Valkyrie is a 2008 American historical thriller film set in Nazi Germany during World War II. The film depicts the 20 July plot in 1944 by German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and to use the Operation Valkyrie national emergency plan to take control of the country. Valkyrie was directed by Bryan Singer for the American studio United Artists, and the film stars Tom Cruise as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, one of the key plotters. The cast included Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Eddie Izzard, Terence Stamp and Tom Wilkinson.

Cruise's casting caused controversy among German politicians and members of the von Stauffenberg family due to the actor's practice of Scientology, which is viewed with suspicion in Germany. Because of this, the film makers initially had difficulty setting up filming locations in Germany, but they were later given access to film in locations pertaining to the film's story, such as Berlin's historic Bendlerblock. German newspapers and filmmakers supported the film and its attempt to spread global awareness of von Stauffenberg's plot.

The film changed release dates several times, from as early as June 27, 2008 to as late as February 14, 2009. The changing calendar and poor response to United Artists' initial marketing campaign drew criticism about the studio's viability. After a positive test screening, Valkyrie's release in North America was ultimately changed to December 25, 2008. United Artists renewed its marketing campaign to reduce its focus on Cruise and to highlight Singer's credentials. The film received mixed reviews in the United States. It opened commercially in Germany on January 22, 2009, where reports were mixed about the German reception of the film.

Plot[link]

During World War II, Wehrmacht Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Cruise) is severely wounded during an RAF air raid in Tunisia, losing a hand and an eye, and is evacuated home to Nazi Germany. Meanwhile, Major General Henning von Tresckow (Branagh) attempts to assassinate Adolf Hitler by smuggling a bomb aboard the Führer's personal airplane. The bomb, however, is a dud and fails to detonate, and Tresckow flies to Berlin in order to safely retrieve it. After learning that the Gestapo has arrested Major General Hans Oster, he orders General Olbricht (Nighy) to find a replacement. After recruiting Stauffenberg into the German Resistance, Olbricht presents Stauffenberg at a meeting of the secret committee which has coordinated previous attempts on Hitler's life. The members include General Ludwig Beck (Stamp), Dr. Carl Goerdeler (McNally), and Erwin von Witzleben (Schofield). Stauffenberg is stunned to learn that no plans exist on the subject of what is to be done after Hitler's assassination.

During a bombing raid on Berlin, he gets the idea of using Operation Valkyrie, which involves the deployment of the Reserve Army to maintain order in the event of a national emergency. The plotters carefully redraft the plan's orders so that they can dismantle the Nazi regime after assassinating Hitler. Realizing that only General Friedrich Fromm (Wilkinson), the head of the Reserve Army, can initiate Valkyrie, they offer him a position as head of the Wehrmacht in a post-Nazi Germany and request his support, but Fromm declines to be directly involved. With the rewritten Operation Valkyrie orders needing to be signed by Hitler (Bamber), Stauffenberg visits the Führer at his Berghof estate in Bavaria. In the presence of Dr. Joseph Goebbels, Wilhelm Keitel, Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Göring and Albert Speer, his inner circle, Hitler praises Stauffenberg's heroism in North Africa and signs the orders without fully examining the modifications, believing Stauffenberg's changes "are for the best".

At Goerdeler's insistence, Stauffenberg is ordered to assassinate both Hitler and SS head Himmler at the Führer's command bunker, the Wolf's Lair. At a final briefing, Colonel Mertz von Quirnheim (Berkel) instructs the committee members in the use of pencil detonators. Stauffenberg also persuades General Fellgiebel (Izzard), who controls all communications at Wolf's Lair, to cut off communications after the bomb blast. On July 15, 1944, Stauffenberg attends a strategy meeting at Wolf's Lair with the bomb in his briefcase, but with Himmler not present at the meeting, Stauffenberg does not get the go-ahead from the committee leaders, and by the time one of them defies the others and tells him to do it anyway, the meeting is over. Meanwhile, the Reserve Army is mobilized by Olbricht, unbeknownst to Fromm, to stand by. With no action taken, Stauffenberg safely extracts himself and the bomb from the bunker, and the Reserve Army is ordered to stand down, believing that the mobilization was training. Back in Berlin, Olbrecht and Stauffenberg are threatened by Fromm that if they try to control the reserve army again he will have them arrested; Stauffenberg goes to the committee to protest their indecisiveness and condemns Goerdeler, who has been selected to be chancellor after the coup. When Goerdeler demands that Stauffenberg be relieved, Beck informs him that the SS is searching for him and implores him to leave the country immediately.

On July 20, 1944, Stauffenberg and his adjutant Lieutenant Haeften (Parker) return to Wolf's Lair. To Stauffenberg's dismay, he discovers only after the timer has been activated that the conference is being held in an open-window summer barrack, whereas the plotters had intended to detonate the bomb within the walls of the bunker for maximum damage. While his adjuntant waits with the car, Stauffenberg places the briefcase with the bomb armed at the meeting as close to Hitler as possible. Stauffenberg then leaves the barrack, returning to the car. However, one of the officers at the meeting moves the bomb behind a table leg, thereby protecting Hitler from most of the blast. When the bomb explodes, Stauffenberg is certain that Hitler is dead and flees Wolf's Lair. Before shutting down communications, Fellgiebel calls Mertz about the explosion but cannot clearly convey whether or not the Führer is dead.

As Stauffenberg flies back to Berlin, Olbricht refuses to mobilize the Reserve Army until he knows without a doubt that Hitler is dead (if Hitler isn't dead, Olbrecht will be arrested for having the reserve army mobilized without Fromm's permission). Behind Olbricht's back, Mertz forges his signature and issues the orders anyway. With Operation Valkyrie underway, Stauffenberg and his fellow plotters order the arrest of Nazi party leaders and SS officers, convincing lower officers that the Party and the SS are staging a coup. As Stauffenberg begins to take control of Berlin's government ministries, mid-level officers relaying the orders begin to wonder which side they should be fighting for. Rumors reach Berlin that Hitler survived the blast, but Stauffenberg dismisses them as SS propaganda. Meanwhile, Fromm learns from Field Marshal Keitel that Hitler is still alive. The General refuses to join the plotters, resulting in them detaining him. Major Otto Ernst Remer of the Reserve Army prepares to arrest Goebbels, but is stopped when Goebbels connects him by phone to Hitler. Immediately recognizing the voice on the other end, Remer realizes that the Reserve Army has been duped—rather than containing a coup, they have unwittingly supported it. SS officers are released and the plotters in turn are besieged inside the Bendlerblock. The headquarters staff flees, but the resistance leaders are arrested. In an ultimately vain effort to save himself, General Fromm convenes an impromptu court martial and sentences the conspirators to death, contravening Hitler's orders that they be kept alive. Given a pistol by Fromm, Beck commits suicide. That night, the ringleaders are then executed by firing squad one by one. When his turn arrives, Colonel Stauffenberg's last act is to cry "Long live sacred Germany!"

A brief epilogue informs that the conspiracy of July 20th, 1944 was the last of fifteen known assassination attempts on Hitler by Germans. It also mentions Hitler's suicide nine months later and that Countess Nina von Stauffenberg and her children survived the war. The dedication at the Memorial to the German Resistance is then superimposed:

You did not bear the shame. You resisted. You bestowed an eternally vigilant symbol of change by sacrificing your impassioned lives for freedom, justice and honor.

Cast[link]

• Tom Cruise as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg: The German army Colonel who was instrumental in the conspiracy to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Bryan Singer saw von Stauffenberg as "very much a humanist", saying, "He understood his role as a colonel, but he also understood that the Nazis were doing terrible, terrible, terrible things." Having directed Superman Returns, Singer compared von Stauffenberg's dual identity as loyal colonel and conspirator to Superman and his civilian identity Clark Kent.^[3] Cruise had wanted to work with Singer since they met at the premiere for Mission: Impossible, and the actor was enticed by the script's background, the truth of which struck him as a surprise.^[4] The actor described von Stauffenberg's heroism, "I thought of it in terms of what [von] Stauffenberg represents. He was someone who realized that he had to take the steps that ultimately cost him his life... He recognized what was at stake."^[5] Cruise felt von Stauffenberg did not think of himself as a hero.^[6] The actor prepared for the role for eight months by hiring a researcher, studying history books, and speaking with some of von Stauffenberg's family.^[7] Since von Stauffenberg lost his left eye, right hand and two fingers on his left hand in an Allied attack in Tunisia, Cruise affected the same disabilities to practice dressing, moving items and writing.^[5] Cruise initially found the eyepatch difficult to work with but acknowledged that von Stauffenberg had to live with this discomfort.^[6]
• Kenneth Branagh as Major General Henning von Tresckow:^[8] Branagh differed physically from the real Tresckow, who was balding, but Singer said, "[I]f you look at Tresckow's energy, he had an honesty that Branagh has."^[9]
• Bill Nighy as General Friedrich Olbricht:^[8] Nighy was cast to give a sympathetic quality, so Olbricht would not be the "fall guy". Nighy wanted to convey Olbricht as divided between complaining about Hitler's regime and actually doing something about it.^[6] The actor described his portrayal, "One of the most disconcerting things imaginable is to put on a Nazi uniform. It's so associated with evil that it took me several days to get used to being in costume."^[10]
• Terence Stamp as Colonel General Ludwig Beck:^[8] Singer met Stamp to discuss playing a part in X-Men, having admired him for portraying General Zod in Superman II. Stamp endured the Blitz as a child and aided Singer in staging a scene where the von Stauffenbergs hide from the Allied bombings.^[11] The actor described his approach to portraying Beck: "There has to be a kind of non-judgmental discernment, so when I'm playing villains, they don't think they're particularly villains." The actor sought to find "the part of Terence that would be prepared to fall on his sword for certain ideals".^[3]
• Tom Wilkinson as Colonel General Friedrich Fromm: The head of Germany's Reserve Army. Wilkinson was cast to make the treacherous Fromm sympathetic.^[6]
• Carice van Houten as Nina Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg: von Stauffenberg's wife. The filmmakers were impressed by her performance in Black Book, and argued she could give a strong performance with minimal dialogue. Screenwriter Nathan Alexander spoke to von Stauffenberg's relatives and noted that, although Nina and Claus never directly spoke about the plot, "in a sense it was all they talked about".^[6]
• Kevin McNally as Dr. Carl Friedrich Goerdeler: A German politician who intends to become chancellor of Germany after a successful coup.
• David Schofield as Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben: A retired general and one of the plotters. Singer and Producer Christopher McQuarrie were impressed by Schofield's professionalism and dedication to show up on set for scenes without his character, and the filmmakers expanded his role as a result.^[12]
• Christian Berkel as Colonel Albrecht Ritter Mertz von Quirnheim: A plotter with knowledge of explosives.
• Jamie Parker as Lieutenant Werner von Haeften: An adjutant to von Stauffenberg who helps the colonel carry out the plot.
• Eddie Izzard as General Erich Fellgiebel: A German signals officer and plotter, responsible for communications at Hitler's bunker Wolf's Lair.
• David Bamber as Adolf Hitler: The Führer of Germany. During Bamber's audition for the role, Singer was struck by Bamber's eyes and stated that Bamber had a quality that resonated with Hitler.^[12]
• Thomas Kretschmann as Major Otto Ernst Remer: Commanding officer of Großdeutschland guard battalion. Kretschmann was the original choice to play von Stauffenberg before Singer joined the production, when McQuarrie was intending to direct.^[13]
• Harvey Friedman as Dr. Joseph Goebbels: Minister of Propaganda and a member of Hitler's inner circle.
• Kenneth Cranham portrays Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel: The head of the OKW and a member of Hitler's inner circle.
• Matthias Freihof as Heinrich Himmler: The head of Schutzstaffel and a member of Hitler's inner circle.
• Philipp von Schulthess as Major General Henning von Tresckow's aide: Von Schulthess is the grandson of Claus von Stauffenberg.^[14]

