Franz von Sonnleithner
Franz Edler von Sonnleithner (born June 1, 1905 in Salzburg , † April 18, 1981 in Ingelheim am Rhein ) was the representative of the Foreign Office in the Führer headquarters with Adolf Hitler .
Life
The son of an Austrian officer studied law in Vienna and Innsbruck where he 1928 Dr. iur doctorate. He then worked as a police commissioner, first in Vienna and later in Salzburg, and then worked in the Federal Chancellery in Vienna.
Because of his advocacy for an annexation of Austria to the German Reich and his illegal activities for the NSDAP , which was banned in Austria and into which he joined on May 4, 1932, Sonnleithner was arrested on September 26, 1934 in Vienna and in 1936 for high treason and abuse of Condemned authority. He was given an amnesty on February 12, 1938, as a result of the Berchtesgaden Agreement .
As early as December 2, 1938, he was called up to the Foreign Office, where he was able to expand his career. On March 9, 1939, he was appointed Legation Councilor and on July 13, 1940, Legation Councilor, First Class. Later he worked in the personal staff of the Reich Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop . Since April 18, 1941, Sonnleithner had the rank of lecturer of the Legation Council and since March 31, 1943 as envoy, 1st class. As an alternative to Walter Hewel, Sonnleithner took part in the briefing at the Fuehrer's headquarters from March 1943 as a representative of the Reich Foreign Minister, including on the day of the assassination attempt on July 20, 1944 , during which Sonnleithner was unharmed.
From April 1945 to 1948 he was imprisoned in various American internment camps. Ribbentrop's defense attorneys Martin Horn and Fritz Sauter tried to summon him as exonerating witnesses at the Nuremberg trial of the main war criminals , for example on November 26, 1945, which the court rejected for procedural reasons.
After his release he was able to gain a foothold in Ingelheim's private industry. Until his death, Sonnleithner fought not only for his civil service pension , but also for his reputation as a diplomat. He claimed that he had saved the Foreign Office from being dissolved by Hitler.
His notes were published posthumously in 1989.
Fonts
- As a diplomat in the "Führer Headquarters": from the estate . With e. Foreword by Reinhard Spitzy . Langen-Müller: Munich 1989, ISBN 3-7844-2267-5 .
literature
- Hermann Weiß (Ed.): Biographical Lexicon for the Third Reich . S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1998, ISBN 3-10-091052-4 .
- Biographical manual of the German Foreign Service 1871–1945. Volume 4: p . Published by the Foreign Office, Historical Service, edited by: Bernd Isphording, Gerhard Keiper, Martin Kröger. Schöningh, Paderborn et al. 2012, ISBN 978-3-506-71843-3
Individual evidence
- ↑ Brief bio by Peter Broucek (ed.), A General in the Twilight. The memories of Edmund Glaises von Horstenau , 3 volumes, Vienna: Böhlau 1980-88, p. 401
- ↑ In the files of the Nuremberg trial he is recorded as "Sonnleitner". Zeno
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sonnleithner, Franz von |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Sonnleithner, Franz Edler von |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austro-German representative of the Foreign Office at the Fuehrer's headquarters with Adolf Hitler |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 1, 1905 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Salzburg |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 18, 1981 |
| Place of death | Ingelheim am Rhein |