Walter Friedensburg (General)

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Walter Friedensburg (born January 6, 1889 in Berlin , † March 22, 1959 in Kassel ) was a German officer , most recently Lieutenant General in the Air Force in World War II .

Early years and World War I

Friedensburg occurred after graduating from high school, which he at school in Berlin-Steglitz had filed, on 19 July 1907 as an officer cadet in the Fusilier Regiment. 38 a.

After basic infantry training there , he switched to the Imperial Navy on May 19, 1908 , where he began practical on-board training on the training ship Hertha . From April 1909 to the end of March 1910, Friedensburg completed an officer training course at the Mürwik Naval School, followed by various ensign courses until the end of August of the same year. His on-board training took place from September 1910 to September 1912 on the liners Zähringen , Rhineland and Helgoland . Following this, Friedensburg acted as a company officer in the II Shipyard Division from October 1912 to January 2, 1913 . On January 3, 1913, he was posted to the Reichsmarineamt , where Friedensburg was used in the aviation department there. In June 1913 Friedensburg transferred to the naval air force . There he completed, beyond the outbreak of World War I , until mid-November 1914, training as a pilot in the Naval Aviation Department.

Following this, Friedensburg flew as a pilot first until mid-February 1915 at the Naval Air Station List and then until June 1915 at the Naval Air Station Helgoland . On June 10, 1915, he moved to the Wilhelmshaven naval air station in the same position , where he was deployed until mid-October 1915. On October 16, 1915 Friedensburg was appointed head of the Stralsund naval air station , which he then commanded until April 28, 1916. He was then from April 29, 1916 to August 6, 1917 head of the naval air station on Norderney . On August 7, 1917, he rose to head of department at the Sea Flight Test Command based in Warnemünde . Friedensburg held this position after the end of the war until July 14, 1919. On that day, he retired from military service with the rank of lieutenant captain and returned to civilian life.

Weimar Republic

On July 15, 1919, Friedensburg founded the company Friedensburg & Co. KG based in Berlin , which he managed until the end of June 1924. The company combined an engineering office and specialized in technical export and patent exploitation. In July 1924 he switched to the Densch & Jehnisch wagon and bodywork factory in Königsberg as managing director , where he remained until the end of December 1925. At the same time he flew during this time from March 1925 as an aircraft pilot, flight director and training manager at Aero Lloyd . At an unknown point in time in 1926, Friedensburg flew with Lufthansa in Hamburg , Cologne and Berlin until the end of October of the same year .

On November 1, 1926, Friedensburg was discontinued by Junkers Motorenbau and Junkers Flugzeugwerk in Dessau , where he was delegated as a foreign specialist to the company's general agency in Santiago de Chile and Valparaiso ( Chile ). Friedensburg held this position until March 1, 1929. At the same time he acted during this time from August 1927 to July 1928 as an instructor in the Chilean Army Aviation and then from July 1928 on with the Chilean Navy Aviation. From March 2 to June 10, 1929, Friedensburg undertook a study trip through South America with the permission of Junkers . He then returned to Germany and worked at Junkers from June 15, 1929 to mid-November of the same year as a flight captain and foreign clerk. On November 16, 1929, he was reappointed the company's general agent and sent to Cuba , Colombia and Venezuela . In Venezuela, Friedensburg acted from May to June 1931 as an instructor and specialist in aviation for the local government in Caracas . From June to December 1931, back in Germany, he worked again as a flight captain and foreign clerk at Junkers in Dessau. On January 1, 1932, Friedensburg was appointed general representative and authorized representative of the Junkers company for the third time and was sent to Venezuela, where he also worked as a consultant for aviation in the Venezuelan War Ministry until the end of May 1934.

National Socialism

On August 1, 1934, Friedensburg was reactivated by the Reichsmarine in the rank of corvette captain , but at the same time transferred to the air force, which was being established, with the appointment of major . Here he was assigned to the staff of the command of the flying schools (See) in Warnemünde until the end of 1934, where he had the status "available" with the inspector of the schools. From February to March 1935, he was also entrusted with representing the commander of this flying school. From April to mid-June 1935 Friedensburg received further training in aviation at the Aviation School in Hildesheim . Subsequently, on June 20, 1935, he was appointed commander of the Seefliegergruppe in Neu-Kladow , whose post he filled until the end of March 1936. On April 1, 1936, he rose to the command of the air force test site in Travemünde , where he also served as the air base commander of Travemünde until the end of September 1936.

On October 1, 1936, Friedensburg was appointed commander of the Neuruppin Aviation School , in whose capacity he was deployed there as the air base commander until the end of September 1937. From October 1, 1937 to August 3, 1938 he then held the post of commander of the Air Force School in Parow , in whose function he was again deployed as the air base commander there. On August 4, 1938, Friedensburg was posted to the Reich Ministry of Aviation , where he was posted to London until the end of March 1939, initially as an officer for special purposes and later as a member of the International Board of Non-Intervention in Spain .

Second World War

On April 1, 1939, Friedensburg was appointed Higher Aviation Training Commander 17 in Vienna , whose function he held until the end of March 1940 after the outbreak of the Second World War . He then returned to the Reich Ministry of Aviation in Berlin, where he was given the status of an officer "z. b. V. “stopped. On October 1, 1940, he was appointed Armaments Inspector IV based in Dresden , in whose capacity he was active until August 15, 1943. On August 16, 1943, he was appointed Special Officer South at Luftgau-Kommando III. He performed this activity until the end of May 1944. On May 31, 1944, Friedensburg retired from military service and was not reactivated until the end of the war. On April 14, 1945 Friedensburg was arrested by American associations and was then held as a US prisoner of war until May 20, 1947 .

Walter Friedensburg died on March 22, 1959 in Kassel. He was married twice and had a son. His brother was Ferdinand Friedensburg .

literature

• Karl Friedrich Hildebrand: The Generals of the German Air Force 1935-1945. Part II, Volume 1: Abernetty – v.Gyldenfeldt. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1990, ISBN 3-7648-1701-1 , pp. 320–322.