Erich Fellgiebel

Fritz Erich Fellgiebel (born 4 October 1886 in Pöpelwitz near Breslau, Silesia, now Popowice near Wrocław in Poland; died 4 September 1944 in Berlin-Plötzensee) was a German officer and resistance fighter in the Third Reich. Image File history File links Fellgiebel3. ... Image File history File links Fellgiebel3. ... October 4 is the 277th day of the year (278th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ... Prussian Silesia, 1871, outlined in yellow; Silesia at the close of the Seven Years War in 1763, outlined in cyan (areas now in the Czech Republic were Austrian-ruled at that time) Silesia (Czech: ; German: ; Polish: ) is a historical region in central Europe. ... WrocÅ‚aw, (Polish pronunciation: (?), Czech: , German: ( (help· info)), Latin: Wratislavia or Vratislavia) is the capital of Lower Silesia in southwestern Poland, situated on the Oder River (Odra). ... September 4 is the 247th day of the year (248th in leap years). ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ... Berlin is the capital city and a single state of the Federal Republic of Germany. ... Plötzensee is a lake in Berlin with an area of 7. ... Widerstand (German: resistance) is the name given to the resistance movements in Nazi Germany. ... 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. ...

Military career

In September 1905, Fellgiebel joined a signal battalion in the Prussian Army as an officer cadet, thereby beginning his military career. During the First World War, he was active on the General Staff. After the War, he went to Berlin as a General Staff Officer. His career as an officer had been exemplary, and in 1928, he was promoted to major. 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Prussia, 1701-1918 The word Prussia (Old Prussian: Prūsa, German: Preußen, Polish: Prusy, Lithuanian: Prūsai, Latin: Borussia) has had various (often contradictory) meanings: The land of the Baltic Prussians (in what is now parts of southern Lithuania, the Kaliningrad... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In 1933 came another promotion, to lieutenant colonel. Others also followed. Fellgiebel became a full colonel in 1934, and a major general in 1938. That same year, he was also appointed Chief of the Army's Signal Establishment and Chief of the Wehrmacht's Intelligence Liaison to the Wehrmacht's Supreme Command (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht). He was promoted to general of the signal squad in 1940. Hitler apparently did not fully trust Fellgiebel, deeming him too independent-minded, but his expertise was needed. 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The command flag for the Chief of the High Command of the German Armed Forces (1938 - 1941) The command flag for a Generalfeldmarschall as the Chief of the High Command of the German Armed Forces (1941 - 1945) The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht or OKW (Wehrmacht High Command, Armed Forces High Command... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... 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. ...

Erich Fellgiebel (first from left, shaking hands) and other officers being congratulated at Peenemünde, 3 October 1942; Walter Dornberger & Wernher von Braun are third and fourth from left, respectively.

Hitler's misgivings notwithstanding, Fellgiebel, as head of Hitler's Signal services, was trusted with every military secret in the Reich, including Wernher von Braun's rocketry work at Peenemünde (photo at right). Image File history File links Download high resolution version (532x720, 271 KB) Summary Erich Fellgiebel, Walter Dornberger, Wernher von Braun and others at Peenemünde 1942/10/3. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (532x720, 271 KB) Summary Erich Fellgiebel, Walter Dornberger, Wernher von Braun and others at Peenemünde 1942/10/3. ... A military secret is secret information that is purposely not made available to the general public (and hence to any enemy) by the military in order to gain an advantage, not reveal a weakness, avoid embarrassment, or to help in propaganda efforts. ... Wernher von Braun stands at his desk in the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama in May 1964, with models of rockets developed and in progress. ... A rocket is a vehicle, missile or aircraft which obtains thrust by the reaction to the ejection of fast moving exhaust from within a rocket engine. ... Peenemündes position in Germany Peenemünde is a village in the northeast of the German island of Usedom. ...

Resistance activities

Through his acquaintance with Colonel General Ludwig Beck – who was his superior – and Beck's successor, Colonel General Franz Halder, Fellgiebel came into contact with the military resistance circles. Fellgiebel was significantly involved in the preparations for Operation Valkyrie, and tried on the day of the attempt on the Führer's life, 20 July 1944, to cut Hitler's headquarters off from all telecommunication connections, which he was, however, not fully successful in doing. As it later became clear that the attempt on Hitler's life had failed, Fellgiebel had to override the intelligence block that he had set up. Ludwig Beck General Ludwig Beck (June 29, 1880- July 21, 1944) was Chief of Staff of the German Armed forces during the early years of the Nazi regime in Germany before World War II. Born in Biebrich in the Rhineland, he was educated in the conservative Prussian military tradition. ... Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Adolf Hitler, a General Staff officer and General Alfred Jacob NOT Franz Halder Franz Ritter von Halder (June 30, 1884- April 2, 1972) was a German General and the head of the Army General Staff from 1938 until September 1942, when he was dismissed after frequent... Claus von Stauffenberg The July 20 Plot was a failed coup détat and attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. ... July 20 is the 201st day (202nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 164 days remaining. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ...

Perhaps Fellgiebel's most famous act that day was his telephone report to his co-conspirators in Berlin after Claus von Stauffenberg's briefcase bomb had gone off and Fellgiebel had found out that Hitler was still alive: "Etwas Schreckliches ist passiert! Der Führer lebt!" ("Something awful has happened! The Führer lives!"). Claus von Stauffenberg Claus Philipp Maria Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg (15 November 1907 – 21 July 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. ...

Trial and death

On the same day, Fellgiebel was arrested at the Wolf's Lair in East Prussia, right where the attempt had taken place. There followed charges before the Volksgerichtshof, where, on 10 August 1944, he was found guilty by Roland Freisler and sentenced to death. One of larger bunkers in Wolfsschanze complex. ... 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. ... The Volksgerichtshof (German for Peoples Court) was a court established by Hitler after the Reichstag fire to handle those accused of political criminal offences, such as treason. ... August 10 is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ... Roland Freisler (October 30, 1893 - February 3, 1945) was a prominent Nazi. ...

On 4 September 1944, Fritz Erich Fellgiebel was murdered at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin. September 4 is the 247th day of the year (248th in leap years). ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ... Plötzensee is a lake in Berlin with an area of 7. ...

The Bundeswehr's barracks in Pöcking-Maxhof is named the General-Fellgiebel-Kaserne in his honour. The Bundeswehr ( ) is the armed forces of Germany and its administration. ...

See also

• List of members of the July 20 plot

This is a list of members of the July 20 plot, a coup détat which involved a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. ...

Literature

• Macksey, Kenneth: Without Enigma : the Ultra & Fellgiebel riddles. - Shepperton : Allan, 2000. - ISBN 0-7110-2766-8
• Wildhagen, Karl Heinz (Hrsg.): Erich Fellgiebel, Meister operativer Nachrichtenverbindungen. - Wenningsen : Selbstverl., 1970

External links

• Works of and about Erich Fellgiebel in the DDB catalogue

Die Deutsche Bibliothek (in English literally the German library) is the national library of Germany. ...

Sources

• Account of the Operation (in German)
• Linked German article
• Brief article about Fellgiebel