Other portrayals of Nazis included Gerhard Haase-Hindenberg as Hermann Göring, Anton Algrang as Albert Speer, Werner Daehn as Major Ernst John von Freyend, Waldemar Kobus as Wolf-Heinrich Graf von Helldorf, Tom Hollander as Colonel Heinz Brandt, Helmut Stauss as Dr. Roland Freisler, Matthew Burton as Lieutenant-General Adolf Heusinger, Bernard Hill as a General working with Stauffenberg in Tunisia, and Ian McNeice as the composite "Pompous General" who attempts to disrupt the coup headquarters. Though the general is not named in the film, McQuarrie and Alexander said the character was based on General Joachim von Kortzfleisch, who tried to disrupt the coup in the same fashion. Patrick Wilson was originally cast in Valkyrie, but he dropped out due to scheduling conflicts and other unspecified reasons.^[15] Stephen Fry was also offered a role in the film but was unable to participate.^[16]

Some of the non-German actors initially experimented with German accents, but Singer discarded the idea, instead instructing them to adopt neutral accents that "[wouldn't] distract from the story".^[7] Singer added he was not making a docu-drama and wanted to make the story engaging.^[6]

Production[link]

Development[link]

In 2002, Christopher McQuarrie visited Berlin while researching another project and visited the memorial to von Stauffenberg at the Bendlerblock. Researching the July 20 plot, he was moved and fascinated by the fact that the conspirators were fully aware of what would happen if they failed their assassination attempt, and he wanted to make their story more well-known.^[17] He approached Nathan Alexander to co-write the film, and Alexander began researching the project.^[13] McQuarrie sought to model the story after the 2001 TV film Conspiracy, which depicted the Wannsee Conference at which the Nazis planned the Final Solution.^[17] He also sought to direct the film, until he realized that adequate financing would only be secured with Bryan Singer directing.^[13]

After Singer completed the three major productions X-Men (2000), X2 (2003) and Superman Returns (2006), he sought a smaller project before embarking upon the eventually aborted sequel to Superman Returns.^[7][18] Singer and McQuarrie had often made World War II films in their backyards while growing up in New Jersey, and Singer had later dealt with Nazi subject matter in Apt Pupil and X-Men.^[19] Singer first learned of the plot in the early 1980s when his mother visited Bonn and met Freya von Moltke, widow of Helmuth von Moltke, a founder of the Kreisau Circle resistance group.^[20] After learning of McQuarrie and Alexander's screenplay and signing on to direct, Singer read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer to gain deeper understanding of Nazi Germany's political landscape, and also met with one of Hitler's bodyguards, Rochus Misch,^[21] who was the last person to leave the bunker where Hitler committed suicide. The creative team acknowledged the ambiguity over the enigmatic von Stauffenberg's true motivation, but Singer and McQuarrie judged him to be a man of ethics just from what he did.^[6] Though McQuarrie sought for Valkyrie to be similar to Conspiracy, Singer had bigger ambitions for the film, wanting it to be more than "old men in rooms, talking". Singer looked back on his decision, saying, "The true story had all the makings of a classic assassination thriller... I knew if I could keep the audience with [von] Stauffenberg, with his mission, they would go with the flow and be less inclined to start hypothesising on things from history."^[17]

McQuarrie suggested they bring the project to United Artists partners Paula Wagner and Tom Cruise, who immediately agreed to finance the film in March 2007.^[22] Singer invited Tom Cruise to take the lead role, which Cruise accepted.^[23] Cruise had been provided a picture of von Stauffenberg, in which the actor noticed a similarity in his profile with the German colonel, drawing him to the role.^[2] The director and the screenwriter initially anticipated Valkyrie as a "small" film with a budget of under US$20 million and to be completed within several months,^[24][25] but Cruise's interest in playing von Stauffenberg made Singer realize his involvement could broaden the film's publicity and therefore its budget.^[9] The film's budget was then raised to $60 million.^[26] The director considered calling the film Operation Valkyrie, not wanting to use a generic action film title. The film's English-language title was ultimately titled Valkyrie because Singer felt that the film was about more than the operation and liked its connection to Wagner's music.^[27]

Bendlerblock, where the conspirators were executed in real life, was originally denied as a filming location for Valkyrie

Germany's Finance Ministry had originally denied the producers the right to film at Bendlerblock, explaining that the site should be treated as a "place of remembrance and mourning" which would "lose dignity if we were to exploit it as a film set". The producers were also denied a request to film at a Berlin police station by the department, citing adverse impact to the facility.^[28] The German government eventually had a change of heart concerning the Bendlerblock site and gave permission for filmmakers to film there.^[29] A United Artists spokesman said that they were "very grateful" for the decision, saying that the site "[had] always been important to us symbolically, creatively and for the sake of historical authenticity" and that the company had been in continuous talks with the German government in order to clear up any misconceptions about the nature of the film.^[30] The Memorial to the German Resistance also helped filmmakers by permitting them access to their materials and documents.^[31] German military pageantry was shaped by referring to the recorded material and input from military advisers.^[4]

Writing[link]

McQuarrie and Alexander researched first-hand accounts, photos, newsreels and texts. They also examined Gestapo and SS records, as the organizations had been meticulous in reconstructing the events of the conspiracy in its aftermath. A timeline of events was created, from which McQuarrie and Alexander shaped the script. After production began in Berlin, the writers were able to visit locations and meet with relatives of the conspirators; these meetings informed changes made to the script during filming.^[13]

The initial scenes of von Stauffenberg in Tunisia were written to provide historical context to the rest of the film. The scenes were written with the intention of communicating the complexity of the situation—including references to the Holocaust—without being too obvious. The writers also wanted to evoke the spirit of the resistance and convey the ongoing disgust of the German officers. McQuarrie and Alexander found the most difficult task was in conveying the motives of the conspirators; von Stauffenberg especially remained an enigma, though the writers believed he and the other resistance members to be propelled by their moral outrage. McQuarrie and Alexander attempted to include a scene of von Stauffenberg's witnessing an atrocity, but because he was a supply officer he had little exposure to many of those that occurred. Though he witnessed some—such as the starvation of the Russians—they believed it difficult to dramatize von Stauffenberg's being compelled to action by "field reports". They also had difficulties with Hitler's portrayal; in researching his speeches, they struggled to find one in which he made overtly villainous statements.^[13]

Filming[link]

Filming began on July 18, 2007 in Berlin.^[32] Production of Valkyrie was then estimated to have a budget of US$80 million, with two-thirds to be spent in Germany.^[33] The German Federal Film Fund issued €4.8 million^[34] (US$6.64 million) to United Artists to assist with production.^[33] The filmmakers received permission to film at Tempelhof International Airport's Columbia Haus, a former Nazi jail for political prisoners. Production also involved World War II planes with swastikas painted on the sides, practicing in the airspace above Brandenburg.^[35] Around 70 sets were built for the film.^[7] The filmmakers also shot on location at the former Reich Air Ministry Building and the exterior of the house at which von Stauffenberg stayed with his brother.^[6][36]

A replica set of Hitler's Eastern Front Headquarters Wolf's Lair was constructed 60 kilometers south of Berlin, though the headquarters' actual location was in modern-day Poland.^[35] It took twelve weeks to build.^[6] Filming also took place in some of the houses that were used to hide the bombs in 1944.^[37] The interior of Hitler's Bavarian residence Berghof was also replicated using film shot by Hitler's consort Eva Braun and designing models of furniture possessed by secretive collectors.^[38] The production also made use of surviving Nazi relics, including furniture used by the Reich Ministry and objects that once adorned Hitler's desk.^[7] Nazi symbols, the display of which is heavily restricted in Germany, were also used at several locations, and while the filmmakers gave forewarnings to local residents,^[32] a passerby witnessing the use of swastikas during filming in Berlin filed an official complaint with the city. Similar charges have also been filed against the owners of sites set up to show Nazi displays for the film's production.^[39] Filming also took place at Babelsberg Studios.^[40] During filming on August 19, 2007, eleven people were hurt when the side panel of a truck they were riding broke, with one person requiring hospitalization.^[41] They demanded $11 million in compensation, rejecting a settlement offered by the studio.^[42]

