Alexander Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg
Encyclopedia
Alexander Franz Clemens Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (15 March 1905 in Stuttgart
– 27 January 1964 in Munich
) was a German aristocrat and historian
.
Alexander was the younger twin of Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg
. Berthold, along with the youngest brother Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg
, is known for leading the July 20 Plot
against Hitler in 1944.
, Alfred Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, and Caroline née Gräfin von Üxküll-Gyllenband. Among Alexander's ancestors were several famous Prussia
ns, including most notably August von Gneisenau
. His name points to the imperial Hohenstaufen
mountain and castle.
Alexander Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg went to school in Stuttgart and studied ancient history
at the University of Heidelberg, University of Jena, University of Munich and University of Halle. He and his brothers were introduced by Albrecht von Blumenthal
to the circle of the mystic symbolist poet Stefan George
, many of whose followers later worked for the German Resistance
to National Socialism.
about Hiero II of Syracuse
. He lectured at the University of Berlin, University of Gießen, and at Würzburg, where he was appointed assistant professor in 1936 and professor in 1941, after having been wounded in Russia. He accepted a call to the Reichsuniversität Straßburg in December 1942, but had to serve in the army again, first at the Eastern Front, where he was wounded again in late 1943. He used the time to finish a book about Stefan George
, called Tod des Meisters. In July 1944, Alexander was in Athens
as a lieutenant at the artillery command of the 68th Army Corps.
-Wilmersdorf
, Alexander had married the aviatrix and engineer Melitta Schiller, who had been released from the German Luftwaffe in 1936 owing to her Jewish roots. Although she had been reinstated and was very active developing and testing war planes, she might nevertheless have been under surveillance.
failed, Alexander did not take the opportunity to escape to Egypt but returned to Berlin to defend himself. He was arrested, as his wife and all others bearing the family name had been. After his arrest, Stauffenberg told the Gestapo that he: “took the view that the Jewish question should have been dealt with in a "less extreme manner" because then it would have produced less disturbance among the population”
Although his brothers were executed and the rest of the adult family members were held in concentration camps, Alexander's wife Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg
was released on 2 September 1944, because of her importance in the development of aircraft. She was now called "Gräfin Schenk", since Hitler wanted to erase the name Stauffenberg. In the final weeks of the war, Melitta's aircraft was shot down by an American fighter; she died hours later from the bullet wounds.
In late April 1945, Alexander Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg was transferred to Tyrol
together with about 140 other prominent inmates of the Dachau concentration camp, where the SS left the prisoners behind. He was liberated by the Fifth U.S. Army on 5 May 1945.
. His field of research focused on late antiquity
, ancient Sicily
, and Magna Graecia
.
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
– 27 January 1964 in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
) was a German aristocrat and historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
.
Alexander was the younger twin of Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg
Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg
Berthold Alfred Maria Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg was a German aristocrat, lawyer and conspirator in the 20 July plot of 1944, along with his brother, Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, an army colonel...
. Berthold, along with the youngest brother Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg
Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg
Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg commonly referred to as Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg was a German army officer and Catholic aristocrat who was one of the leading members of the failed 20 July plot of 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler and remove the Nazi Party from...
, is known for leading the July 20 Plot
July 20 Plot
On 20 July 1944, an attempt was made to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Führer of the Third Reich, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia. The plot was the culmination of the efforts of several groups in the German Resistance to overthrow the Nazi-led German government...
against Hitler in 1944.
Early life
The brothers were born into an old and distinguished aristocratic South German Catholic family. Their parents were the last Oberhofmarschall of the Kingdom of WürttembergKingdom of Württemberg
The Kingdom of Württemberg was a state that existed from 1806 to 1918, located in present-day Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which came into existence in 1495...
, Alfred Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, and Caroline née Gräfin von Üxküll-Gyllenband. Among Alexander's ancestors were several famous Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
ns, including most notably August von Gneisenau
August von Gneisenau
August Wilhelm Antonius Graf Neidhardt von Gneisenau was a Prussian field marshal. He was a prominent figure in the reform of the Prussian military and the War of Liberation.-Early life:...
. His name points to the imperial Hohenstaufen
Hohenstaufen
The House of Hohenstaufen was a dynasty of German kings in the High Middle Ages, lasting from 1138 to 1254. Three of these kings were also crowned Holy Roman Emperor. In 1194 the Hohenstaufens also became Kings of Sicily...
mountain and castle.
Alexander Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg went to school in Stuttgart and studied ancient history
Ancient history
Ancient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...
at the University of Heidelberg, University of Jena, University of Munich and University of Halle. He and his brothers were introduced by Albrecht von Blumenthal
Von Blumenthal
The von Blumenthal family are German nobility from Brandenburg-Prussia. Other, unrelated, families of this name exist in Switzerland and formerly in Russia, and many unrelated families called "Blumenthal" without "von" are to be found worldwide.The family was already noble from earliest times ,...
to the circle of the mystic symbolist poet Stefan George
Stefan George
Stefan Anton George was a German poet, editor, and translator.-Biography:George was born in Bingen in Germany in 1868. He spent time in Paris, where he was among the writers and artists who attended the Tuesday soireés held by the poet Stéphane Mallarmé. He began to publish poetry in the 1890s,...
