of Bavaria Colonel generals of the German Army (Wehrmacht) Military personnel from Bavaria German Army generals of World War II Lieutenant generals of the Reichswehr German memoirists Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class German male non-fiction writers