Famous Army Officers from Germany

List of notable or famous army officers from Germany, with bios and photos, including the top army officers born in Germany and even some popular army officers who immigrated to Germany. If you're trying to find out the names of famous German army officers then this list is the perfect resource for you. These army officers are among the most prominent in their field, and information about each well-known army officer from Germany is included when available.

The list you're viewing has a variety of people in it, like Ernst Rรถhm and Tobias Angerer.

This historic army officers from Germany list can help answer the questions "Who are some German army officers of note?" and "Who are the most famous army officers from Germany?" These prominent army officers of Germany may or may not be currently alive, but what they all have in common is that they're all respected German army officers.

Use this list of renowned German army officers to discover some new army officers that you aren't familiar with. Don't forget to share this list by clicking one of the social media icons at the top or bottom of the page. {#nodes}

  • Baron Mรผnchhausen
    Photo: Metaweb (FB) / Public domain

    Baron Mรผnchhausen

    Baron Munchausen (; German: [หˆmสnรงหŒhaสŠznฬฉ]) is a fictional German nobleman created by the German writer Rudolf Erich Raspe in his 1785 book Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia. The character is loosely based on a real baron, Hieronymus Karl Friedrich, Freiherr von Mรผnchhausen. Born in Bodenwerder, Electorate of Brunswick-Lรผneburg, the real-life Mรผnchhausen fought for the Russian Empire in the Russo-Turkish War of 1735โ€“1739. Upon retiring in 1760, he became a minor celebrity within German aristocratic circles for telling outrageous tall tales based on his military career. After hearing some of Mรผnchhausen's stories, Raspe adapted them anonymously into literary form, first in German as ephemeral magazine pieces and then in English as the 1785 book, which was first published in Oxford by a bookseller named Smith. The book was soon translated into other European languages, including a German version expanded by the poet Gottfried August Bรผrger. The real-life Mรผnchhausen was deeply upset at the development of a fictional character bearing his name, and threatened legal proceedings against the book's publisher. Perhaps fearing a libel suit, Raspe never acknowledged his authorship of the work, which was only established posthumously. The fictional Baron's exploits, narrated in the first person, focus on his impossible achievements as a sportsman, soldier, and traveller, for instance riding on a cannonball, fighting a forty-foot crocodile, and travelling to the Moon. Intentionally comedic, the stories play on the absurdity and inconsistency of Munchausen's claims, and contain an undercurrent of social satire. The earliest illustrations of the character, perhaps created by Raspe himself, depict Munchausen as slim and youthful, although later illustrators have depicted him as an older man, and have added the sharply beaked nose and twirled moustache that have become part of the character's definitive visual representation. Raspe's book was a major international success, becoming the core text for numerous English, continental European, and American editions that were expanded and rewritten by other writers. The book in its various revised forms remained widely read throughout the 19th century, especially in editions for young readers. Versions of the fictional Baron have appeared on stage, screen, radio, and television, as well as in other literary works. Though the Baron Munchausen stories are no longer well-known in many English-speaking countries, they are still popular in continental Europe. The character has inspired numerous memorials and museums, and several medical conditions and other concepts are named after him, including Munchausen syndrome, the Mรผnchhausen trilemma, and Munchausen numbers.
    • Age: Dec. at 76 (1720-1797)
    • Birthplace: Bodenwerder, Germany
  • Ernst Rรถhm
    Photo: Metaweb (FB) / Public domain
    Ernst Julius Gรผnther Rรถhm (German: [หˆษ›ษฬฏnst หˆสรธหm]; 28 November 1887 โ€“ 1 July 1934) was a German military officer and an early member of the Nazi Party. As one of the members of its predecessor, the German Workers' Party, he was a close friend and early ally of Adolf Hitler and a co-founder of the Sturmabteilung (SA, "Storm Battalion"), the Nazi Party's militia, and later was its commander. By 1934, the German Army feared the SA's influence and Hitler had come to see Rรถhm as a potential rival, so he was executed during the Night of the Long Knives.
    • Age: Dec. at 46 (1887-1934)
    • Birthplace: Munich, Germany
  • Friedrich Hecker
    Photo: Metaweb (FB) / Public domain
    Friedrich Franz Karl Hecker (September 28, 1811 โ€“ March 24, 1881) was a German lawyer, politician and revolutionary. He was one of the most popular speakers and agitators of the 1848 Revolution. After moving to the United States, he served as a brigade commander in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
    • Age: Dec. at 69 (1811-1881)
    • Birthplace: Angelbachtal, Germany
  • Gรผnter Weiler

    Gรผnter Friedrich Weiler (born 27 April 1951 in Duisburg, Germany) is a retired Lieutenant General of the German Army, the Bundeswehr. From 16 September 2010 until 9 April 2013, he was the Deputy Inspector General of the Bundeswehr.
    • Age: 72
    • Birthplace: Duisburg, Germany
  • Hellmuth Felmy

    Hellmuth Felmy (May 28, 1885 โ€“ December 14, 1965) was a German general and war criminal during World War II, commanding forces in occupied Greece and Yugoslavia. A high-ranking Luftwaffe officer, Felmy was tried and convicted in the 1948 Hostages Trial.
    • Age: Dec. at 80 (1885-1965)
    • Birthplace: Berlin, Germany
  • Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg
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    Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg

    Marshal Johann Matthias Reichsgraf von der Schulenburg (8 August 1661 โ€“ 14 March 1747) was a German aristocrat and general of Brandenburg-Prussian background who served in the Saxon and Venetian armies in the early 18th century and found a second career in retirement in Venice, as a grand collector and patron. His sister was Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess of Kendal. His father was Gustavus Adolphus, Baron von der Schulenburg.
    • Age: Dec. at 85 (1661-1747)
    • Birthplace: Emden, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany