Albrecht Ritter Mertz von Quirnheim

Albrecht Ritter Mertz von Quirnheim (born 25 March 1905 in Munich; died 20 July 1944 in Berlin) was a German officer and a resistance fighter in Nazi Germany who was involved in the July 20 Plot against Hitler. Jump to: navigation, search March 25 is the 84th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (85th in leap years). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1905 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search Munich: Frauenkirche and Town Hall steeple Munich (German: München (pronounced listen) is the state capital of the German state of Bavaria. ... Jump to: navigation, search July 20 is the 201st day (202nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 164 days remaining. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Berlin ( ♫), IPA: , is the capital of Germany and its largest city; down from 4. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... The July 20 Plot was a failed coup détat which involved an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. ... Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945, standard German pronunciation in the IPA) was the Führer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. ...

Life

Albrecht Ritter Mertz von Quirnheim was born to Hermann Ritter Mertz von Quirnheim, a captain on the Bavarian General Staff. He spent his youth in Munich, and his family later moved to Potsdam when his father became head of the Imperial Archive (Reichsarchiv). As a young man, he already knew, through his family, Werner von Haeften and Hans Bernd von Haeften, who would one day be his co-conspirators. After his Abitur, Mertz von Quirnheim joined the Reichswehr in 1923. His friendship with Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg, who would be the key man in the attempt on Hitler's life at the Wolf's Lair, began in 1925. The Free State of Bavaria (German: Bayern or Freistaat Bayern), with an area of 70,553 km² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ... Jump to: navigation, search Munich: Frauenkirche and Town Hall steeple Munich (German: München (pronounced listen) is the state capital of the German state of Bavaria. ... (This article is about the German city of Potsdam. ... Werner Karl von Haeften (9 October 1908 - 20 July 1944) was an Oberleutnant in the Wehrmacht, who took part in the military-based conspiracy against Hitler known as the July 20 Plot. ... Abitur (official term in Germany: allgemeine Hochschulreife) is the word commonly used in Germany for the final exams young adults (aged 18 or 19) take at the end of their secondary education, usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling (Britain: A-levels). ... The Reichswehr (literally National Defence or National Militia) formed the military organization of Germany from 1918 until 1935, when the government rebranded it as the Wehrmacht (Defence Force). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1923 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Claus von Stauffenberg Claus Philipp Maria Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg (November 15, 1907 – July 21, 1944) was a German aristocrat and army colonel during World War II. He was one of the leading figures of the July 20 Plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. ... One of larger bunkers in Wolfsschanze complex. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1925 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...

After first wholeheartedly welcoming Hitler's seizure of power, over time he distanced himself more and more from the Nazi régime. When the Second World War broke out, Mertz von Quirnheim was appointed Staff Officer at the General Staff's organizational division. In 1941, there arose a dispute with the Reich minister for the occupied eastern territories Alfred Rosenberg, and the Reich commissar for the Ukraine, Erich Koch when Mertz von Quirnheim advocated a more humane way of dealing with the civilian populations in the occupied territories. From 1942, he strengthened his ties to the resistance through his brother-in-law Wilhelm Dieckmann. Mertz von Quirnheim was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and in November 1942 to Head of Staff of the 24th Army Corps at the Eastern Front. In 1943, he was again promoted, this time to colonel, and he married Hilde Baier. Machtergreifung is a German word meaning seizure of power. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Alfred Rosenberg in 1933 Alfred Rosenberg (January 12, 1893–October 16, 1946) was an early and intellectually influential member of the Nazi party, who later held several important posts in the Nazi government. ... Erich Koch, born June 19, 1896, died November 12, 1986. ... Jump to: navigation, search This article is about the year. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ...

As of September 1943, Mertz von Quirnheim had sworn himself into the plan to get rid of Hitler. Together with his superior, General Friedrich Olbricht, and Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg, he drew up the plans for Operation Valkyrie, based on a plan whose original purpose had been to deal with an uprising by foreign workers in the Reich. However, with a few modifications, it suited the conspirators' purpose. The July 20 Plot was a failed coup détat which involved an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. ...

Quirnheim (right) with Stauffenberg

In 1944, Mertz von Quirnheim succeeded Stauffenberg as Chief of Staff at the Army's General Office in Berlin, at the Bendlerblock. Right after the attempt on Hitler's life in East Prussia on 20 July 1944, Mertz von Quirnheim urged General Olbricht to put Operation Valkyrie into action, even though he was not sure whether Hitler had indeed been killed by Stauffenberg's briefcase bomb. The measures put forth by the said plan were however not implemented, or at least not fully, because the military commander had received, at about the same time, the news that Hitler was still alive. Jump to: navigation, search 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Berlin ( ♫), IPA: , is the capital of Germany and its largest city; down from 4. ... East Prussia (German: Ostpreu en; Polish: Prusy Wschodnie; Russian: Восточная Пруссия — Vostochnaya Prussiya) was a province of Kingdom of Prussia, situated on the territory of former Ducal Prussia. ... Jump to: navigation, search July 20 is the 201st day (202nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 164 days remaining. ...

That same evening, after being seized by troops loyal to the régime and being subjected to a rather unfair "trial", hastily arranged by Colonel General Friedrich Fromm, Albrecht Ritter Mertz von Quirnheim, along with Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg, Olbricht and Haeften were taken out to the courtyard of the Bendlerblock, where they were unceremoniously shot. Heinrich Himmler even ordered the bodies exhumed and burnt, and the ashes scattered. A few days later, Mertz von Quirnheim's parents and one of his sisters were arrested by the Gestapo. His brother-in-law Wilhelm Dieckmann was put to death on 13 September 1944. Friedrich Fromm (October 8, 1888 - 1945) was a German army officer, best known as one of the conspirators to assassinate Adolf Hitler. ... Werner Karl von Haeften (9 October 1908 - 20 July 1944) was an Oberleutnant in the Wehrmacht, who took part in the military-based conspiracy against Hitler known as the July 20 Plot. ... Jump to: navigation, search Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Himmler [â–¶] (October 7, 1900 – May 23, 1945) was the commander of the German Schutzstaffel (SS) and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Deaths Head emblem, often used as the insignia of the Gestapo The Gestapo ( ♫) (acronym of Geheime Staatspolizei; secret state police) was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. ... Jump to: navigation, search September 13 is the 256th day of the year (257th in leap years). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

There is a memorial nowadays at the spot where Mertz von Quirnheim and the other men were shot.

See also: Widerstand, List of members of the July 20 plot Widerstand (German: resistance) is the name given to the resistance movements in Nazi Germany. ... This is a list of members of the July 20 plot, a coup détat which involved a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. ...

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