Karl Lütgendorf

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Karl Ferdinand Lütgendorf , born Karl Ferdinand Freiherr von Lütgendorf (born October 15, 1914 in Brno , Moravia ; † October 9, 1981 in Schwarzau im Gebirge , Lower Austria ) was an Austrian officer and politician .

Life

Lütgendorf came from a noble family, which also included the aviation pioneer Joseph Maximilian Freiherr von Lütgendorf (1750-1829) and the German painter and art historian Willibald Leo von Lütgendorff-Leinburg (1856-1937).

Lütgendorf was born as the only child of the then kuk military commander of Brno , Major General Michael Moritz Freiherr von Lütgendorf (1879–1974) and Anna-Maria Eugenia von Lütgendorf, née Radl von Radlingen (1892–1974). Lütgendorf attended elementary school and grammar school in Graz, where his father, who was taken over into the Austrian Armed Forces after the First World War , initially headed the army administration office and was later deputy brigadier of the 5th Brigade “Styria”.

Military career

He joined the army in November 1933. After the one- year volunteer year with the Light Artillery Regiment 2 in the Federal Army of the First Republic in Kaiserebersdorf , Lütgendorf graduated from the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt from 1934 to 1937 . On April 1, 1937, he was promoted to lieutenant . He was assigned to the 7th Light Artillery Regiment. After the annexation of Austria he was accepted into the German armed forces . He initially served in the Mountain Artillery Rgt. 112 and later in the Mountain Artillery Rgt. 79. He attended the War Academy and, after completing all exams, became an officer of the General Staff. As an officer in the general staff of the mountain troops , he took part in World War II . In Norway he was 2nd General Staff Officer (Ib) of the 2nd Mountain Division . While working there, he was buried and seriously injured. He then served in the organization department of the Army High Command . At the end of the war he was a major enemy intelligence officer (Ic) in the 8th Army . With the surrender of the Wehrmacht in May 1945, he became an American prisoner of war. He was released in July 1946.

From 1948 onwards, during the time of occupation by the Allies , he took part in the establishment of the so-called B-Gendarmerie , the forerunner of the Austrian army . In August 1956 he was accepted as a lieutenant colonel of the higher military service (general staff) in the newly founded armed forces in Klagenfurt , where he served as the first chief of staff in the Carinthian 7th Brigade . The superior command at that time was Group Command II in Graz.

From 1958 he was head of department for military training in the Federal Ministry for National Defense . From 1961 he discussed " guerrilla warfare " as a conceivable procedure for the armed forces of the 2nd Republic. The now Colonel of the General Staff sent officers on the ranger course of the US Army or parachute training in France. In 1963 he had the first course for "special training" carried out and also included this method in simulation games and year-end exercises (1963 and 1964) at the military academy.

Already in the first regulation for infantry combat training of the B-Gendarmerie it was stipulated that " combat commands " should be used for "special combat tasks" in enemy territory . Accordingly, when the armed forces were built after 1955, " combat platoons " were set up within the framework of the infantry battalions with special training for reconnaissance , raiding troops and small-scale war-like companies. The best combat platoon was that of the infantry combat school at that time, an elite body of the young armed forces. It consisted largely of top athletes who were subjected to demanding military training by non-commissioned officers, some of whom were serving in the war. With the disbandment of the infantry battalions, however, the expertise that had been built up until then seemed to be lost again. For this reason Lütgendorf founded the Jagdkommando .

For many of the serving officers, the “guerrilla war” was only conceivable as a “last resort” to continue the fight with forces locked in or left behind, but the more progressive thinking officers, such as Major General Emil Spannocchi , saw it as a way of using specially trained forces To damage opponents in their depths.

In 1966 Lütgendorf was promoted to brigadier . After Johann Freihsler resigned for health reasons, Lütgendorf was appointed to the SPÖ sole government on February 10, 1971 by Federal Chancellor Bruno Kreisky as independent defense minister . A detail worth mentioning on the side: When Karl Lütgendorf's father received notification of the appointment of his son as Minister of Defense, he said to his son on the phone: “I am ashamed. Because you are not serving an emperor, but a republic. "

Federal Minister for National Defense 1971–1977

Despite all reservations, Lütgendorf implemented a reduction in military service in early 1971. The Federal Minister intensified the discrepancies in the conceptual area through a largely single-handedly worked out army structure, and Major General Spannocchi, an outstanding military strategist, increasingly became the carrier of the progressive ideas of a hold-off strategy on the basis of spatial warfare. The main processes of " space defense " were fighting in key zones and fighting in security zones. However, these had to be expanded to include the procedures of “security deployment” and “spatially limited defensive combat”, neither of which, however, could follow the principles of achieving the holding. The opinion prevailed that the holding - i.e. Austria's recess from a conflict - must have priority over the operational implementation and thus the deployment of forces in the main threat area.