Before filming the scene of von Stauffenberg's execution at Bendlerblock, Tom Cruise led the cast and crew in holding a moment of silence,^[43] "out of respect for the place and out of respect for the life achievement of these people who were executed there," according to actor Christian Berkel.^[44] After filming of the scene was completed, the footage was sent to be developed for the post-production process at a processing plant in Germany. The wrong chemical was accidentally used in development, damaging the film and requiring the crew to seek permission from the government to re-shoot the scenes. Permission was granted and a spokesman for the film indicated the schedule and budget had not been affected.^[45][46]

Singer and cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel chose different styles for the separate halves of the film. Elegant camerawork such as cranes were used as the plot builds to the attempt on Hitler's life, and the second half is frantic with handheld cinematography as the plotters are hunted down. The colors in the film also become more intense as the story continues. Sigel focused on red, the color of the Nazi flag, which he felt represented the violence of their ideology. Singer looked towards thrillers of the 1940s and home movies shot by Eva Braun for inspiration. Shooting scenes at night was difficult because presenting historical accuracy of the era required blackouts. Sigel noted in real life, car headlights were used for the firing squad to aim at and execute the plotters in the Bendlerblock.^[6] Singer chose to shoot in 1:85 aspect ratio, and since filming took place in Germany, the director used Arriflex cameras with Zeiss lenses.^[4]

The Tunisia battle sequence that opened the film was the last major sequence filmed. The filmmakers wanted to avoid the appearance that von Stauffenberg wanted to kill Hitler because of the injuries he suffered in the battle. They began a rough cut in October 2007, and between then and June 2008, there were several test screenings without the battle sequence. By June 2008, the filmmakers felt that they knew how to adequately frame the characters when filming the battle sequence.^[47] Singer scouted Jordan and Spain for locations, but the candidates did not meet the aesthetic and economic criteria.^[4] The Cougar Buttes desert in California was ultimately chosen to represent Tunisia.^[48] Since the production budget was adjusted to provide visual effects to make von Stauffenberg's injuries realistic, not enough was left for solely computer-generated fighter planes. Singer instead used two P-40 Warhawks in the battle sequence.^[38] The budget increased in the course of production due to the filming in Germany, the rebuilding of sets, and lost shooting days, but German tax rebates tempered the growth.^[26] The studio reported its final production budget to be $75 million, but competing studios believed it to be closer to $90 million.^[49]

Visual effects[link]

The film's visual effects were created by Sony Pictures Imageworks, who collaborated with Bryan Singer on Superman Returns. The VFX company's two key goals were to accurately portray von Stauffenberg's injuries and to create a 1943 period look to Berlin.^[50] With many explosions and stunts seen in the film performed practically, the majority of the 800 computer-generated effects shots were used to portray von Stauffenberg's injuries.^[9] A digital version of Cruise's hand was designed, and VFX employees rotoscoped the hand in every movement it could make so the missing fingers were erased in the process. With many close-ups of von Stauffenberg's hand with missing fingers, the injuries were textured to look like actual scars, particularly based on surgical procedures from 1943. Cruise asked for advice on how to best move his hands so visual effects would be easier to apply, but some challenges, such as von Stauffenberg getting dressed on his own, were inescapable. According to VFX supervisor Rich Hoover, "We know from historical accounts that von Stauffenberg didn't stick his hands in his pockets to try and hide his injuries."^[50]

For the battle sequence in North Africa, the two actual P-40 Warhawks used were accompanied by cloned images of them or by computer-generated planes. In scenes showing squadrons of soldiers, digital extras were not used; instead, photography of real squadrons was cloned. Sony Pictures Imageworks also digitally expanded details on stage locations and at practical locations. The exterior of Hitler's Bavarian residence Berghof was digitally created, since little was left of the original structure, and the creation was superimposed on a shot of a ski area in Austria. In Berlin itself, city officials helped reduce the need for visual effects by removing power poles and modern lighting over the weekend when filming took place and restoring the equipment by the start of the new week.^[50]

Editing and scoring[link]

As with his previous collaborations with Bryan Singer on The Usual Suspects, Superman Returns and X2, editor and composer John Ottman edited the film without a temp track, noting if the film was working well without music, it was becoming a strong product.^[51] Since Valkyrie drew its inspirations from previous World War II films like The Great Escape (1963), Where Eagles Dare (1968), Patton (1970), and Midway (1976), filmmakers initially had a cut where title cards introduced characters and their roles. When the cut was test screened with an American audience, the title cards were removed due to complaints that there were too many characters to follow.^[13]

Ottman said the challenge on Valkyrie was to create tension from dialogue scenes, and he often reshaped scenes to do this: moments rather than whole scenes were cut from the film.^[25] Being historically accurate meant Ottman was more restricted in reorganizing scenes, but he was able to choose what lines and close-ups he could focus on.^[52] Ottman said the scene he was most saddened to delete was a scene where von Stauffenberg dances with his wife because he had been looking forward to scoring it.^[25]

Ottman originally planned to compose a minimal score to Valkyrie, but found that despite the film's dialogue-heavy nature, the film needed music to create a thriller atmosphere. Ottman described the new approach, "It's very much like Usual Suspects—in order to keep the tension going in a scene where there's really a lot of dialogue, we had to rely on a lot of score. But the score is done in a very sort of pulsating, subliminal way. It's not an expository score, it's more like a running pulse going through the movie."^[53] Singer applied an imaginary metronome, "which only began clicking" when he watched scenes where the pace was becoming faster. He had a specific theme he wanted for the film, which was more modern than the "The Winds of War"-type score he expected Ottman to do.^[52] Another challenge in composing thriller music was that the score needed to "slowly lapse" into the tragedy of the film's ending.^[54] The finished score has some percussion instruments and few brass, but no snare drums or trumpets, which were the conventions Singer and Ottman avoided.^[52]

Ottman had to compose music for the North African battle before the scene was shot, because booking space to record film music is difficult. Although he found that composing music based on the script results in overlong pieces, he felt the music worked out fine for the sequence. The film's end credits piece, "They'll Remember You", is an original composition, but the lyrics were based on the poem "Wanderer's Nightsong" by German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.^[51] An end piece entitled "Long Live Sacred Germany" was inspired by Adagio for Strings, in the sense it would not feel like film music tailored to every moment in the scene, but still fit with what was going on. Ottman described the original version of the track as a "three minute drone that I slowed down with these two Tuvan throat singers, the whole thing was this horribly dark, morbid piece [which] left you cold." Ottman composed a metallic motif for Hitler, which was formed by low strings and a piano cluster.^[52]

German response to production[link]

In June 2007, prior to production, a German Defense Ministry spokesperson said that filming of Valkyrie would not be allowed at the country's military sites if protagonist Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg was portrayed by Tom Cruise, due to the actor's adherence to Scientology, which is regarded as a dangerous cult by the German authorities. The spokesperson further indicated that the ministry had not at that time received official filming requests from Valkyrie's producers.^[55] Colonel von Stauffenberg's son also voiced concerns over Cruise's portrayal of his father, saying that he would not oppose the film's production, but hoped that Cruise would drop the role. "I fear that only terrible kitsch will come out of the project. It's bound to be rubbish," Berthold Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg said. "Cruise should keep his hands off my father."^[56] Later in the month, the ministry reversed its stance and welcomed production of Valkyrie.

The initial controversy reportedly stemmed from German member of parliament Antje Blumenthal, an authority on cults for the Christian Democratic Union and well-known opponent of Scientology, who had claimed that the German Defense Minister had assured her that the film would not be shot in the country.^[57] In addition, Cruise's affiliation with Scientology was also criticized by junior politicians such as Rudolf Köberle, the state secretary for interior issues in the state of Baden-Württemberg.^[58] Thomas Gandow, a spokesperson for the German Protestant Church, said Cruise's involvement in the film would "have the same propaganda advantages for Scientology as the 1936 Olympics had for the Nazis" and compared the actor to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.^[59]

The film subsequently found local support in Germany. Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck saw that Cruise's involvement would promote awareness of a neglected story,^[28] and veteran German actor Armin Mueller-Stahl also gave his support to the production.^[35] A grandson of Colonel von Stauffenberg, who appeared in the film as an assistant, hailed Cruise's professionalism and indicated that most of his family were curious to see the finished product.^[60] In September 2007, when the Defense Ministry initially denied permission for filming at the Bendlerblock memorial, support for the film came in from German newspaper columnists and filmmakers, including director Wolfgang Petersen^[29] and Frank Schirrmacher, journalist and co-publisher of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Schirrmacher visited the set and agreed that the film would advance global awareness of the German Resistance. Ultimately granting access to the Bendlerblock after reviewing the script, the Defense Ministry said it showed that "barbarism didn't triumph but led to the founding of a democratic Germany". Ursula Caberta, who is in charge of a German government office which monitors Scientology, was disappointed in the ministry's decision, saying, "Tom Cruise [is] a figurehead of an anti-constitutional organization, and he should be treated that way."^[39]

A spokesperson for Scientology in Berlin, Sabine Weber, said in August 2007 that she was "shocked" by German politicians' criticisms, adding that it was a "call to discrimination" against someone based on their religious beliefs.^[61] In the same month, Cruise suggested to his critics that they see the film before denouncing it.^[62] In October 2007, fellow Valkyrie actor Kenneth Branagh said that the issue had been "largely exaggerated" and that the German official who initially incited the complaints contacted the production one week into filming to apologize, after reading the script and realizing he had misinterpreted the film's plot.^[37]

In November 2007, the head of the German Resistance Memorial Center warned against any potential "myth formation" around von Stauffenberg as a result of the film, urging that any understanding of the Colonel must also be informed by the fact that he had been loyal to the Nazi cause for most of his military career.^[63] In the same month Cruise was given a Bambi courage award, presented by German media company Hubert Burda Media, "for tackling a story that had never been covered by Hollywood before".^[64]

