Otto Schönherr Edler von Schönleiten

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Otto Schönherr , officially Otto Schönherr Edler von Schönleiten from 1917 to 1919 , (born February 7, 1888 in St. Pölten , † June 2, 1954 in Ried im Oberinntal , Tyrol ) was an Austrian officer. He served until the collapse of Austria-Hungary in the Austro-Hungarian army , then in the Austrian Armed Forces of the 1st Republic . After Austria was annexed to the German Empire , he was a member of the Wehrmacht .

Life

Otto Schönherr Edler von Schönleiten was the son of k. Who was appointed major general at the end of 1917. u k. Officer Hugo Schönherr . When he was appointed, a year before the end of the monarchy in Austria, he had also received the hereditary title of noble noblewoman von Schönleiten . After his training at the Theresian Military Academy , Otto Schönherr joined the Austro-Hungarian Army as a lieutenant in 1909. At the beginning of the First World War he was appointed first lieutenant and in 1916 captain. After the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire of the family went to the nobility repeal Act 1919, the ennoblement lost.

After the end of the monarchy, Captain Schönherr joined the armed forces of the newly founded Republic of Austria, where he became a colonel in the Austrian General Staff. Otto Schönherr married Maria Koller on November 20, 1920. He is the father of the actor Dietmar Schönherr, who was born in 1926 . From 1922 Otto Schönherr studied political science in Innsbruck .

After the annexation of Austria to the German Reich in 1938, the so-called “ Anschluss of Austria ”, Schönherr was advised to switch to the German armed forces or to be dishonorably discharged from the armed forces. Schönherr consented, although he was against both the Anschluss and National Socialism.

Otto Schönherr, at that time already over 50 years old, soon afterwards moved with his family to Potsdam , as he was transferred to the regimental staff of Infantry Regiment No. 9 of the 23rd Infantry Division on November 10, 1938 . In Potsdam he met officers who later acted in the resistance against Hitler, including Henning von Tresckow , with whom he was friends. Otto Schönherr's attitude is also borne out by the poems found in his estate.

During the Second World War he commanded in the western campaign , the Infantry Regiment 178 of the 76th Infantry Division . In 1941 he took part with his regiment in the Balkan campaign and the attack on the Soviet Union . In mid-July 1941 he had to give up command. He was no longer on the front lines after a heart attack. He was promoted to major general on September 1, 1941, and in April 1942 he was appointed commander of the 230th Infantry Division , which was used for coastal defense in occupied Norway . At the same time he became the commandant of Stavanger Fortress . On October 10, 1942, he gave his command over the 230th Infantry Division and Stavanger Fortress.

In the further course of the war Otto Schönherr was promoted one more time to lieutenant general. Most recently he was in command of Division No. 418 stationed in Salzburg. He held this command until the German Wehrmacht surrendered in May 1945.

The family returned to Austria after the war and settled in Ried im Oberinntal near Landeck in Tyrol, where Otto Schönherr's grandfather came from. He died here in 1954.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Otto Schönherr in the finding aid for Ottomar Krug: Deutsche Generale 1867–1945 in the holdings of the Federal Archives , Freiburg im Breisgau 2015, data set .
  2. ↑ a b c d e Karl Liko: Retired in a stormy century. 100 years of retirement 1909 - 144 lieutenants and their fates . In: ÖMZ Online - Österreichische Militärische Zeitschrift , 5, pp. 21–26, 2009, p. 25.
  3. ↑ Believe in hope. Dietmar Schönherr tells from his life in the WDR-5 series Experienced Stories from May 21, 2006, audio file, 24:27 min .; on the dishonorable retirement from the military after the " Anschluss of Austria ", from 3:55 min.
  4. ↑ Believe in hope. Dietmar Schönherr tells from his life in the WDR-5 series Experienced Stories from May 21, 2006, audio file, 24:27 min .; to the "IR nine" from 7:40 min.
  5. ↑ Dietmar Schönherr, Sternloser Himmel , 2006, limited preview in the Google book search.
  6. ↑ Hanns-Georg Rodek : Hand kiss and provocation. In: Die Welt , May 18, 1996.


personal data
SURNAME Schönherr Edler von Schönleiten, Otto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian officer, officer in the German Wehrmacht
DATE OF BIRTH February 7, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Polten
DATE OF DEATH June 2, 1954
Place of death Ried in the Upper Inn Valley