Heinz von zur Gathen

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Heinz Walther von zur Gathen (born June 30, 1924 in Sterkrade ; † March 23, 2001 ) was a German army officer and lieutenant general in the Bundeswehr .

Career

Wehrmacht

Von zur Gathen was drafted into the Wehrmacht in October 1942 . He started with the Field Training Regiment 718 in Schumolino and completed the reserve officer applicant course near Smolensk in 1943 . From June to September 1943 he received an auxiliary training near Polosk. At the end of 1943 he became a squad leader and group leader in the headquarters company of the Grenadier Regiment 353. From October 1944 to January 1945 he attended the Fahnenjunkerschule V in Posen. From January to March 1945 he was a platoon leader in the Poznan Fortress . In March 1945 he was briefly company commander of the Pioneer Battalion 181 and in March / April 1945 platoon leader in the Führer-Escort Division . From April 1945 to May 1946 he was a US prisoner of war .

Education

From 1946 to 1952 he worked as HR manager for the Anglo-American Cool Control Group in Essen. From 1949 to 1953 he also studied business administration at the Administration and Business Academy in Essen. In 1952/53 he was employed by the US Research Center there. From 1953 to 1956 he was a personnel operations manager with the 12th Air Force at Ramstein Air Base .

armed forces

In March 1956 he joined the newly founded Bundeswehr . In 1956 he was a personnel officer in the LAW acceptance organization in Defense Area III in Düsseldorf. From 1957 to 1961 he was S1 and company commander in the training battalion of the Army Officer School II in Husum and Hamburg. Then from 1961 to 1963 he completed the 4th general staff course (H) at the leadership academy of the Bundeswehr (FüAkBw) in Hamburg. In 1963 he was G2 in the 5th Panzer Division in Diez. From 1967 to 1969 he was in command of the 82nd Panzer Grenadier Battalion in Lüneburg. From 1969 to 1971 he was an assistant at the Federal Chancellery in Bonn.

In 1973 he graduated from the NATO Defense College in Rome. 1971/72 he was deputy head of the study group at SHAPE in Casteau. In 1972/73 he took over the management of long-term strategic studies at NATO's International Military Staff. From 1973 to 1975 he was deputy head of the "Plans and Policy" department.

From 1975 to 1977 he served as head of the Fü S II “Military Intelligence ” department in the command staff of the armed forces . In the subsequent assignment as commander of the 1st Airborne Division in Bruchsal from April 1, 1977 to September 30, 1977, he was promoted to major general. This was followed by the assignment as commander of the command academy of the Bundeswehr until March 31, 1981, which he held as the last war veteran. His last employment was as Deputy Commander of the Allied Forces Baltic Sea Access BALTAP . He was retired on October 1, 1984.

Memberships

After his retirement, he was head of the West Regional District of the Clausewitz Society from 1986 to 1991 . As early as 1979/80 he held the office of Vice President.

He was married and the father of two children.

Honors

literature

  • Dermot Bradley , Heinz-Peter Würzenthal, Hansgeorg Model (eds.): The Generals and Admirals of the Bundeswehr (1955-1999). The military careers (= Germany's generals and admirals , part 6b). Volume 2, 1: Gaedcke - Hoff , Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 2000, ISBN 978-3-7648-2369-6 , 23-25.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bundeswehr / reserve officers - urge to drill. In: Der Spiegel. 44/1967, October 23, 1967.
  2. ↑ 1958-1992. Panzergrenadierbataillon 82 Page no longer available , search in web archives: 1958–1992. Panzer Grenadier Battalion 82@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.homepage-baukasten-daten.de
  3. ↑ Nobody came to me. In: Der Spiegel. 5/1978, January 30, 1978.
  4. ↑ 1st Airborne Division 1956–1994 (BH 8-9). Federal Archives, accessed on August 8, 2020 .
  5. ^ Matthias Molt: From the Wehrmacht to the Bundeswehr. Personnel continuity and discontinuity in the development of the German armed forces 1955–1966. Dissertation, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, 2007.
  6. ↑ Your deepest wish: peace. (PDF; 14.7 MB) In: The Ostpreußenblatt. September 1, 1984, p. 10.
  7. ↑ Regional district WEST ( Memento of the original from October 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Clausewitz Society eV @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.clausewitz-gesellschaft.de
personal data
SURNAME Zur Gathen, Heinz von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zur Gathen, Heinz Walther von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Lieutenant General of the Bundeswehr
DATE OF BIRTH June 30, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Sterkrade
DATE OF DEATH March 23, 2001