Gert Buchheit

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"Heimaterde" (1928), magazine of the Literary Association of the Palatinate , with Gert Buchheit named as chairman

Gert Buchheit (born June 2, 1900 in Saargemünd , † May 31, 1978 in Landstuhl , Rhineland-Palatinate ) was a German historian and Germanist .

Life

Buchheit grew up as the son of the lawyer Ludwig Buchheit in Saargemünd. He studied history, German, philosophy and art history at the universities of Heidelberg, Bonn, Erlangen and Munich. He did his doctorate with Oskar Walzel . At the end of the 1920s he acted as chairman of the Palatinate Literary Association .

After graduating, he worked as a teacher in Munich and Pirmasens, later as an art historian , military scientist and contemporary writer . During the Second World War he was an officer on the command staff of the military commander in France.

A considerable part of Buchheit's later work deals with lesser-known, mainly secret service, aspects of the “Third Reich”. This applies, for example, to the book The German Secret Service , which deals with the " Canaris Myth ". The contemporary reviews of these works have been mostly positive. A review of Buchheit's Canaris book from 1967 praised it as "[...] the most complete and not only for this reason the best book [...] that exists today about the German military secret service." Later considerations, however, are much more reserved failed: Critics such as Klaus Wiegrefe accuse Buchheit that many of his works are a misrepresentation of history that served the purpose of washing the German secret services after the war, namely the BND under its boss Reinhard Gehlen , of compromising details from their Nazi past.

It has recently become known that after the Second World War, Buchheit worked "for years as a history-political spin doctor for the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) and its President Reinhard Gehlen ". As part of an arrangement with the BRD secret service, he received 500 DM a month “and the vague promise of the BND to ensure friendly reviews of book books in the media.” In return, he wrote tendentious articles and a book, “that the role Gehlens and other BND employees during the 'Third Reich' beautified. "

In 1970, Buchheit was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit, 1st class, for his scientific work .

Works

  • The dance of death, its origin and development , Berlin 1926.
  • Rainer Maria Rilke. With 9 illustrations , 1928.
  • The beautiful Rhine Palatinate. A picture with 88 panels , 1930.
  • The papacy , 1930.
  • Rainer Maria Rilke. Voices of Friends, a memorial book , 1931.
  • Rome through the centuries , 1931.
  • Franz von Papen. A political biography , 1933.
  • In the shadow of Bismarck: Brüning, Papen, Schleicher , 1933.
  • Fighters for the Reich , 1934.
  • The Tannenberg Imperial Memorial. Its creation, its final design and its individual works of art. With 59 illustrations and sketches , 1936.
  • Mussolini and the New Italy , 1938.
  • Bismarck: Führer und Mensch , 1941.
  • Destruction or Fatigue Strategy? On the strategic character of the wars , 1942.
  • Bismarck , 1943.
  • Rainer Maria Rilke , 1947.
  • Hitler the general. The Destruction of a Legend , 1958.
  • The leader into nowhere. A diagnosis of Adolf Hitler , 1960.
  • Soldiership and Rebellion: The Tragedy of the German Wehrmacht , 1961.
  • Ludwig Beck. A Prussian general , 1964.
  • The German Secret Service: History of Military Defense , List, Munich 1966.
  • Judge in red robe; Freisler, President of the People's Court , List, Munich 1968.
  • The anonymous power. Tasks, methods, experiences of the secret services , Frankfurt am Main 1969,
  • In the stranglehold of politics. From the secret struggle of the secret services , Landshut 1974.
  • Espionage in two world wars: Chess game with people , Landshut 1975.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alexander Rost: Merit and Debt . in: Die Zeit , No. 15/1967 review
  2. ↑ Klaus Wiegrefe in: Der Spiegel , No. 3/2013 of January 14, 2013
  3. ↑ Der Spiegel No. 3/2013, p. 52; Winfried Meyer: "Rear Guard Battles", in: "Journal for Intelligence, Propaganda and Security Studies" No. 2/2012.
personal data
SURNAME Bookness, Gert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German historian and Germanist
DATE OF BIRTH June 2, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Sarreguemines
DATE OF DEATH May 31, 1978
Place of death Landstuhl , Rhineland-Palatinate