Fritz Berendsen

Friedrich Jürgen Karl Bromel ("Fritz") Berendsen (born March 15, 1904 in Ratzeburg , † October 1, 1974 in Weinheim ) was a German officer , senior executive and politician ( CDU ). In World War II he made it to Colonel i. G. of the Wehrmacht , he left the Bundeswehr as major general . He was a member of the German Bundestag in the 1950s and 1960s .

Origin and family

Berendsen was born in 1904 in Ratzeburg, the son of a doctor and his wife, daughter of the superintendent of the Duchy of Lauenburg , Albert Robert Brömel . From 1910 to 1923 he attended the local humanistic grammar school in Lauenburg School of Academics . During his school days he was chairman of the Ratzeburg school rowing club .

Berendsen was a Protestant, married and the father of three children.

officer

Reichswehr

Promotions

• 1926 lieutenant
• 1929 first lieutenant
• 1935 Rittmeister

After graduating from school , he joined the 2nd (Prussian) cavalry regiment in Allenstein-Osterode in East Prussia in 1923 . In 1924/25 he attended the infantry school of the Reichswehr in Ohrdruf, Thuringia, and in 1925/26 the cavalry school of the Reichswehr in Hanover .

In 1926 he became a recruiting officer and in 1928 the leader of the cavalry gun platoon in the 2 Cavalry Regiment in Lyck and Osterrode (from 1934). In 1934 he became squadron chief in Angerburg.

Wehrmacht / prisoner of war

Promotions

• 1939 Hauptmann i. G.
• 1940 Major i. G.
• 1942 Lieutenant Colonel i. G.
• 1943 Colonel i. G.

After Berendsen had passed the general staff selection test, he completed the general staff course at the War Academy in Berlin from 1936 to 1938 . In 1938 he became 2nd General Staff Officer (Ib) of the 3rd light division of the Wehrmacht in Cottbus, later the 8th Panzer Division . From January 1939 to February 1940 he was transferred to the General Staff.

In February 1940 he became 1st General Staff Officer (Ia) of the 8th Panzer Division. In August 1942 he became a tactics teacher at the general staff courses in Dresden. In July 1943 he became Chief of the General Staff of the XXXXVI. Panzer Corps and in August 1944 the LIX. Army Corps . In September 1944 he was transferred to the Führerreserve in the High Command of the Army (OKH). In the same month he became Chief of the General Staff of the III. Panzer Corps . After he was again in the Führerreserve in December 1944, he became course director of the 16th General Staff Course at the War Academy in Hirschberg in Lower Silesia in January 1945 .

In May 1945 he was finally taken prisoner by the United States , from which he was released in November 1946. From 1946 to 1948 he worked for the US Army intelligence service in Oberursel ( Camp King ); US General Albert Wedemeyer , whom he knew from the Berlin War Academy, approached Berendsen.

armed forces

Promotions

• 1959 Brigadier General
• 1963 Major General

After the approval of the personnel appraisal committee and an aptitude exercise, he joined the armed forces in 1959 as a brigadier general in the army . He was first instructed in his future use and then from April to November 1959 he was deputy commander and commander of the division troops of the 2nd Grenadier Division in Marburg and then deputy chief of staff in the HQ Central Army Group (CENTAG) in Heidelberg. In 1963 he was promoted to major general.

When he reached retirement age in 1964, he retired and returned to work in industry.

Senior Staff

In 1948 Berendsen became an employee of the iron and steel producer Klöckner-Werke AG in Duisburg . In 1952 he became head of the company's economic department. In the same year he joined Klöckner & Co., where he became an authorized signatory in 1953 .

In 1964 he became the special commissioner of the Brown, Boveri & Cie electrical company . (BBC) in Mannheim.

MP

Local politics

Berendsen was a member of the city ​​council of Duisburg from 1952 to 1959 . In 1953 he took over the chairmanship of the parliamentary group.