Under Lütgendorf as Defense Minister, the Austrian Armed Forces took part in several foreign deployments and UN missions:

  • 1973: Relocation of parts of the Austrian Cyprus battalion to the Suez Canal as part of the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF). The battalions in Cyprus and Egypt were completely replenished by November 16. The Cyprus battalion has been deployed in the Larnaka district (southeastern part) since December 3 .

During his six-year term in office, the veteran general, born into a family loyal to the imperial and imperial monarchy, had a lasting influence on the military policy of the Second Republic. For example, the Spannocchi Doctrine , according to which the armed forces were reorganized from 1973 to 1986, would probably not have been implemented without him. In 1974, during the public excitement surrounding the publication of the Soviet Polarka plan, he was asked to resign.

Because of the suspicion of being involved in illegal arms deals, the minister offered the then Federal President Rudolf Kirchschläger his resignation on May 31, 1977 .

Until his death he held several board positions and lived on his hunting estate in Lower Austria.

Unexplained circumstances of death

Lütgendorf died on October 9, 1981 in Schwarzau in the mountains under unexplained circumstances: “He was still in his car, the engine was off, both doors were locked. Leaning forward, bleeding from his mouth, nose and ears (...) Lütgendorf held a Smith & Wesson revolver in his left hand . The community doctor determined death by suicide. “Lütgendorf is buried in the community cemetery of Schwarzau in the mountains.

Though authorities suspect his death was a suicide , rumors that he was killed on his hunting expedition have not stopped. Missing farewell letters are given as clues. According to ORF , however, there are allegedly two farewell letters with the public prosecutor under lock and key. But both supporters of the suicidal opinion and those who assume third-party negligence suspect the reason in the knowledge or involvement in the Lucona case . Other research led to the assumption that Lütgendorf was murdered by a cell of the then state security service of the GDR . What is certain is that Lütgendorf maintained the highest military and political contacts internationally for decades, including with the then Egyptian President Muhammad Anwar as-Sadat . When he was murdered by his own bodyguard in front of the cameras on October 6, 1981 during a military parade, Lütgendorf was with a hunting party. According to his son Philipp Lütgendorf, his father turned pale as a sheet at the news of Sadat's death, thought he was next, and asked the host for an office from which he could telephone.

What seems suspicious to the doubters of Lütgendorf's suicide version is, on the one hand, that he was found firmly in his left hand with a revolver which, firstly, was not registered on him and, secondly, had no fingerprints whatsoever - in addition, Lütgendorf was right-handed. On the other hand, the projectile entered through the closed mouth, i.e. through the closed teeth, which for many officers is an indication of third-party negligence. It is still suspicious that Lütgendorf was found dead in his off-road vehicle. It is also surprising that, for reasons of state security policy, the autopsy was only initiated by court order 10 years later, despite a violent death. In the book by Hans Pretterebner , "The Lucona Case", it is pointed out that Proksch obtained explosives from the military, with a high-ranking minister said to have given appropriate instructions. Investigations into the collapse of the Reichsbrücke led to further speculation.

The unexplained circumstances of death were dealt with by the author and director Thomas Roth in the Tatort episode True Lies (2019).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kurt Tozzer , Günther Kallinger; Death trap politics; (c) 1999, Niederösterreichischer Presse Verlag; ISBN 3-85326-119-1 .
  2. ↑ Petra Stuiber , Karl Lütgendorf: A mysterious death , Der Standard, October 9, 2016 ( online )
  3. ↑ Broadcast of Tat-Dinge on September 22, 2006.
  4. ↑ diepresse.com: Political Austro "crime scene", "True Lies" scratch the million . Article from January 14, 2019, accessed on January 15, 2019.
  5. ^ Diepresse.com: Karl Lütgendorf: "Lü" took his secret to the grave . Article from January 14, 2019, accessed on January 15, 2019.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Lütgendorf, Karl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lütgendorf, Karl Ferdinand von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian officer and politician
DATE OF BIRTH October 15, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Brno , Moravia
DATE OF DEATH October 9, 1981
Place of death Schwarzau in the mountains , Lower Austria