Waldemar von Riedel

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Waldemar von Riedel (born October 19, 1879 in Metz ; † June 2, 1945 in Bad Kreuznach ) was a German officer and personal assistant to President Paul von Hindenburg .

Life and political activity

As a young man, Waldemar von Riedel embarked on the career of a professional officer. As an officer in the 3rd Guards Regiment on foot , he met Oskar von Hindenburg , among others . From 1914 to 1918 Riedel took part in the First World War. By the time he left military service, von Riedel had achieved the rank of major . His daughters Maria (* July 12, 1914) and Ursula (December 29, 1919) were born from his marriage in 1913.

After the election of Hindenburg to second the President of the Weimar Republic in May 1925 was by Riedel as a Councilor in the staff of the Reich President appointed. A report by the Weltbühne in 1934 traced Riedel's appointment back to the influence of Kurt von Schleicher , who at that time had begun to trust everyone in the conservative officer clique, which centered on himself, Wilhelm Groener and Oskar von Hindenburg smuggle in important ministries. Von Riedel was especially "maneuvered into the presidential palace as a helper" in order to torpedo Gustav Stresemann's foreign policy there in cooperation with confidants in other ministries .

As Hindenburg's personal advisor, Riedel was primarily responsible for processing the entries and letters that were sent to the Reich President. Since his office was in the immediate vicinity of the Reich President, he also prepared many of the head of state's guests for their audiences at Hindenburg. His constant closeness to the president, whose constant companion was Riedel, also enabled him to directly influence the president, and thus his political thoughts and decisions, during the official lecture or in informal conversation. The conservative employees of Vice Chancellor Franz von Papen in 1933/34 took political advantage of this fact , in order to inform the Reich President - who at that time was systematically sealed off from the public by the National Socialists - via von Riedel about grievances that had set in since the transfer of state power to the Hitler government in the German Reich.

In the nine years in which von Riedel worked in the vicinity of the Reich President from 1925 until Hindenburg's death in August 1934, he was promoted to Ministerial Director .

Von Riedel died shortly after the end of World War II at the age of 65 in the American prison camp in Bad Kreuznach . He is buried on the war cemetery in Bad Kreuznach-Lohrer Wald.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Matthias Schmettow: Gedenkbuch des Deutschen Nels , 1967, p. 275.
  2. ↑ Bundesarchiv Lichterfelde R 601/315 (Office of the Reich President from April 23, 1934 from Riedel because of the discontinuation of his child allowance).
  3. ↑ Die Weltbühne 1934, vol. 2 (reprint of issues 27–52), p. 842.
  4. ↑ Volksbund war graves .
personal data
SURNAME Riedel, Waldemar von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German civil servant
DATE OF BIRTH October 19, 1879
PLACE OF BIRTH Metz
DATE OF DEATH June 2, 1945
Place of death Bad Kreuznach