Federal politics

He was a member of the German Bundestag from 1953 until his resignation on September 15, 1959 . After his retirement he was a member of the Bundestag again from 1965 to 1969. In 1953 (with 50.1 percent) - with simultaneous state list placement 51 - and in 1957 (with 52.8 percent) he was a directly elected member of constituency 93 (Duisburg II) and in 1965 he was a candidate for 10th place on the state list of Baden-Württemberg unsuccessful in the Mannheim constituency 180 (Mannheim II) - drafted into the Bundestag. From 1953 to 1959 he was a full member of the Defense Committee . In the second electoral term he sat as a full or alternate member of the Transport Committee. From 1953 to 1959 he was a deputy member and from 1965 to 1969 a full member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs . He was also a deputy member of the Committee on Foreign Trade Issues and from 1965 to 1967 a full member of the Committee on War and Persecution Damage. For the CDU / CSU parliamentary group he was spokesman for military issues.

In 1957, accusations were raised against him and DP MPs Martin Blank and Hasso von Manteuffel in connection with armaments contracts. The Defense Committee of the Bundestag then acted as a committee of inquiry under Article 45a of the Basic Law , but was unable to confirm the allegations.

After the election of the German Federal President in 1959 , he had to give up his mandate because of his double obligations.

Berendsen was also a member of the North Atlantic Assembly ("NATO Parliament"). There he was vice president from 1956 to 1958.

Awards

1933-1945

• 1939: Iron Cross, 2nd class
• 1940: Iron Cross 1st class
• 1942: German cross in gold

after 1945

• 1962: Legion of Merit (Officer)
• 1964: Large Federal Cross of Merit

See also

• List of members of the German Bundestag (2nd electoral term)
• List of members of the German Bundestag (3rd electoral term)
• List of members of the German Bundestag (5th electoral term)

literature

• Dermot Bradley , Heinz-Peter Würzenthal, Hansgeorg Model : The Generals and Admirals of the Bundeswehr, 1955–1999. The military careers (= Germany's generals and admirals . Part 6b). Volume 1: Adam - Fuhr . Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1998, ISBN 3-7648-2492-1 , pp. 123-125.
• Walter Habel (Ed.): Who is who? . The German Who's Who . 17th edition. Societäts-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1973, ISBN 3-7973-0241-X , p. 67 f.
• Rudolf Vierhaus , Ludolf Herbst (eds.), Bruno Jahn (collaborators): Biographical manual of the members of the German Bundestag. 1949-2002. Vol. 1: A-M. KG Saur, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-598-23782-0 , p. 56.
• Fritz Berendsen , in Internationales Biographisches Archiv 39/1964 of September 14, 1964, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely available)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Rudolf Vierhaus , Ludolf Herbst (ed.), Bruno Jahn (collaborator): Biographical manual of the members of the German Bundestag. 1949-2002. Vol. 1: A-M. KG Saur, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-598-23782-0 , p. 124.
2. ↑ Rudolf Vierhaus , Ludolf Herbst (ed.), Bruno Jahn (collaborator): Biographical manual of the members of the German Bundestag. 1949-2002. Vol. 1: A-M. KG Saur, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-598-23782-0 , p. 141.
3. ↑ Rudolf Vierhaus , Ludolf Herbst (ed.), Bruno Jahn (collaborator): Biographical manual of the members of the German Bundestag. 1949-2002. Vol. 1: A-M. KG Saur, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-598-23782-0 , p. 433.
4. ↑ Rudolf Vierhaus , Ludolf Herbst (ed.), Bruno Jahn (collaborator): Biographical manual of the members of the German Bundestag. 1949-2002. Vol. 1: A-M. KG Saur, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-598-23782-0 , p. 176.
5. ↑ Rudolf Vierhaus , Ludolf Herbst (ed.), Bruno Jahn (collaborator): Biographical manual of the members of the German Bundestag. 1949-2002. Vol. 1: A-M. KG Saur, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-598-23782-0 , p. 567.
6. ↑ Rudolf Vierhaus , Ludolf Herbst (ed.), Bruno Jahn (collaborator): Biographical manual of the members of the German Bundestag. 1949-2002. Vol. 1: A-M. KG Saur, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-598-23782-0 , p. 475.
7. ↑ Rudolf Vierhaus , Ludolf Herbst (ed.), Bruno Jahn (collaborator): Biographical manual of the members of the German Bundestag. 1949-2002. Vol. 1: A-M. KG Saur, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-598-23782-0 , p. 533.