Marketing[link]

Valkyrie was intended to be a high-profile film that would jump-start United Artists, the host studio partly owned by Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner.^[49] Pressure was placed on Valkyrie to do well since an earlier United Artists film featuring Cruise, Lions for Lambs, performed poorly in the box office, and the studio's planned production of Oliver Stone's Pinkville was canceled.^[65] The film changed release dates multiple times.^[49] It was originally slated to be released on August 8, 2008,^[66] then moved up earlier to June 27, 2008.^[67] The film was then held off to October 3, 2008 to avoid competition from WALL-E and Wanted,^[68] and to enable the late filming of the North African battle sequence.^[26] The October date was also originally chosen to increase the film's chances of awards success.^[69] In April 2008, the release date was pushed back to February 13, 2009, with the studio citing the early fall schedule as too crowded with Academy Award prospects.^[70] Valkyrie would have taken advantage of the lucrative President's Day weekend, after The Wolfman and The Pink Panther 2 were moved from this date.^[71]

In July 2008, United Artists president of worldwide marketing Dennis Rice was replaced by Michael Vollman, who was tasked to develop a marketing strategy for the "troubled" Valkyrie,^[72] which had been "battered by constant media sniping".^[73] Under Vollman, by August 2008,^[74] the release date was changed to December 26, 2008 with reports citing commercial reasons for the move after a successful test screening.^[75] (The film was ultimately released on Christmas Day, December 25, 2008.)^[76] The release date was before the end of December, which "crucially" helped the film with a home distribution deal with the subscription channel Showtime.^[26] In the same month of August, Paula Wagner left her position with the studio during the film's post-production.^[77] The changing release date for Valkyrie drew criticism about the viability of United Artists, and the studio aimed to combat the criticism leading up to the film's eventual release.^[70] In addition, the first theatrical trailer, released early in 2008, received "mixed buzz" over Tom Cruise's portraying von Stauffenberg with an American accent.^[78] The trade paper Variety described the trailer as "dour and ... like it was selling a talky stage play with a cast of old British actors".^[79] Images of Tom Cruise as Colonel von Stauffenberg that surfaced during filming were widely ridiculed.^[49] Terry Press, a marketing consultant with the studio, said that Valkyrie had been wrongly labeled as "the Tom Cruise eye-patch movie".^[74]

As the December release date approached, United Artists launched a campaign to reform public perception of the film, downplaying the role of Tom Cruise as a German war hero and instead pitching Valkyrie as "a character-driven suspense thriller".^[49] The new campaign also played up the reputation of director Bryan Singer, who had directed the thrillers The Usual Suspects (1995) and Apt Pupil (1998).^[74] Terry Press urged foregoing an awards campaign for the film; Cruise agreed with the consultant, while Singer was disappointed about the decision.^[26] Instead, the studio focused on audience appeal in a competitive time frame in late December.^[49] A second theatrical trailer and a new poster were unveiled in October 2008 by United Artists to renew Valkyrie's viability with audiences and accolades. The poster was designed to have flashy graphics and to emulate the posters from the war films The Great Escape (1963) and The Dirty Dozen (1967) in having a team as a central visual.^[79] The team element was based on market research from the studio's focus groups who indicated that they liked Cruise as "a character leading a group of people toward solving a problem".^[74] The new trailer accentuated action, and was widely considered an improvement over the first trailer. An internal MGM memo reported the reception of the trailer by online communities to be "significantly favorable" compared to the previous trailer.^[79] The studio sought two demographic quadrants: males over 35 years old as well as younger males.^[26] Since United Artists reported that the film cost $75 million to make and that $60 million was spent on marketing, the studio faced high financial stakes. The film also tested the determination of its distributor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and the mettle of Cruise as a superstar.^[49]

Release[link]

Theatrical run[link]

Prior to Valkyrie's December 2008 release, concern was raised about how the film would be received in the holiday season due to its Nazi subject matter, along with related films The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The Reader, Defiance and Good. Advertising Age wrote during the economic crisis of 2008, "The depressing state of the economy and an alarmingly low level of understanding of the Holocaust among American youth point to a tough road for such serious fare."^[80]

Valkyrie opened on Christmas Day, December 25, 2008, in 2,711 theaters in the United States and Canada. The film grossed an estimated $8.5 million for the opening day.^[81] In the four day holiday weekend, Valkyrie grossed an estimated $30 million, ranking fourth at the box office with $7,942 per theater.^[82] Pamela McClintock of Variety cited the weekend performance as "a victory for United Artists and MGM";^[83] Gitesh Pandya of Rotten Tomatoes said the haul represented a "big hit" for the studio. Studio research revealed that audiences averaged 55% male and 66% over 25.^[82] Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers, said that the weekend gross "totally robs the nay-sayers of their ability to deem it a flop", believing that Cruise's comic performance in the previous summer's Tropic Thunder helped audiences embrace the star again. Dergarabedian also ascribed the better-than-expected performance to the studio's marketing of Valkyrie as a thriller film.^[84] Since Cruise was collecting a salary of $20 million against 20% of the backend (revenue gathered after the completion of a film) and MGM/UA investment was capped at $60 million, United Artists sold the film to several foreign territories to make money back.^[26]

The European premiere was held at the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin on January 20, 2009.^[85] Valkyrie commercially opened in over a dozen territories outside the United States and Canada on the weekend of January 23, 2009,^[86][87] including a premiere in Germany on January 22.^[88] The film ranked first in the international box office, grossing over $13 million. It placed first in Germany, Australia, and the Netherlands and placed second in the United Kingdom, Austria and South Korea. Valkyrie's highest-grossing territory was Germany, where it earned $3.7 million from 689 locations, averaging $5,311 per screen.^[87] The German opening was considered "a chart-topping yet unspectacular start", barely edging out Twilight, which opened three weeks before.^[89] BBC News reported that the premiere of the film has renewed the topic of the German Resistance among the German populace.^[90]

The film opened in 13 additional territories on the weekend of January 30, including Russia and Spain.^[86] With 3,600 screenings in 26 markets, the film grossed $18.6 million to maintain its top placement at the international box office for a second weekend in a row. Spain was its highest-grossing territory with $2.8 million, followed by Germany with $2.3 million, the United Kingdom with $2 million, and $1.9 million in Italy.^[91] As of April 13, 2009, the film has grossed $83,079,000 in the United States and Canada and an estimated $117,198,951 in other territories for a worldwide gross of $200,276,784.^[1]

Anti-Scientology protests[link]

A masked protester with a sign saying "Tom Cruise Cult Hero"^[92] at the London premiere is confronted by an unidentified woman who attempts to forcibly wrestle the sign from her grasp.

When Valkyrie premiered in New York City on December 15, 2008, it was shown in a private screening room at the Time Warner Center, rather than at a Lincoln Square theater.^[93][94][95] The venue was chosen in part to minimize the exposure to Scientology protesters gathered at the Time Warner Center.^[96][97] Protesters also appeared at the December 18 Los Angeles screening, where Cruise entered through a tunnel.^[97] While the US "red carpet" was held in private, Cruise interacted with fans in South Korea and Europe. There were small anti-Scientology protests at the European premiere in Berlin, where Cruise signed one protester's Guy Fawkes mask.^[98][99] Anti-Scientology protests also occurred at the London premiere,^[92][100] and Amsterdam^[101] where Scientologists in the crowd engaged the protesters.^[92][101] The NTV news report about the January 26 Moscow premiere noted that journalists had to sign a document promising not to ask questions about Scientology, and their questions would be censored; to this, the reporter remarked, "You can't help getting reminded of those historic times depicted in Operation Valkyrie."^[102]

In Germany, authorities and politicians expressed concern that if the film was successful, it would boost Scientology in the country. German politician Michael Brand encouraged his deputies to boycott Valkyrie, saying that Scientology pursued "totalitarian goals". Germany's Agency for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), which monitors the presence of Scientology in the country, expressed concern about the film's impact. An anonymous BfV official said, "These Scientologists have two goals in Germany... to get their message to children, and make their organization respectable. The film does both: it has put a top Scientologist at the center of a national debate about German history."^[103]

In January 2009, Cruise appeared in the highly popular German-Swiss-Austrian TV show, Wetten, dass. Cruise had already left the show, when German comedian Michael Mittermeier said: "In an interview, Tom Cruise claimed that he would have killed Hitler, too. To me, it would be sufficient if he had killed the Führer of Scientology."^[104] Prior to the show, members of the Christian Democratic Junge Union protested against the broadcaster for being uncritical about Scientology.^[105]

Home media[link]

Valkyrie was released on DVD and Blu-ray on May 19, 2009, in three configurations: a single DVD edition, a two-DVD set, and a Blu-ray version.^[106] Valkyrie opened at #2 on the DVD sales chart, selling 844,000 units translating to revenue of $14,816,833. According to the latest figures, 1,533,200 units have been sold, bringing in $25,790,070 in revenue.^[107]

Critical reception[link]

The movie website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 61% of critics gave the film positive write-ups based upon a sample of 191, with an average score of 6.1/10.^[108] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 56 based on 36 reviews.^[109] In the United States, the film received mixed reviews from critics.^[109][110] In Germany, there were different reports about how Valkyrie was received. The New York Times wrote, "It has been greeted with a measured and hospitable reception in Germany, where it was once viewed with suspicion."^[110] The trade paper Variety reported that despite the controversy over Cruise's ties to Scientology, "[I]nitial reviews have been positive, with many observers now hailing Cruise and predicting the pic will even improve the country’s image abroad."^[111] Der Spiegel said that the film and its supporting actors were praised, but that Cruise was panned by German critics for "a surprisingly low-key performance that fails to convey the charisma with which Stauffenberg inspired fellow plotters".^[112] The AFP also said that the German critics "savaged Tom Cruise's portrayal" of von Stauffenberg, yet "relished a homegrown hero getting the Hollywood treatment."^[113]

