Emil Spannocchi

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Emil Spannocchi (born September 1, 1916 in Aigen near Salzburg ; † August 29, 1992 in Wiener Neustadt ) was an Austrian general .

origin

Emil Spannocchi was born in 1916 as the youngest of three children of Anton Graf Spannocchi and Gabriele Countess von Attems at Aigen Castle near Salzburg . His mother was the granddaughter of Count Moritz O'Donnell, the brother of Maximilian Karl Count O'Donell von Tyrconell , who saved Emperor Franz-Josef from the assassination attempt by Janos Libényi in 1853 and was allowed to build a villa in Salzburg's Mirabell Gardens as a reward . He married Countess Therese Czernin von und zu Chudenitz . This marriage gave birth to five children (Eugen, Elisabeth, Silvia, Huberta, Paul) and seventeen grandchildren. His brother Lelio Spannocchi was a politician and as such he was President of the Upper Austrian state parliament. Emil Spannocchi died in retirement as a result of a riding accident.

biography

Spannocchi entered on September 1, 1934 as a one-year volunteer with the Dragoon Regiment No. 2 in Enns with the army of the First Republic .

From 1935 he attended the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt . After Austria was annexed to the German Reich in March 1938, Spannocchi was taken over by the Wehrmacht , received his officer license as a lieutenant and was transferred to the 17th Cavalry Regiment in Bamberg .

After the beginning of the Second World War he was platoon leader in the reconnaissance department 7 of the 7th Infantry Division until December 1939 , where he took part in the attack on Poland . During this time he was promoted to first lieutenant .

During the western campaign , he served as a squadron chief in the 2nd Cavalry Division of the 1st Cavalry Division in France, Holland and Poland.

He switched to the tank troops and fought in the German-Soviet War with the 24th Panzer Regiment of the 24th Panzer Division , where he took over a tank company . In 1942 he was promoted to Rittmeister and his unit was transferred from Army Group Center to Army Group South . He later became a department commander and was transferred to France.

In the summer of 1943, Spannocchi began general staff training at the War Academy in Hirschberg in the Giant Mountains , which he completed in October 1944. He returned to the 24th Panzer Regiment as a company commander, this time to Italy. He took part in a training course for the heavy tanks Panther and Tiger and was made Major i. G. promoted.

From December 1944 he came to the 2nd Panzer Division on the Western Front, where he was stationed in Luxembourg, Belgium and Germany.

He experienced the end of the war from April 27 to June 3, 1945 as an American prisoner of war .

During operations at the front he was wounded twice and was awarded the Iron Cross II and I Class , the Infantry Assault Badge in silver , the Army Honorary Leaf Clasp and the Wound Badge in black .

After the war, Spannocchi worked in the private sector in Milan . Despite lower pay, he rejoined the military in 1954, in the B-Gendarmerie , and was involved in the reorganization of the army .

In 1956 he came to Vienna as a lieutenant colonel of the higher military service in the central management of the newly established Federal Ministry for National Defense . In 1957 he became the commandant of the armored forces school in the Götzendorf barracks . In 1960, Spannocchi became the commander of the 9th Panzer Grenadier Brigade and from 1963 to 1973 he was the commander of the National Defense Academy .

He became known for the "Spannocchi Doctrine", a spatial defense concept that was drawn up under his leadership as army commander , according to which the armed forces were reorganized from 1973 to 1986 under Chancellor Bruno Kreisky . In addition, Spannocchi was the first president of the Association of Catholic Soldiers (1973-77).

In 1978 he was appointed head of Section III in the Federal Ministry of Defense until he was retired on September 30, 1981. Even after his departure, he remained connected to the armed forces, giving lectures and giving military journalistic statements. In May 1992 he suffered a stroke while riding and sustained serious head injuries from falling from a horse, as a result of which he died on August 29, 1992 in the Wiener Neustadt hospital .

Appreciation

At the initiative of Defense Minister Thomas Starlinger , the collegiate barracks were renamed General-Spannocchi-Kaserne at the beginning of 2020 .

Publications

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gerhard Vogl: New names for Viennese barracks. In: The press . December 26, 2019, accessed January 27, 2020 .
  2. ^ New names for Viennese barracks. In: ORF.at . January 27, 2020, accessed January 27, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Spannocchi, Emil
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Spannocchi, Emil Graf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian general
DATE OF BIRTH September 1, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Salzburg
DATE OF DEATH August 29, 1992
Place of death Wiener Neustadt