Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- see Berthold Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (born 1934) for Claus's son and Berthold's nephew
Berthold Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg (born 15 March 1905 in Stuttgart - executed 10 August 1944 in Berlin-Plötzensee) was a German aristocrat, lawyer and conspirator in the July 20 Plot of 1944, along with his brother, Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg, an army colonel. Claus had named his eldest son Berthold Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg after his brother.
Berthold was the oldest of three brothers (the third being Berthold's twin Alexander Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg) born into an old and distinguished aristocratic South German Catholic family. His parents were the last Oberhofmarschall of the Kingdom of Württemberg, Alfred Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, and Caroline née von Üxküll-Gyllenband. Among his ancestors were several famous Prussians, including most notably August von Gneisenau.
After having studied law Tübingen, he became assistant professor in international law at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Foreign and International Law in 1927. He was introduced by Albrecht von Blumenthal with his brother, Claus, to the circle of the mystic symbolist poet Stefan George, many of whose followers later worked for the German Resistance to National Socialism. He worked at the Hague from 1930-32, and was married to Maria Classen. In 1939 he joined the German navy, working in the High Command as a staff judge and advisor for international law.
Berthold's appartement at Tristanstraße in Berlin, in which his brother Claus also used to live for some time, was a meeting place for the conspirators, among others their cousin Peter Yorck von Wartenburg. As his brother, Claus, had access to the inner circle around Hitler, he was assigned to plant a bomb at the Führer's briefing hut at the military high command in Rastenburg, East Prussia on July 20, 1944. Claus then flew to Rangsdorf airfield south of Berlin, where he met up with Berthold. Together, they went to Bendlerstrasse, which the coup leaders intended to use as the centre of their operations in Berlin.
After it became known that Hitler had survived, the coup failed, and Berthold and his brother were arrested at Bendlerstrasse the same night. Claus was executed by firing squad shortly afterwards. Berthold was tried in the Volksgerichtshof by Roland Freisler on 10 August and was one of eight conspirators executed by strangulation, hanged slowly in Plötzensee Prison, Berlin, later that day.
[edit] Notes
Regarding personal names: Graf is a title, translated as Count, not a first or middle name. The female form is Gräfin.