American critics[link]

Manohla Dargis of The New York Times thought that Cruise gave "a fine, typically energetic performance in a film that requires nothing more of him than a profile and vigor" but that von Stauffenberg was too complex a character to adequately portray in a film designed as a thriller. Dargis also wrote of the director's excess, "Though Mr. Singer’s old-fashioned movie habits, his attention to the gloss, gleam and glamour of the image, can be agreeably pleasurable, he tends to gild every lily," citing as an example the "spooky music" and "low camera angles" in the meeting between Hitler and von Stauffenberg.^[114] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times also found Cruise "perfectly satisfactory, if not electrifying, in the leading role", believing that the portrayal fit the "veterans of officer rank" that would not panic under fire; Ebert recognizes that "Singer... works heroically to introduce us to the major figures in the plot, to tell them apart, to explain their roles and to suggest their differences."^[115]

Ty Burr of The Boston Globe described the film: "It's a smooth, compelling, almost suspenseful... and slightly hollow Hollywood period piece—a World War II action-drama in which an intriguing (but not electrifying) star performance is buttressed by stellar support." Burr analyzed Cruise's performance: "...his Claus von Stauffenberg is an honorable conception that's ultimately too thin to fully rise up from the pages of history. This story deserves to be told, but for reasons best known to himself, the star has latched onto a strictly Nietzschean interpretation that he rides into the ground."^[116] Claudia Puig of USA Today thought of Cruise as "unconvincing and stiff as the disenchanted" von Stauffenberg. She felt that the film started slowly and that "even during scenes of intense action, the visually slick production is only minimally engrossing". She concluded of the film's overall pace, "The action becomes more engrossing during the film's second half, but one expects more depth and nuance, given its pedigree."^[117] Anthony Lane of The New Yorker wrote, "[Cruise] carries the movie, although, once you dig beneath the uniform, there isn’t much for him to get a handle on; the fascination with Stauffenberg resides in what he did, not in who he was." Lane thought that there was "too much" character acting of the British veteran actors and felt of the casting of Nighy, Stamp, and Wilkinson, "These men are meant to be battle-toughened Nazi officers, but what we get is an array of discreetly amusing studies in mild neurosis."^[118]

Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote that Valkyrie "has visual splendor galore, but is a cold work lacking in the requisite tension and suspense". McCarthy considered Cruise as "a bit stiff but still adequate" as von Stauffenberg. The critic believed that McQuarrie's script was well-carpentered but felt that compressing and streamlining the events to make a known failed plot more thrilling lacked a "sufficient sizzle into the dialogue or individuality into the characters". McCarthy missed "many of the interesting personal and political nuances pertaining to these men" that were not detailed. He thought that the production design by Lilly Kilvert and Patrick Lumb stood out, that Newton Thomas Sigel's cinematography had a "restrained elegance", and that John Ottman performed well in his dual role as editor and composer.^[119]

German critics[link]

Despite differences over the quality of the film, critics were in agreement that the film had drawn attention to von Stauffenberg's cause.^[85] It was applauded "both as a history lesson and as a film". Tobias Kniebe of the Süddeutsche Zeitung described the film as "maybe not the masterpiece we might have dreamed of ... but not much less", a sentiment shared by many German critics.^[88] The public-service German television channel ZDF called Valkyrie "neither scandalously bad nor the event of the century... Neither is it the action thriller we feared, but it is a well-made and serious film." The newspaper Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger reported that any fear that the "myth of the German resistance would be put through a Hollywood filter has turned out to be wrong and prejudicial."^[110]

Other critics asserted that Tom Cruise did not "make the grade" as a German war hero. The film critic for Der Tagesspiegel wrote, "[Cruise's] image as an actor has been finally ruined by Valkyrie... [the film] doesn't dare to be popcorn cinema and at the same time lacks any conceptual brilliance." Hanns-Georg Rodek of Die Welt reported of Cruise's performance, "He comes over best as an American hero, someone who battles for respect with aggression and energy. But Stauffenberg was a German hero, with aristocratic bearing, and Cruise cannot carry that off."^[120] The Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung said Cruise's performance was "credible", and reserved praise for the authenticity of the dubbed German-language version of the film over the original.^[85]

Awards and honors[link]

Valkyrie was nominated by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for several Saturn Awards: Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film, Best Actor (Tom Cruise), Best Supporting Actor (Bill Nighy), Best Supporting Actress (Carice van Houten), Best Director (Bryan Singer), Best Music (John Ottman), and Best Costume (Joanna Johnston).^[121]

Historical accuracy[link]

The Gestapo investigated the July 20 plot thoroughly, so filmmakers had access to much documentation as they integrated the historical account with "Hollywood factors" in producing Valkyrie.^[27] Peter Hoffmann, professor of history at McGill University and a leading authority on the German Resistance, was a consultant for the filmmakers. Hoffmann spoke of the film's accuracy, "[Valkyrie] gives a fundamentally accurate portrait of Stauffenberg and the conspirators. There are details which must be counted as liberties. But, fundamentally, the film is decent, respectful and represents the spirit of the conspiracy."^[122] The Scotsman reported of the film's accuracy, "Valkyrie... sticks pretty closely to the story of the failed conspiracy to topple the Nazi regime... it implies that the plot came closer to success than it really did. But the basic facts are all present and correct."^[123]

While von Stauffenberg listens to Richard Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" in the film, in reality the colonel hated Wagner. In addition, von Stauffenberg's elder brother Berthold was also omitted from the film.^[124] Bryan Singer purposely left out some of von Stauffenberg's "macho" moments in writing the character, such as the colonel's refusal of morphine to avoid addiction. He explained the removals, "There were things I actually left out because I knew people would think we were making them up... imagine Tom Cruise saying 'No morphine!' People would think it's a contrivance."^[125] In the film, von Haeften steps out in front of von Stauffenberg at the firing range, but when filmmakers attempted to reconstruct the scene based on eyewitness testimony and photographs, they discovered that the shots that killed von Haeften would also have killed von Stauffenberg, who was actually shot shortly after. Another alteration was to the portrayal of Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, played in the film by Kevin McNally. Goerdeler was written in the film to be antagonistic, dramatically representing the friction and conflict that existed within the conspiracy, though filmmakers considered him a "much more moral character" in reality.^[13]

British novelist Justin Cartwright, who wrote the book The Song Before It Is Sung about one of the plot's conspirators, wrote, "The film is true to most of the facts of the plot, but fails to convey any sense of the catastrophic moral and political vortex into which Germans were being drawn." Though not depicted in the film, von Stauffenberg was persuaded to become involved in the plot by his uncle, Nikolaus Graf von Üxküll-Gyllenband, who was disenchanted with the Nazis. The film also did not explore von Stauffenberg's philosophy and background, which Cartwright felt fit the German tradition of Dichter und Helden ("poets and heroes"). Cartwright described how von Stauffenberg was an appropriate leader for the plot: "He was the man who unmistakably wore the mantle of a near-mystic German past, a warrior Germany, a noble Germany, a poetic Germany, a Germany of myth and longing." The novelist felt that Cruise's portrayal was more akin to one as a "troublesome cop". Cartwright also noted that the film did not raise the question of what kind of Germany von Stauffenberg had in mind if the plot succeeded.^[126]

See also[link]

	Germany portal
	United States portal
	Film portal

• Films based on the 20 July plot of 1944
• List of American films of 2008

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Valkyrie at the Internet Movie Database
• Valkyrie at Box Office Mojo
• Valkyrie at Rotten Tomatoes
• Valkyrie at Metacritic

Otto Ernst Remer
Otto Ernst Remer in 1945
Born	(1912-08-18)18 August 1912 Neubrandenburg, Germany
Died	4 October 1997(1997-10-04) (aged 85) Marbella, Spain
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Heer
Years of service	1932–1945
Rank	Generalmajor
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

Otto-Ernst Remer (18 August 1912 – 4 October 1997) was a German Wehrmacht officer who played a decisive role in stopping the 1944 20 July Plot against Adolf Hitler. During the war he was wounded nine times in combat.^[1] After the war he co-founded the Sozialistische Reichspartei (SRP), advancing Holocaust denial, and is considered the "Godfather" of the post-war Nazi underground.^[1]

Early life[link]

Remer was born in Neubrandenburg on 18 August 1912. He attended a military academy and volunteered for military service in 1932 at the age of 20.^[1]

Nazi Germany war service[link]

By the time of the attack on Poland, in September 1939, he was an oberleutnant in a motorised infantry company, and went on to serve in the Balkans Campaign, as well as in Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. By April 1942, he was a battalion commander, and he joined the Infantry Regiment Großdeutschland, in order to lead the special-weapons 4th (Heavy) Battalion, which supported the three rifle battalions of the elite regiment. By February 1943, he commanded the 1st (armoured) battalion of Grenadier Regiment Grossdeutschland (GD), after the original Infantry Regiment GD expanded to become a full division. His troops, mounted in halftracks, covered the withdrawal of an entire Waffen SS tank corps during the fighting at Kharkov. He was awarded the Knight's Cross for his service as battalion commander, and in November 1943, he was awarded the Oak leaves to the Knight's Cross for leadership at Krivoi Rog, which was presented by Adolf Hitler personally.^[2]

1944 coup[link]

In March 1944, after being wounded, Remer - now a major - was chosen to command the Infantry Regiment Großdeutschland, a unit that performed public and security duties in Berlin. During this time, Remer and his men successfully stopped the 20 July plot to seize control of the German government, following the assassination attempt on Hitler. Upon being ordered by General Paul von Hase to arrest Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels, Remer went to Goebbels' office to do so, pistol in hand. Goebbels, however, used his oratory skills to dissuade Remer from arresting him, insisting instead that Hitler was still alive. When Remer asked for proof, Goebbels picked up the phone and asked to be put through to Hitler. Within the minute, Hitler was on the phone, and Goebbels handed the receiver to Remer. Hitler asked Remer whether he recognized his voice, then gave Remer orders to crush the plot with his troops, which he did. That same night Remer was promoted two ranks to oberst (colonel).

