18 Facts About Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth

Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth was a grandson of the Swabian writer Ottilie Wildermuth.

In Tubingen, Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth was a member of the South German liberal fraternity "Academic Society Stuttgardia".

From 1928 Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth was director of Deutsche Bank's construction operations and in addition from 1930, board member, later president of the German Society for Public Works.

Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth returned as an officer of this regiment in the First World War, serving from 1914 to 1918 on the Western and Eastern Fronts and in Italy.

At the outbreak of the Second World War Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth was drafted as a reserve major and during the Battle of France was commander of the Second Battalion of Infantry Regiment 272.

On 12 August 1944 Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth became "Fortress Commandant" of Le Havre in France.

Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth's offer was rebuffed by Lt-General John Crocker, in command of the 1st British Corps which had laid siege to the city.

Crocker would later argue that if Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth cared about the civilian population, he could have surrendered the garrison before the bombing began, and that acceding to Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth's request would have served only the German interest, by gaining time and removing potentially disruptive French civilians from the defended fortress.

British intelligence considered Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth a convinced patriot and brave officer but vehemently opposed the Nazi regime.

In other respects Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth largely justified the confidence placed in him by his British captors.

In 1918 Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth was a member of a soldier Council and joined the left-liberal DDP party in 1919.

Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth was next to Carl-Hubert Schwennicke from Berlin as the only candidate receiving all 89 delegate votes.

From 1947 to 1950 Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth was a member of the Landtag of Wurttemberg-Hohenzollern and from 1949 until his death was a member of the German Bundestag.

In 1946 Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth was appointed Secretary of State for Economics in the Wurttemberg-Hohenzollern provisional government.

Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth is one of the few federal ministers who died in office.

Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth was constantly aware of the difficulty of his work.

Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth, who had himself been severely wounded in both world wars, particularly supported the construction of wheelchair accessible homes for severely disabled veterans.

Various streets in German cities are named after Eberhard Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth, including in Hamburg and Kassel and Herne.