Franz Vaterrodt

Franz Vaterrodt (29 April 1890 – 28 February 1969) was a German general of the Second World War. From March 1941 to November 1944, he was the commander of the Place de Strasbourg.

Early years Franz Vaterrodt was born in then Diedenhofen (now Thionville), in annexed Lorraine, on April 29, 1890. The city was then a lively stronghold of Alsace-Lorraine. Franz Vaterrodt intended for a military career very early on. On 29 November 1909, he enlisted as Fahnenjunker in the Royal Prussian Army and served as a company officer with the 2nd Lower Alsatian Infantry Regiment No. 137 (German: 2. Unter-Elsässisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 137). After an internship at the military academy, Vaterrodt was promoted to Leutnant (second lieutenant), in June 1911. A company officer, he still served with the 137th Infantry-Regiment, when the First World War broke out.

First World War Vaterrodt took part in military operations with his regiment from the start of the conflict. In June 1915, he was promoted to Oberleutnant (first lieutenant). Well noted, Lieutenant Vaterrodt was promoted to Hauptmann (captain), on 15 July 1918. Before the end of hostilities, Franz Vaterrodt had received the iron crosses, 2nd and 1st classes and the prestigious knight's cross of the royal house of Hohenzollern with swords. as the successor to Colonel Heinrich Clößner. On May 31, 1939, he passed his command to Colonel Karl Faulenbach.

On March 18, 1941, he was appointed Wehrmacht commander of Strasbourg, a sentence that could never be carried out by the German High Command.

Later years He was released from captivity on August 25, 1947. That year he wrote a 22-page report on the history of Strasbourg in November 1944 for the US Historical Division under the serial number B-545. Franz Vaterrodt died in Bad Krozingen, Baden-Württemberg, in West Germany on February 28, 1969.

Awards

Ritterkreuz mit Schwertern, Hohenzollern Hausorden. Eisernes Kreuz, 2nd and 1st classes (1914-1918).