Valentin Müller

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Valentin Müller (born August 15, 1891 in Zeilitzheim , † July 31, 1951 in Munich ) was a German doctor who was a senior physician in the German army during World War II .

Life

Müller was born in 1891 in Zeilitzheim in Lower Franconia, today a district of Kolitzheim , and baptized a Catholic. At the age of 13 he attended the Kilianeum , the episcopal boys' seminar in Würzburg . In 1911, at the age of 20, he graduated from high school there and studied medicine in Würzburg. He became an active member of the K.St.V. Normannia Würzburg in KV . During his studies he was drafted into the Bavarian Army as a soldier in World War I and served at the front. He was awarded the Silver Military Merit Medal and was captured by the British.

In 1933 he moved with his family to Eichstätt and opened a doctor's practice there. After Hitler came to power , he was the only local doctor who still visited sick Jewish patients at home during this time.

At the beginning of the Second World War , Valentin Müller was appointed colonel physician and was called up again. He took part in the campaigns against Poland (1939), against France (1940) and against Russia (from July 1941). Because of his unyielding Christian-religious attitude, he came into conflicts with the Wehrmacht several times and was under observation. He is said to have not tolerated a soldier cursing or blaspheming in his presence. "... I do not allow what is sacred to me to be dragged into my excrement."

In 1942 he was instructed to build the first military hospital in Stalingrad . Only a few days before the Red Army enclosed the city , however, he was ordered to Lourdes to set up a department for the transport of the injured. He arrived in Italy in 1943 as head of this department. In September 1943, Müller became city commander of Assisi . On the basis of Müller's proposals, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring declared Assisi an open and thus undefended city as a hospital center. The city could therefore no longer be attacked according to the Hague Land Warfare Regulations .

The situation in Italy at the time

In September 1943, the relationship between the Wehrmacht and the Italians changed dramatically: Mussolini was ousted by the Great Fascist Council and then on the orders of King Victor Emmanuel III. been arrested. On September 3, two British divisions landed on the Italian mainland with minimal resistance from the defenders. On the same day, the new Italian government concluded the Cassibile armistice with the Western Allies .

Thereupon the Wehrmacht started the 'Operation Alarich' (later renamed Case Axis ): They arrested Italian soldiers and became the occupiers of the country. On September 10th, German troops occupied Rome and on September 12th, a German special command succeeded in freeing Mussolini from his captivity in the Hotel Campo Imperatore (→ Company Eiche ). According to the report of Army Group B, a total of 82 Italian generals, 13,000 other officers and around 400,000 soldiers had been disarmed and taken prisoner by September 19, 1943.

Albert Kesselring was appointed Commander-in-Chief Southwest and Commander-in-Chief of Army Group C on November 21, 1943 ; he was also given executive power in the Italian operational areas.

Services

Müller had or found support from his commanding general .

When Müller raised his concern at Kesselring that Wehrmacht troops on the retreat might occupy Assisi, the latter issued an order that forbade the troops to enter Assisi. Müller's secret passive consent also benefited Father Rufino Niccacci , who headed an underground organization to rescue persecuted Jews. Disguised as monks and nuns, they found refuge behind monastery walls. Father Rufino was later recognized as “ Righteous Among the Nations ” in Yad Vashem . As a devout Catholic, Müller was also averse to the destruction of churches, monasteries and art monuments, which SS troops in particular sometimes did. In view of the military situation, Müller and Bishop Giuseppe Placido Nicolini came to the conclusion that only the expansion of the hospital in the city and the associated official declaration of Assisi as a "hospital town" could make it possible to save it. For this purpose, as more and more wounded came from the approaching front in the village, the Papal Regional Seminary of Umbria had to be rededicated as a hospital . The first wounded were admitted there on June 3, 1944.

All warring parties recognized Assisi as a hospital city and also respected it as such. Due to his character, Müller enjoyed a high reputation among Germans and Italians. A saying of the residents became a popular saying: “We have three protectors: God , St. Franziskus and Colonel Müller ”, even the partisans gave the slogan that“ no hair should be bent ”.

When the German troops withdrew - 2,000 wounded left Assisi on the morning of June 15, 1944 - Müller left large quantities of valuable medicines and medical facilities in the city.

He himself stayed in Assisi until the last moment. The rearguard consisted of an SS battalion. During his retreat, the latter set fire to numerous buildings in front of the city, but did not enter Assisi after a conversation with Müller. Müller left Assisi early on June 16.