Remer discussed this incident in the British TV documentary series The World At War, produced in the early 1970s. He appeared to have no regrets about his role in crushing the plot, nor the war in general.^[3] The same was true of his appearance as himself (coaching a young actor who was to portray him) in the German language documentary drama about the 20 July assassination attempt, filmed by the German historian Joachim Fest.

War conclusion[link]

Remer went on to command an expanded Führer Begleit Brigade (FBB), a field unit formed from a Grossdeutschland cadre, in East Prussia with little success. His men suffered high casualties, reportedly due to his leadership.^{[citation needed]} The brigade was then transferred to the west for the Ardennes Offensive, in December 1944, and again suffered high casualties for little gain.

In 1945, when the FBB was expanded to divisional status, he was promoted to generalmajor (brigadier general), and appointed to command it. He was not considered a successful division commander, for when the FBD moved to Silesia in March 1945, Remer was criticised for lack of ability once again. He was eventually captured by American troops, and remained a prisoner of war until 1947.

Post-war activities[link]

Remer's Socialist Reich Party, which he had co-founded in 1950, was banned in 1952, after it had gathered about 360,000 supporters in Lower Saxony, and won 16 seats in the state parliament. The Socialist Reich Party also won eight seats in the Bremen state parliament. The party had received financing from the Soviet Union^[1] and worked with the Communist Party of Germany. Main issues of the party included Holocaust denial, where it accused the U.S. of planting fake gas chambers and films about concentration camps,^[4] seesaw politics,^[5] and ending Germany's puppet status with the United States.^[1]

With the party banned, Remer faced criminal charges from the German government as being the successor party to the Nazis. He was hidden in the chalet of Countess Faber-Castell, an early supporter of the party, before he fled to Egypt.^[5]

Egypt[link]

Arriving in Egypt, he served as an advisor to Gamal Abdel Nasser and worked with fellow Nazis proliferating weapon technology to Arab countries.^[1] He was a frequent acquaintance of Johannes von Leers.^[5]

Syria[link]

In 1956, Remer initiated operations in Damascus, continuing weapons proliferation. The Algerian National Liberation Front was one of his main customers.^[1]

Later years[link]

He returned to Germany in the 1980s, creating the German Freedom Movement which advocated a reunified country and the expulsion of NATO. It was an umbrella organisation for 23 underground Nazi organisations and allowed Remer the opportunity to create a new generation of followers.^[1]

From 1991 to 1994, Remer put out his own publication, the Remer-Depesche. Remer was sentenced to 22 months of imprisonment in October 1992, for writing and publishing a number of articles that were said to incite "racial hatred", through their questioning of the Holocaust. The political impact of this case upon the government is discussed in Searle's Wehrmacht Generals. His complaint over alleged violations of fairness of trial and freedom of speech was unanimously rejected by the European Commission on Human Rights.^[6] He filed numerous appeals, and eventually fled to Spain, prior to his actually being incarcerated.^[7]

Exile and death[link]

In February 1994, Remer went into exile in Spain, in a successful effort to avoid imprisonment for his controversial public statements about the Holocaust. Remer was an avid supporter of studies by key individuals in Holocaust denial, such as Fred Leuchter and Germar Rudolf.

The high court of Spain ruled against appeals made by the German government to extradite Remer, claiming that he had not committed any crime under Spanish law. He remained a wanted man in Germany until his 1997 death in Marbella at 85.

Legacy[link]

A fellow veteran of the Grossdeutschland Division had the following to say about his former commanding officer:

We, his former comrades, have deeply regretted that destiny confronted this young officer in July 1944 with a situation with consequences the bearing of which I should assume are beyond the powers of any human being. No judgment will be made here as to whether his decision on 20 July was right or wrong. But the consequences of his decision were so terrible, and have cost so much of the best German blood, that we old soldiers had expected that a man to whom destiny gave such a burden to carry until the end of his life would recognise this, and would thereafter live quietly and in seclusion. We, his former comrades, lack any sympathy for the fact that Herr Remer fails to summon up this attitude of self-effacement.^[8]

Awards[link]

• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (20 May 1940)
  • 1st Class (12 June 1940)
• Wound Badge (1939)
  • in Black
  • in Silver
  • in Gold
• Close Combat Clasp
  • in Bronze
  • in Silver
• General Assault Badge
• Eastern Front Medal
• Wehrmacht Long Service Medal
• German Cross in Gold (29 August 1942)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross on 18 May 1943 as Major and commander of I. / Grenadier-Regiment "Großdeutschland"
  • 325th Oak Leaves on 12 November 1943 as Major and commander of the I.(gepanzert)/Grenadier-Regiment (motorized) "Großdeutschland"
• Bulgarian Medal "For Bravery In War" IV Grade, I Class

Works[link]

• Verschwörung und Verrat um Hitler (Conspiracy and Betrayal Around Hitler)
• "Kriegshetze gegen Deutschland"

Depictions[link]

• Liberation - Hinrich Köhn.
• Stauffenberg - Enrico Mutti
• Valkyrie — Thomas Kretschmann

References[link]

• Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 edited by Philip Rees, (1991, ISBN 0-13-089301-3)
• The Beast Reawakens by Martin A. Lee (1997, ISBN 0-316-51959-6)
• God, Honor, Fatherland: Pictorial History of the Grossdeutschland Division 1942-1944 by Remy Spezzano and Thomas McGuirl (1997, ISBN 0-9657584-0-0)
• Wehrmacht Generals, West German Society, and the Debate on Rearmament, 1949-1959 by Alaric Searle. Praeger Pub., Westport, Conn. (2003, ISBN 0-275-97968-7)
• Schaulen, Fritjof (2005). Eichenlaubträger 1940 - 1945 Zeitgeschichte in Farbe III Radusch - Zwernemann (in German). Selent, Germany: Pour le Mérite. ISBN 3-932381-22-X.

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} "Encyclopedia of modern worldwide extremists and extremist groups", Stephen E. Atkins. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004. ISBN 0-313-32485-9, ISBN 978-0-313-32485-7. p. 273-274
2. ^ The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by William L. Shirer, page 1063 ff. 1960.
3. ^ part of the Interview on Youtube @5:24
4. ^ Hitler's Priestess: Savitri Devi, the Hindu-Aryan Myth, and Neo-Nazism. Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke. NYU Press, 2000. ISBN 0-8147-3111-2, ISBN 978-0-8147-3111-6. p. 170
5. ^ ^{a b c} "The beast reawakens", Martin A. Lee. Taylor & Francis, 1999. ISBN 0-415-92546-0, ISBN 978-0-415-92546-4. p. 73, 134, 151
6. ^ ECmHR admissibility decisionon the application 25096/94
7. ^ Holocaust Denial on Trial: Using History to Confront Distortions. "Biographies: Otto Remer," (retrieved on April 10th, 2009).
8. ^ Baigent, Michael and Leigh, Richard. 1994. Secret Germany. London, New York: The Penguin Group.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Otto Ernst Remer

• Generalmajor Otto-Ernst Remer
• http://www.bills-bunker.de/64690.html Otto Remer tells the story of his important role in crushing the coup against Hitler on 20 July 1944
• Germany's New Nazis 1951 pamphlet about Otto Ernst Remer and other neo--nazis

