Curt Bräuer (24 February 1889 – 8 September 1969) was a German career

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or interna ...

. Born in Breslau, in what is modern-day

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 ...

, Bräuer entered service in the German foreign ministry in 1920. From 1928 to 1930 he was a member of the German Democratic Party. On 1 August 1935 he joined the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

. At the outbreak of

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in September 1939, Bräuer was posted at the German embassy in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. Later that year, Bräuer was named as envoy to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

, and served in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

beginning on 14 November 1939. Bräuer was Germany's representative in Norway at the time of the invasion of Norway in April 1940. Until the invasion, the official German foreign policy was to respect Norwegian neutrality, a line which Bräuer is said to have agreed with and worked toward. However, on the evening of 8 April 1940, the envoy received orders from

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

— he was to be

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 ...

's representative and deliver a German ultimatum for the

occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

to the Norwegian government the next morning.Henrik O. Lunde. ''Hitler's Pre-Emptive War: The Battle for Norway 1940'' Casemate Publishers, Nov 1, 2010. pg. 226 The Norwegian government refused the German demands and left the capital as it became clear that Norway was becoming overrun with German troops. In the following days, Bräuer tried to convince the Norwegian government and King Haakon VII to capitulate and to name Vidkun Quisling as prime minister. The Norwegian government refused these demands and vowed to resist the German invasion as long as possible. On 16 April, Hitler recalled Bräuer from Oslo, deciding that the Norwegian resistance to the invasion dictated that the country be administered by a more

authoritarian personality The authoritarian personality is a personality type characterized by a disposition to treat authority figures with unquestioning obedience and respect. Conceptually, the term ''authoritarian personality'' originated from the writings of Erich Fr ...

. Hitler named

Josef Terboven Josef Terboven (23 May 1898 – 8 May 1945) was a Nazi Party official and politician who was the long-serving '' Gauleiter'' of Gau Essen and the ''Reichskommissar'' for Norway during the German occupation. Early life Terboven was born in E ...

— an enthusiastic Nazi — to assume the position of ''

Reichskommissar (, rendered as "Commissioner of the Empire", "Reich Commissioner" or "Imperial Commissioner"), in German history, was an official gubernatorial title used for various public offices during the period of the German Empire and Nazi Germany. Ger ...

'' for Norway. Terboven wielded near-dictatorial powers in Norway until war's end. After his recall from Norway, Bräuer left the diplomatic service and was sent to the front as a

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colon ...

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 previo ...

. He spent eight years as a

prisoner-of-war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...

in the

Soviet Union 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 nationa ...

In popular culture

Bräuer was portrayed by Austrian actor Karl Markovics in the 2016 Norwegian war film '' The King's Choice'', a role that earned him an Amanda Award 2017 for Best Actor in a Supporting Role .

In popular culture

References

See also