He was from the a few weeks later the US Army in captivity taken.

In 1950 he was invited to Assisi with his family. The whole city received him like a hero.

In the spring of 1951 he was diagnosed with lung cancer that had already metastasized to the brain . On July 31, 1951, two weeks before he would turn 60, Valentin Müller died in a hospital in Munich and was buried in Eichstätt. The silhouette of the Basilica of San Francesco and the Sacro Convento in Assisi is carved on his tombstone . A memorial plaque on Viale Vittorio Emanuele II in Assisi still commemorates the savior and benefactor of the city.

Movie

In 1984 Alexander Ramati filmed a fictional novella set in Assisi in 1943/44 (the German title is: The Assisi Underground . Maximilian Schell in the role of Valentin Müller, in other roles: Ben Cross , James Mason , Irene Papas , Giancarlo Prete , Karlheinz Hackl ). In the film store, two Jews steal a blank order from Marshal Kesselring; with this they declare the city to be a hospital city.

Posthumous

There is a memorial stone for Müller in Zeilitzheim .

At Müller's former home in Eichstätt in Luitpoldstrasse. 14 there is a memorial plaque.

literature

  • Francesco Santucci: With courage and energy to rescue Assisi. The German doctor Valentin Müller and the rescue of the city in World War II. German by Josef Raischl. Editrice Minerva, Assisi 1999, ISBN 88-87021-18-X , (M-154).
  • Josef Raischl SFO, Andrè Cirino OFM: Three heroes of Assisi in World War II. Bishop Giuseppe Nicolini, Colonel Valentin Muller, Don Aldo Brunacci. Editrice Minerva, Assisi 2005, ISBN 88-87021-73-2 , (M-197).
  • Alexander Ramati : The Assisi Underground. Assisi and the Nazi occupation according to the report by Father Rufino Niccacci. Ullstein, Frankfurt am Main et al. 1986, ISBN 3-548-33071-1 , ( Ullstein 33071 contemporary history ).
  • Siegfried Koß: Valentin Müller. In: Siegfried Koß, Wolfgang Löhr (Hrsg.): Biographisches Lexikon des KV. 3rd part (= Revocatio historiae. Volume 4). SH-Verlag, Schernfeld 1994, ISBN 3-89498-014-1 , pp. 80f.
  • The savior of Assisi. In: Academic monthly sheets. 100, February 1988, 2, ISSN  0002-3000 , pp. 1–2, online (PDF; 6.6 MB) .
  • Dr. Valentin Müller - Savior of the city of Assisi in 1944. ( Memento from October 28, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) A picture of life. By Bernadette Raischl, the youngest daughter of Robert, the son of Valentin Müller.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Zeilitzheim - village tour (memorial stone = last section)
  2. ↑ Bernadette Raischl, (granddaughter) in: Dr. Valentin Müller, a picture of life. ( Memento from October 28, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 28 kB), field post letter from February 14, 1941
  3. ↑ André Cirino OFM, Bernadette Raischl: Colonel Valentin Mueller and his role in saving the city of Assisi in World War II ( Memento of October 28, 2018 in the Internet Archive ), page 19 (English)
  4. ^ André Cirino OFM, Bernadette Raischl: Colonel Valentin Mueller and his role in saving the city of Assisi in World War II ( Memento of October 28, 2018 in the Internet Archive ), page 18 (English)
  5. ↑ André Cirino OFM, Bernadette Raischl: Colonel Valentin Mueller and his role in saving the city of Assisi in World War II ( Memento of October 28, 2018 in the Internet Archive ), page 20 (English)
  6. ↑ Report of his daughter Irmgard Müller In: Dr. Valentin Müller and the rescue of the city of Assisi in World War II. ( Memento of October 28, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 28 kB), page 2
  7. ↑ Raischl / Cirino: . Three heroes of Assisi in World War II p.106.
  8. ↑ The northernmost street in the “Am Schweinfurter Tor” development area is called 'Dr.-Valentin-Müller-Straße'. At its end stands the stone, framed by three linden trees. Inscription: “In memory of Oberstarzt Dr. Valentin Müller * August 15, 1891 in Zeilitzheim, (died) July 31, 1951 in Munich. Savior of the city of Assisi. "
personal data
SURNAME Müller, Valentin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German doctor
DATE OF BIRTH August 15, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Zeilitzheim
DATE OF DEATH July 31, 1951
Place of death Munich