v t e Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves   Recipients of 1940 Eduard Dietl (Swords) Werner Mölders (Swords & Diamonds) Adolf Galland (Swords & Diamonds) Helmut Wick Günther Prien Otto Kretschmer (Swords) Joachim Schepke   Recipients of 1941 Martin Harlinghausen Walter Oesau (Swords) Erwin Rommel (Swords & Diamonds) Hermann-Friedrich Joppien Joachim Müncheberg (Swords) Heinrich Liebe Engelbert Endrass Herbert Schultze Herbert Ihlefeld (Swords) Wilhelm Balthasar Siegfried Schnell Rudolf Schmidt Werner Baumbach (Swords) Oskar Dinort Walter Storp Viktor Schütze Heinz Guderian Hermann Hoth (Swords) Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen Günther Lützow (Swords) Josef Priller (Swords) Günther Freiherr von Maltzahn Horst Niemack (Swords) Heinrich Bär (Swords) Hans Hahn Hans Philipp (Swords) Ludwig Crüwell Karl-Gottfried Nordmann Heinrich Hoffmann Kurt-Jürgen Freiherr von Lützow Gordon Gollob (Swords & Diamonds) Erbo Graf von Kageneck Ernst-Felix Krüder Josef Dietrich (Swords & Diamonds) Heinrich Eberbach Franz Scheidies Ernst-Georg Buchterkirch Bernhard Rogge Dietrich Peltz (Swords) Adelbert Schulz (Swords & Diamonds) Josef-Franz Eckinger Günther Hoffmann-Schönborn Karl Eibl (Swords) Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock Otto Weiß Georg Freiherr von Boeselager (Swords) Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach Josef Harpe (Swords) Reinhard Suhren (Swords) Hubertus Hitschhold   Recipients of 1942 Oskar von Boddien Hans Jordan (Swords) Karl-Wilhelm Specht Hans Freiherr von Wolff Hans-Valentin Hube (Swords & Diamonds) Karl-Heinz Noak Joachim Helbig (Swords) Otto Hitzfeld (Swords) Wilhelm Wegener (Swords) Hans Traut Werner von Gilsa Hermann Breith (Swords) Rolf Kaldrack Heinrich Borgmann Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist (Swords) Georg-Hans Reinhardt (Swords) Walter Model (Swords & Diamonds) Willibald Freiherr von Langermann und Erlencamp Walter Wessel Walter Hagen Albert Kesselring (Swords & Diamonds) Gerhard Köppen Kurt Ubben Max-Hellmuth Ostermann (Swords) Franz Eckerle Wolf-Dietrich Huy Hans Strelow Wilhelm Spies Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller (Swords) Erich Topp (Swords) Theodor Eicke Reinhard Hardegen Wolfgang Späte Alfred Wünnenberg Theodor Scherer Hermann Graf (Swords & Diamonds) Adolf Dickfeld Eberhard von Mackensen Leopold Steinbatz (Swords) Hans-Joachim Marseille (Swords & Diamonds) Helmut Lent (Swords & Diamonds) Robert-Georg Freiherr von Malapert Ludwig Wolff Friedrich Geißhardt Heinrich Setz Walter von Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt Rolf Mützelburg Adalbert Schnee Erwin Clausen Viktor Bauer Franz-Josef Beerenbrock Anton Hackl (Swords) Traugott Herr (Swords) Werner Kempf Gerhard Kollewe Walter Gorn (Swords) Kurt Brändle Johannes Steinhoff (Swords) Walter Sigel Johann Zemsky Alfred Druschel (Swords) Ernst Bormann Gerhard Hein Werner Ziegler (Swords) Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke (Swords) Klaus Scholtz Heinz Schmidt Heinrich Bleichrodt Friedrich-Karl Müller Wilhelm Crinius Wolfgang Tonne Bruno Ritter von Hauenschild Hans Beißwenger Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert (Swords) Karl Torley Johannes Kümmel Günther Rall (Swords) Ludwig Kirschner Konrad Hupfer Max Stotz Heinrich Schweickhardt Wolfgang Schenck Hermann Seitz Josef Zwernemann Wolfgang Lüth (Swords & Diamonds) Werner Töniges Hyazinth Graf Strachwitz von Gross-Zauche und Camminetz (Swords & Diamonds) Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke (Swords & Diamonds) Josef Wurmheller (Swords) Karl-Friedrich Merten Friedrich Lang (Swords) Alwin Boerst (Swords) Ekkehard Kylling-Schmidt Ernst Nobis Wolfgang Fischer Karl Allmendinger Heinrich Paepcke Hermann Balck (Swords & Diamonds) Walter Heitz Hermann Fegelein (Swords) Helmuth von Ruckteschell Felix Steiner (Swords) Hubert Lanz Helmuth Schlömer Maximilian Reichsfreiherr von Edelsheim (Swords) Hartwig von Ludwiger Harald von Hirschfeld Josef Bremm (Swords) Helmut Thumm Helmuth von Pannwitz Martin Fiebig   Recipients of 1943 Reiner Stahel (Swords) Fritz Feßmann (Swords) Friedrich Guggenberger Heinz Frank Ernst Kupfer (Swords) Bruno Dilley Gerhard Barkhorn (Swords) Wend von Wietersheim (Swords) Johann Mohr Friedrich Paulus Karl Willig Günter Goebel Günther von Kluge (Swords) Waldemar von Gazen (Swords) Hans Kreysing (Swords) Reinhard Günzel Hugo Primozic Willy Riedel Georg Michael Gustav Pressler Carl Rodenburg Reinhold Knacke Erwin Fischer Hermann Hogeback (Swords) Helmut Bruck Alfons König (Swords) Kurt Meyer (Swords) Paul Gildner Werner Streib (Swords) Ludwig Becker Werner Baumgarten-Crusius Fritz Witt Hans Mikosch Walter Scheunemann Gustav Schmidt Eberhard Zahn Johann Mickl Wilhelm von Malachowski Bruno Kohnz Georg Lassen Erich von Lewinski (Swords) Georg Rietscher Karl Langesee Josef Kult Walter Hörnlein Theodor Nordmann (Swords) Georg-Wilhelm Postel (Swords) Robert Ritter von Greim (Swords) Hans-Karl von Scheele Heinrich Schüler Helmut Hudel Hinrich Schuldt (Swords) Otto Kumm (Swords) Rudolf Schlee Karl Dönitz Albrecht Brandi (Swords & Diamonds) Gerhard von Kamptz Siegfried Wuppermann Erich Klawe Peter Frantz Hans-Ulrich Rudel (Golden Oak Leaves, Swords & Diamonds) Paul-Werner Hozzel Georg Dörffel Egon Mayer (Swords) August Dieckmann (Swords) Otto von Bülow Willibald Borowietz Hans-Günther Stotten Paul Laux Gustav Höhne Karl-Adolf Hollidt Gerhard von Schwerin (Swords) Wilhelm Niggemeyer Franz Griesbach (Swords) Erich Bärenfänger (Swords) Richard Grünert Ernst Kruse Georg Bochmann (Swords) Karl Löwrick Martin Grase Friedrich Kemnade Robert Gysae Hans von Obstfelder (Swords) Karl Göbel Friedrich Höhne Günter Klappich Gustav Rödel Carl Emmermann Werner Henke Fritz Bayerlein (Swords) Walther von Hünersdorff Bernhard Sauvant Paul Hausser (Swords) Franz Bäke (Swords) Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld Manfred Meurer Heinrich Ehrler Theodor Weissenberger Joachim Kirschner Werner Schröer (Swords) Hajo Herrmann (Swords) Bruno Kahl Lothar Rendulic (Swords) Dietrich von Müller (Swords) Georg von Küchler Ernst Busch Georg Lindemann Paul Conrath Otto Baum (Swords) Hans Freiherr von Funck Alexander Conrady Erhard Raus Dietrich von Saucken (Swords & Diamonds) Hans Gollnick Alfred Eidel Paul Schultz Hans-Detloff von Cossel Walter Krüger (Swords) Rolf Rocholl Hartmann Grasser Wolf-Udo Ettel Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein (Swords) Hans Zorn Horst Großmann Walter Nowotny (Swords & Diamonds) Joachim Lemelsen Erich Jaschke Heinz Harmel (Swords) Hermann Prieß (Swords) Friedrich Hoßbach Siegfried Thomaschki Walter Lange Günther Pape Theodor Tolsdorff (Swords & Diamonds) Sylvester Stadler (Swords) Ulrich Kleemann Kurt Student Alfred-Hermann Reinhardt (Swords) Hans Fritsche Bodo Spranz Josef Schreiber Hubert-Erwin Meierdress Hans-Gotthard Pestke Julius Ringel Rudolf Freiherr von Roman Ernst Voß Herbert Otto Gille (Swords & Diamonds) Albert Graf von der Goltz Ernst Ziemer Eugen König Hermann Recknagel (Swords) Siegfried Grabert Heinrich Kiesling Otto von Knobelsdorff (Swords) Maximilian de Angelis Erich Brandenberger Otto-Ernst Remer Georg Christiansen Hans Dorr (Swords) Josef Heindl Willy Johannmeyer Karl-Friedrich Brill Johannes Block Hasso von Manteuffel (Swords & Diamonds) Gotthard Heinrici (Swords) Hans Schmidt Karl Mauss (Swords & Diamonds) Hans-Henning Freiherr von Beust Dietrich Hrabak Wilhelm Lemke Otto Schünemann Walter Hartmann (Swords) Ernst-August Fricke Ernst Wellmann Alfred Druffner Anton Grasser Kurt Walter Adolf Weitkunat Walter Elflein Willy Langkeit Andreas Thorey Sigfrid Henrici Heinrich Voigtsberger Karl Baacke Christian Tychsen Alfred Müller Hans-Joachim Kahler Ernst Kühl Kurt von der Chevallerie Wilhelm Schmalz Albert Frey Heinrich Ochs   Recipients of 1944 Bernd Klug Klaus Feldt Walter Krauß Horst Hannig Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt Helmut Kalbitz Josef-Georg Mulzer Maximilian Fretter-Pico Hans Schlemmer Heinrich Boigk August Schmidt Friedrich Wiese Walter Krüger Karl Koetz Hugo Kraas Eduard Hauser Joachim Peiper (Swords) Walter Fries (Swords) Walther Sievers Michael Wittmann (Swords) Bernhard Flachs Richard Heidrich (Swords) Walther Nehring (Swords) Botho Kollberg Erich Löwe Günther Hilt Fritz Breithaupt Robert Martinek Josef Schneider Walter Möse Friedrich Kirchner (Swords) Hans Källner (Swords) Theodor Wisch (Swords) Heinrich-Walter Bronsart von Schellendorff Karl Lorenz Meinrad von Lauchert Josef Karl Ferdinand Schörner (Swords & Diamonds) Wilhelm Stemmermann Theo-Helmut Lieb