Wilhelm Zehner

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Wilhelm Zehner (born September 2, 1883 in Bistritz , Transylvania , Austria-Hungary , † April 11, 1938 in Vienna ) was an Austrian infantry general . From 1934 to 1938 he was State Secretary in the Ministry of Defense . He was significantly involved in the modernization and technical development of the Federal Army and is therefore referred to as the father of the Austrian Federal Army .

It is unclear whether his death immediately after the annexation of Austria to the National Socialist German Reich was suicide or murder. In 2003, the armed forces published statements on the Internet suggesting murder.

Until the end of the First World War

After attending the Protestant-German secondary school in Bistritz, Zehner came to the infantry cadet school in Kamenitz in 1898. In 1902 he was retired as deputy cadet officer for the Imperial and Royal Infantry Regiment 61 in Temesvár . In 1903 he was promoted to lieutenant and in 1910 to first lieutenant . He was appointed military director three years later. In 1914 he was appointed director of the 14th Mountain Brigade, which operated in Serbia . After a short deployment on the Eastern Front, Zehner was assigned to “inspecting the united marching formation of the 1st Army”. His promotion to captain took place on December 10, 1916 with the 106th Infantry Regiment.

Interwar period

After the First World War he was taken over into the People's Army or the Federal Army in 1918 and promoted to major . In 1920, he led a battalion of Alpini - Regiment 8 in Braunau, later he served as commander of the Alpini Regiment 7 in Linz used. In 1921 he received the rank of titular lieutenant colonel in the Carinthian Alpine Jäger Regiment 11 and a little later that of lieutenant colonel . In 1925 he married Marianne (Maria; note) Krassnitzer in Klagenfurt . He was promoted to colonel in 1929. From 1931 he served as an officer assigned to the Brigade Command of the 4th Infantry Brigade in Linz, and in 1933 he was given command of the Upper Austrian Brigade. In the same year he was promoted to major general .

On July 11, 1934, Federal Chancellor Dollfuss appointed Zehner to his cabinet as State Secretary for National Defense in the “corporate state” . Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg promoted Zehner to General of the Infantry in November 1934 . Zehner held the post of State Secretary until Schuschnigg's resignation on March 11, 1938. H. until the "connection" , inside. He was succeeded by Major General Maximilian de Angelis . On March 12, Zehner submitted his retirement application as an officer; on March 15, 1938 Hitler demanded his (no longer required) removal in a Fuehrer's instruction.

Mysterious death

His death on April 11, 1938 in Vienna has remained a mystery. For a long time it was believed that, as a staunch opponent of National Socialism , he shot himself on the night of April 10th to 11th, 1938 while the Gestapo entered his apartment in Vienna. However, circumstantial evidence and testimony pointed to a murder by the Gestapo. Court proceedings initiated after 1945 led to an acquittal of the suspects in 1951 , but the probability is high that General Zehner was murdered as part of the National Socialist policy of persecution. The trial was mainly conducted according to Gestapo records. Zehner is buried in Vienna at the Döblinger Friedhof .

Awards

Honors and commemorations

General Zehner barracks of the PzGrenB 13 / Ried im Innkreis
  • On July 23, 1937 General Zehner was made an honorary citizen of the city of Ried im Innkreis for the establishment of a garrison and the construction of a new barracks .
  • On May 15, 1967, the army barracks in Ried im Innkreis were given the name General-Zehner-Kaserne .
  • Naming of the Zehnergasse, and the 4th district Zehnerviertel, in Wiener Neustadt

literature

  • Daniela Angetter: God save Austria! Wilhelm Zehner (1883–1938) - portrait of an Austrian soldier . Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2006, ISBN 978-3-7001-3743-6 , presentation
  • Hanspeter Zehner: “Murder or suicide? New findings on the violent death of General of the Infantry Wilhelm Zehner ” . In: Troop Service , Volume 271, Issue 4, 2003.
  • Hanspeter Zehner: Murder or Suicide? On the biography of General Wilhelm Zehner, Austrian State Secretary for National Defense 1934–1938 . In: ZfSL 25 (2002) pp. 186–198.
  • Martin Prieschl: General Wilhelm Zehner - the namesake of the barracks Ried im Innkreis . In: 50 years of rebuilding Garrison Ried - brave, steadfast and loyal . Ed. Von der 13er Kameradschaft, Moserbauer Druck & Verlag, Ried im Innkreis 2008, pp. 5–7; ISBN 978-3-902121-92-9 .
  • Martin Prieschl: General Wilhelm Zehner . In: Austria 1938–1945 - documents . Published by Archiv-Verlag, Braunschweig 2008.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Truppendienst magazine , issue 4/2003
  2. ^ High distinction from State Secretary G. d. I. tens. In:  Oesterreichische Wehrzeitung , July 16, 1937, p. 1 (online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / add.
  3. ↑ a b History of the Panzer Grenadier Battalion 13
personal data
SURNAME Zehner, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian general of the infantry
DATE OF BIRTH September 2, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Bistritz , Transylvania , Austria-Hungary
DATE OF DEATH April 11, 1938
Place of death Vienna