Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg
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Generalfeldmarschall Paul von Hindenburg.

 

Paul von Hindenburg was a German Field Marshal and statesman. Hindenburg enjoyed a long if undistinguished career in the Prussian Army, eventually retiring in 1911. He was recalled at the outbreak of World War I, and first came to national attention, at the age of 66, as the victor at Tannenberg in 1914. As Germany 's Chief of the General Staff from 1916, he and his deputy, Erich Ludendorff, rose in the German public's esteem until Hindenburg came to eclipse the Kaiser himself. Hindenburg retired again in 1919, but returned to public life one more time in 1925 to be elected as the second President of Germany.

Though 84 years old and in poor health, Hindenburg was persuaded to run for re-election in 1932 as he was considered the only candidate who could defeat Adolf Hitler. Hindenburg was re-elected in a runoff but nonetheless played an important role in the Nazi Party's rise to power, dissolving parliament twice in 1932 and eventually appointing Hitler as Chancellor in January 1933. In February, he issued the Reichstag Fire Decree which suspended various civil liberties, and in March he signed the Enabling Act, in which parliament gave Hitler's government legislative powers. Hindenburg died the following year, after which Hitler declared the office of President vacant and, as "Führer und Reichskanzler", made himself head of state.

The famed zeppelin Hindenburg that was destroyed by fire in 1937 had been named in his honour, as is the Hindenburgdamm, a causeway joining the island of Sylt to mainland Schleswig-Holstein that was built during his time in office. The previously German Upper Silesian town of Zabrze (German: Hindenburg O.S.) was also renamed after him in 1915.

Hindenburg died at the age of 86 from lung cancer at his home in Neudeck , East Prussia on August 2, 1934.

(Text courtesy of Wikipedia)

 

Generalfeldmarschall Paul von Hindenburg, date and location unknown.

 

Generalfeldmarschall Paul von Hindenburg, date and location unknown.

 

Generalfeldmarschall Paul von Hindenburg (left), Kaiser Wilhelm II (center) and Generalquartiermeister Erich Ludendorff seen in 1917.

 



Paul von Hindenburg
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Paul von Hindenburg
Page published June 13, 2009