, many of whose followers later worked for the German Resistance
German Resistance
The German resistance was the opposition by individuals and groups in Germany to Adolf Hitler or the National Socialist regime between 1933 and 1945. Some of these engaged in active plans to remove Adolf Hitler from power and overthrow his regime...
to National Socialism.
Career
Alexander earned a Ph.D. in 1928 in Halle and habilitated in 1931 at the University of WürzburgUniversity of Würzburg
The University of Würzburg is a university in Würzburg, Germany, founded in 1402. The university is a member of the distinguished Coimbra Group.-Name:...
about Hiero II of Syracuse
Hiero II of Syracuse
Hieron II , king of Syracuse from 270 to 215 BC, was the illegitimate son of a Syracusan noble, Hierocles, who claimed descent from Gelon. He was a former general of Pyrrhus of Epirus and an important figure of the First Punic War....
. He lectured at the University of Berlin, University of Gießen, and at Würzburg, where he was appointed assistant professor in 1936 and professor in 1941, after having been wounded in Russia. He accepted a call to the Reichsuniversität Straßburg in December 1942, but had to serve in the army again, first at the Eastern Front, where he was wounded again in late 1943. He used the time to finish a book about Stefan George
Stefan George
Stefan Anton George was a German poet, editor, and translator.-Biography:George was born in Bingen in Germany in 1868. He spent time in Paris, where he was among the writers and artists who attended the Tuesday soireés held by the poet Stéphane Mallarmé. He began to publish poetry in the 1890s,...
, called Tod des Meisters. In July 1944, Alexander was in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
as a lieutenant at the artillery command of the 68th Army Corps.
The plot
Because of Alexander's tendency to be outspoken, and because his wife was of Jewish ancestry, his brothers refrained from telling him about their plot to assassinate the Führer. On 11 August 1937 at BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
-Wilmersdorf
Wilmersdorf
Wilmersdorf is an inner city locality of Berlin, formerly a borough by itself but since Berlin's 2001 administrative reform a part of the new borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf.-History:...
, Alexander had married the aviatrix and engineer Melitta Schiller, who had been released from the German Luftwaffe in 1936 owing to her Jewish roots. Although she had been reinstated and was very active developing and testing war planes, she might nevertheless have been under surveillance.
Post-plot
After the July 20 PlotJuly 20 Plot
On 20 July 1944, an attempt was made to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Führer of the Third Reich, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia. The plot was the culmination of the efforts of several groups in the German Resistance to overthrow the Nazi-led German government...
failed, Alexander did not take the opportunity to escape to Egypt but returned to Berlin to defend himself. He was arrested, as his wife and all others bearing the family name had been. After his arrest, Stauffenberg told the Gestapo that he: “took the view that the Jewish question should have been dealt with in a "less extreme manner" because then it would have produced less disturbance among the population”
Although his brothers were executed and the rest of the adult family members were held in concentration camps, Alexander's wife Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg
Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg
Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg, born Melitta Schiller , was a German aviatrix who served as a test pilot for the German Luftwaffe before and during World War II...
was released on 2 September 1944, because of her importance in the development of aircraft. She was now called "Gräfin Schenk", since Hitler wanted to erase the name Stauffenberg. In the final weeks of the war, Melitta's aircraft was shot down by an American fighter; she died hours later from the bullet wounds.
In late April 1945, Alexander Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg was transferred to Tyrol
Transport of concentration camp inmates to Tyrol
The Transport of Inmates of German Concentration Camps to Tyrol happened in late April 1945 and led to the only time such prisoners were liberated by German troops.- Transfer and liberation:...
together with about 140 other prominent inmates of the Dachau concentration camp, where the SS left the prisoners behind. He was liberated by the Fifth U.S. Army on 5 May 1945.
Postwar
In 1948, Alexander Graf Stauffenberg became a professor of ancient history at the University of Munich, where he remained until his death. In 1951, he became the founder and first president of the Kommission für Alte Geschichte und Epigraphik, which became a part of the German Archaeological InstituteGerman Archaeological Institute
The German Archaeological Institute is an institution of research within the field of archaeology , and a "scientific corporation", with parentage of the federal Foreign Office of Germany-Origin:...
. His field of research focused on late antiquity
Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world. Precise boundaries for the period are a matter of debate, but noted historian of the period Peter Brown proposed...
, ancient Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, and Magna Graecia
Magna Graecia
Magna Græcia is the name of the coastal areas of Southern Italy on the Tarentine Gulf that were extensively colonized by Greek settlers; particularly the Achaean colonies of Tarentum, Crotone, and Sybaris, but also, more loosely, the cities of Cumae and Neapolis to the north...
.
Personal life
He married secondly on 23 July 1949 Marlene Hoffmann, born at Gross Roppershausen on 10 July 1913. He had no issue by either of his marriages.External links
- Biography
- http://www.schwaben-kultur.de/pdfs/2003-3.pdf
- Schenk von Stauffenberg