Zdenko Paumgartten

Zdenko Paumgartten (born November 24, 1903 in Mostywielki , Austria-Hungary ; † October 27, 1984 in Salzburg ), was an Austrian infantry general and from 1961 to 1968 commander of Group III in Salzburg.

Life

As the son of the Austro-Hungarian officer Eugen von Paumgartten (1864–1941) and Franziska de Paula, b. Countess Logothetti (1873–1941), born in Galicia , attended elementary school in Hall in Tirol , the military junior high school in Bad Fischau in Lower Austria and the infantry cadet school in Vienna-Breitensee . When the old empire collapsed, he joined the Hungarian troops loyal to the king at the age of 16. After several years of work in the civil economy, he began his service in the first federal army on April 7, 1926 with the Tyrolean Alpine Jäger Regiment No. 12. In the following five years he passed through the lowest batch grades until he was admitted to officer training in 1931 . He ended it in 1933 and returned to his regiment as an ensign. In January 1934 he became a lieutenant , and at the end of 1937 he became a first lieutenant in command of an MG company.

After the German invasion of 1938 he was accepted into the Wehrmacht , promoted to captain in October and called up on September 1, 1939 for general staff training in Berlin. The practical training took place during the training period. On November 1, 1941, he was accepted into the General Staff and took part in the campaigns in France, the Soviet Union and Finland in staffs at the divisional and corps level. In January 1942 major i. G. promoted, he was first in the staff of the 7th Mountain Division and from September 1942 first general staff officer (Ia) with the XXVI. Army Corps. In April 1943 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel i. G. promoted. From September 1, 1943 he was Chief of Staff of the LI. Mountain Army Corps .

After the end of the war, he immediately made himself available to the resurrected republic and was appointed head of the Army Office in Tyrol on August 1, 1945. After their dissolution, forced by the Allies, he was initially retired. After a short service at the Innsbruck magistrate, he was the liaison officer of the Innsbruck branch of the Federal Chancellery at the command of the US troops in Salzburg on behalf of the French occupying power until 1955. During these years he also completed his studies in economics with a degree in economics and finally in 1952 with a doctorate. His preparatory work for the re-establishment of the federal army , which he carried out in collaboration with General Liebitzky and Colonel Maximilian Ronge , who later worked in Vienna and who was the last head of the evidence office, of the military intelligence service of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy under the Dollfuss era from 1933 as head of the military secret service was of particular importance of the State Police Special Bureau, performed. As the Austrian representative at the so-called “Salzburg Committee” - the liaison point to the Western Allies for the purpose of setting up armed forces - he was in close contact with Liebitzky's “Vienna Committee”.

After the conclusion of the state treaty, Paumgartten was taken over as a colonel in the staff of the new federal army. Since the beginning of 1956 he was transferred to the General Staff - at that time known as the “higher military service” - and initially dealt with organizational issues. From August 1957 he became the first military and air attaché at the Austrian embassy in Paris. In April 1960 he returned to work as Deputy Head of Section I, General Liebitzky . On July 1, 1961, he was appointed commander of Group III in Salzburg and made major general. On July 1, 1966, he was promoted to General of the Infantry . After seven and a half years as a commander, he retired at the end of 1968.

literature

• Stefan Bader: At the top. The generals of the Federal Army of the Second Republic . Vienna 2004, p. 248 ff.