Erwin König was reported to have been a German Heer Officer in the ''

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

'' the regular military of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

or was an Officer in the

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

who was a sniper killed by the Soviet sniper Vasily Zaitsev during the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad ; see . rus, links=on, Сталинградская битва, r=Stalingradskaya bitva, p=stəlʲɪnˈɡratskəjə ˈbʲitvə. (17 July 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, ...

. Due to the lack of any Nazi records proving the existence of König and his achievements there is some doubt as to whether he existed at all or was an invention of Soviet propaganda. König is mentioned both in Zaitsev's memoirs ''Notes of a Sniper'' (a "Major Konings", potentially '' SS'') and William Craig's 1973 non-fiction book '' Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad''. According to Zaitsev, his duel with König took place over a period of three days in the ruins of

Stalingrad Volgograd,. geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area o ...

. In a post-war visit to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Zaitsev was allegedly confronted by a woman who told him that she was König's daughter, with Soviet authorities quickly evacuating Zaitsev to avoid any confrontation.

In popular culture

A fictionalized account of the duel in the film ''

Enemy at the Gates ''Enemy at the Gates'' (''Stalingrad'' in France and ''L'Ennemi aux portes'' in Canada) is a 2001 war film directed, co-written, and produced by Jean-Jacques Annaud, based on William Craig (author), William Craig's 1973 nonfiction book ''Enemy ...

'' portrays Erwin König—played by

Ed Harris Edward Allen Harris (born November 28, 1950) is an American actor and filmmaker. His performances in '' Apollo 13'' (1995), '' The Truman Show'' (1998), '' Pollock'' (2000), and '' The Hours'' (2002) earned him critical acclaim and Academy Awa ...

—as the head of the ''Wehrmacht'' Sniper School. He is sent to Stalingrad to take on the increasingly aggressive Soviet snipers. Initially he is successful, killing four of Zaytsev's partners, but eventually he is outwitted by the Russian, portrayed by

Jude Law David Jude Heyworth Law (born 29 December 1972) is an English actor. He began his career in theatre before landing small roles in various British television productions and feature films. Law gained international recognition for his role in An ...

. König appears in the 1999 novel '' War of the Rats'' by David L. Robbins in which he is an SS Colonel named Heinz Thorvald. Ramón Rosanas wrote a comic about the conflict between Zaytsev and König.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Konig, Erwin Fictional marksmen and snipers Fictional Nazis European people whose existence is disputed