Robert Kaestner Ernst-Günther Baade (Swords) Rudolf Kolbeck Maximilian Wengler (Swords) Walter Mix Otto Benzin Werner Forst Helmuth Weidling (Swords) Friedrich Mieth Hermann Hohn (Swords) Erich Walther (Swords) Ludwig Heilmann (Swords) Kurt Bühligen (Swords) Horst Ademeit Walter Krupinski August Geiger Hans-Dieter Frank Johannes Wiese Reinhard Seiler Erich Hartmann (Swords & Diamonds) Hermann-Heinrich Behrend (Swords) Gustav Stühmer Fritz von Scholz Fritz von Scholz Edler von Rarancze (Swords) Willi Thulke Josef Rettemeier Smilo Freiherr von Lüttwitz (Swords) Josef Bregenzer Friedrich Schulz (Swords) Werner Mummert (Swords) Hans-Joachim Jabs Bernhard Jope Wilhelm Schmitter Maximilian Otte Hansgeorg Bätcher Georg Koßmala Georg Grüner Eduard Tratt Fritz Petersen Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin Ludwig Müller Heinz Wittchow von Brese-Winiary Herbert Schwender Hans Kroh (Swords) Günther Radusch Johannes Frießner Alfred Grislawski Erich Rudorffer (Swords) Emil Lang Otto Kittel (Swords) Rudolf Schoenert Wilhelm Herget Anton Hafner Johannes Mayer (Swords) Heinrich Hogrebe Rudolf Geisler Heinrich von Vietinghoff Egon von Neindorff Wilhelm Drewes Karl-Lothar Schulz (Swords) Günther Schack Otto Pollmann Hans-Karl Stepp Martin Möbus Albin Wolf Heinz Vinke Karl Decker (Swords) Erich Lorenz Wilhelm Eggemann Theodor von Lücken Otto Deßloch Leopold Münster Max Sachsenheimer (Swords) Martin Hrustak Johann Schwerdfeger Emil Vogel Rudolf Freiherr von Waldenfels Fritz Müller Kilian Weimer Walter Schmidt Karl Ullrich Karl Henze Willy Marienfeld Ferdinand Wegerer Wolf Hagemann Hans Strippel Friedrich Hochbaum Ernst-Eberhard Hell Alfons Hitter Wolfgang Pickert Gottfried Weber Horst Niederländer Georg Bonk Hubert Pilarski Ernst-Wilhelm Hoffmann Konrad Zeller Joachim Domaschk Emil Kaminsky Edwin Stolz Rudolf Petersen Götz Freiherr von Mirbach Diddo Diddens Ernst Sieler Erich Marcks Albert Brux Horst Kaubisch Hendrik Stahl Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer (Swords & Diamonds) Adolf Glunz Eduard Skrzipek Reinhard Egger Josef-August Fitz Herbert Huppertz Clemens-Heinrich Graf von Kageneck Werner Kolb Martin Unrein Erich Abraham Fritz-Hubert Gräser (Swords) Friedrich Dollmann Gerd von Rundstedt (Swords) Hermann Wulf Erich Buschenhagen Heinz-Otto Fabian Karl Palmgreen Heinrich Hoffmann Heinz-Georg Lemm (Swords) Wilhelm Batz (Swords) Willy Kientsch Heinz Strüning Karl-Heinz Weber Otto Weßling Rudolf Frank Herbert Lamprecht Wilhelm von Salisch Gerhard Kruse Otto Carius Hermann von Oppeln-Bronikowski (Swords) Rudolf Demme Paul Schulze Kurt von Tippelskirch Hubert Mickley Willy Wesche Carl Hilpert Heinrich Nickel Curt Schille Martin Strahammer Karl Kloskowski Gerhard Simons Max Wünsche Dietrich Kraiß Rudolf Bacherer Andreas von Aulock Hermann Siggel Gerhard Pick Heinz Macher Hinrich Warrelmann Rudolf Wulf Werner Schulze Walter Melzer Bruno Hinz Hellmuth Mäder (Swords) Rudolf Holste Kurt Pflugbeil Wilhelm Bittrich (Swords) Eugen Meindl (Swords) Hermann Flörke Martin Bieber Hermann Klein Jakob Gansmeier Walter Misera Friedrich-Wilhelm Bock Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz (Swords) Heinz Greiner Christian Sonntag Hellmuth Pfeifer Rudolf Flinzer Walter Neitzel Richard Seuss Otto Lasch Alois Weber Gerhard Lindemann Johannes Bölter Gustav Reimar Otto Kähler Erich Pietzonka Walter Gericke Heinrich Trettner Hans Thurner Paul Zorner Hans von der Mosel Rudolf Haen Helmut Scholz Otto Schury Werner Marcks Ehrenfried-Oskar Boege Hellmuth Becker Johannes Mühlenkamp Friedrich-August Schack Ernst König Ernst-Georg Philipp Wolfgang Kretzschmar (Swords) Otto Meyer Hermann Scharnagel Konrad Sauer Jörg Burg Gerhard Behnke Gerhard Kunert Wilhelm Kohler Heinz Reinefarth Erich Straube Georg Graf von Rittberg Mortimer von Kessel Willi Koch Friedrich Strohm Theodor Krancke Georg Jakob Walter Schuck Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte Herbert Bauer Franz Kieslich Diether Lukesch Wilhelm Bleckwenn Arthur Jüttner (Swords) Johann-Georg Richert Werner Gust Othmar Kreuzinger Franz Weller Karl Thieme (Swords) Hans-Christian Stock Gustav Schubert Johann Schalanda Helmut Leicht Günther Tonne Benno Reuter Paul Ecker Paul Freiherr von Hauser Fritz-Rudolf Schultz Heinrich Busse Eduard Brunner Max Simon Johannes Blaskowitz (Swords) Klaus Hilgemann Gerhard Friedrich Maximilian Felzmann Johann-Heinrich Eckhardt Werner Hartmann Walter Weiß Gustav-Adolf von Zangen Gerd Ruge Wilhelm Weidenbrück Helmut Dörner (Swords) Albrecht Krügel Emil Badorrek Klaus Mietusch Heinz Meyer Wilhelm Antrup Heinrich Höfer Gerhart Schirmer Hans Seidemann Hans Hoßfeld Werner Dörnbrack Hubert Pölz Rudolf Witzig Georg-Peter Eder Rudolf Rennecke Otto Dommeratzky Karl Kennel Gerhard Michalski Gerhard Bremer Klaus von Bismarck Artur Phleps Otto Wöhler Helmuth Reymann Curt Ehle Kurt Maier Georg Sattler Walther Hahm Christian Braun Fritz Arndt Gerhard Engel Jürgen Wagner Friedrich Jakob Harry Hoppe Eduard Crasemann Andreas Kuffner Fritz Biermeier Paul Klatt Günther-Eberhardt Wisliceny (Swords) Otto Weidinger (Swords)   Recipients of 1945 Heinrich Baron von Behr Kurt-Hermann Freiherr von Mühlen Walter Lucht Sigmund-Ulrich Freiherr von Gravenreuth Kurt Gröschke Kurt Herzog Alois Eisele Volprecht Riedesel Freiherr zu Eisenbach Joachim Brendel Wilhelm Hasse Hans-Detlef Gollert-Hansen Claus Breger Bruno Streckenbach Max Reinwald Richard Henze Walther Risse Alexander Löhr Gerhard Schmidhuber Wilhelm Schöning Herbert Kündiger Albert Henze Erich Reuter Kurt Dahlmann Kurt Plenzat Herbert Rollwage Max Schäfer Karl Pröll Hellmuth Böhlke Walter Süß Wilhelm Spindler Karl Arndt Kurt Wahl Joachim Rumohr August Zehender Karl Pfeffer-Wildenbruch Walther Dahl Karl Roßmann Ernst Jansa Jürgen Harder Otto Vincon Joachim Sander Georg Graf von Plettenberg Maximilian von Weichs Wilhelm Osterhold Georg Jauer Karl-Heinz Oesterwitz Herbert Wittmann Herbert Schramm Anton-Otto Frank Anton Müller Eduard Zorn Willi Schülke Günther Blumentritt Josef Heichele Georg Gebhardt Ernst Knebel Fritz Klasing Edmund Blaurock Ludwig Schulz Rolf Hermichen Hans Krebs Heinz-Martin Ewert Fritz-Georg von Rappard Josef Jakwert Horst Warschnauer Hans-Babo von Rohr Ernst-August Krag Heinrich Schmelzer Traugott Kempas Arthur Kullmer Michael Pössinger Ottmar Pollmann Bern von Baer Hans Reichardt Werner Ebeling Hermann Niehoff (Swords) Heinrich Götz Rudolf von Bünau Bruno Karczewski Erich Schneider Kurt Welter Helmut Renschler Wolfgang Rust Friedrich Sixt Kurt Witschel Clemens Betzel Franz Rogalski Johannes Grimminger Ernst Kutschkau Egon Aghta Wilhelm Schröder Karl-Heinz Becker Heinz Rökker Robert Weiß Werner Pötschke Alfred Matern Fritz Vogt Karl-Heinz Jaeger Max Wandrey Hans Engelien Heinrich Ruhl Bruno Frankewitz Paul Scheuerpflug Martin Becker Gerhard Werner Ernst-Georg Kedzia Kuno von Meyer Walter Prüß Günther Konopacki Hans-Georg Herzog Rudolf Trittel Karl Wanka Harald Freiherr von Elverfeldt Friedrich Jeckeln Fritz Fullriede Johannes Spielmann Heinrich Keese Lothar Berger Helmuth Hufenbach Erich Schroedter Horst von Usedom Günther Josten Alexander Gläser Wilhelm Stähler Gerhard Stüdemann Walter Girg Horst von Mellenthin Martin Steglich Rudolf Neubert Friedrich Richter Ernst Kuppinger Otto Paetsch Hans von Tettau Gerhard Thyben Theodor Burchardi August Thiele Bruno Richter Otto Skorzeny Ernst-Anton von Krosigk Helmut Borchardt Carl Becker Kurt Röpke Friedrich Rögelein Alfred Simm Gerhard Raht Hans-Arno Ostermeier Max Hansen Herbert Lütje Helmut Lipfert Josef Kraft Martin Drewes Hermann Greiner Paul Semrau Adolf Raegener Hans-Peter Knaust Franz Hack Paul-Albert Kausch Josef Brandner Eberhard Rodt Joachim Ziegler Hans-Joachim Kappis Karl Schrepfer Josef Prentl Rolf Thomsen Hans-Günther Lange Heinz-Oskar Laebe Heinrich Hax Hanns Laengenfelder Richard Daniel Wolfgang von Obstfelder Wolfgang von Bostell Gerhard Mokros Werner Ostendorff Rudolf Lehmann Karl Kreutz Heinz Werner Alfred Jodl Adalbert von Blanc Hermann Plocher Franz Graßmel Friedrich Lier Oskar-Hubert Dennhardt Matthias Kleinheisterkamp Hanns-Heinrich Lohmann Alfred Montag Hans Meier Alfons Rebane Walter Schlags-Koch Erich Schmidt Joachim von Siegroth Paul Stahl Georg Störck Franz Sensfuß Joseph von Radowitz   Foreign recipients (as individuals in the military of allies of the Third Reich) Mihail Lascăr Agustín Muñoz Grandes Isoroku Yamamoto (Swords) Corneliu Teodorini Petre Dumitrescu Mineichi Koga Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Léon Degrelle in chronological order see also: List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients