Franz Edler von Sonnleithner (June 1, 1905 – April 18, 1981) was a diplomat who acted as

Ribbentrop Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (; 30 April 1893 – 16 October 1946) was a German politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945. Ribbentrop first came to Adolf Hitler's not ...

's representative in

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 ...

's headquarters during the later years of the war with the rank of minister.

Life

Sonnleithner was born in

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and studied law in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and Innsbruck, where he gained a doctorate in 1928. He was then a police commissioner in Vienna and Salzburg and worked in the Federal Chancellery in Vienna. In October 1934, Sonnleithner was removed from office due to his advocacy for the unification of Germany and Austria, as well as his involvement in 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 ...

, which had been banned. Sonnleithner was arrested for involvement in the

in 1936, and sentenced to six years in prison for high treason. He remained in prison until February 12, 1938, when he was released due to the upcoming

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

. After joining the Reich Foreign Office, Sonnleithner worked on the personal staff of the Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. Sonnleithner was present at the situation conference in 1944 at the

Wolf's Lair The ''Wolf's Lair'' (german: Wolfsschanze; pl, Wilczy Szaniec) served as Adolf Hitler's first Eastern Front military headquarters in World War II. The headquarters was located in the Masurian woods, near the small village of Görlitz in Ost ...

headquarters in Rastenburg, East Prussia when the 20 July plot bomb was planted by

Claus Von Stauffenberg Colonel Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (; 15 November 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German army officer best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair. Despite ...

. From April 1945 to 1948, he was held in American internment camps. Sonnleithner then worked in industry in

Ingelheim am Rhein Ingelheim (), officially Ingelheim am Rhein ( en, Ingelheim upon Rhine), is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany. The town sprawls along the Rhine's west bank. It has been Mainz-Bingen's district seat ...

where he died aged 75.

Bibliography

*Sonnleithner, Franz von (1989), ''Als Diplomat im Fuhrerhauptquartier: Aus dem Nachlass'', Langen Müller, Munich,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonnleithner, Franz Edler von 1905 births 1981 deaths 20th-century Austrian lawyers Austrian Nazis Lawyers in the Nazi Party Austrian police officers convicted of crimes Austrian prisoners and detainees Edlers of Austria German diplomats People from Salzburg Nazis convicted of crimes Police officers convicted of treason People convicted of treason against Austria People wounded in the 20 July plot Prisoners and detainees of the United States military

Life

See also

Bibliography

References