// Workers AI · dad joke modeWho's Rudolf Bamler's favorite reindeer? Rudolf.

Rudolf Bamler
Rudolf Bamler
Born	6 May 1896[citation needed]; Osterburg (Altmark), Province of Saxony, Prussia, German Empire
Died	13 March 1972 (aged 77)[citation needed]; Groß Glienicke, East Germany
Allegiance	German Empire; Weimar Republic; Nazi Germany; NKFD (to 1945)[citation needed]; East Germany
Branch	Prussian Army; Reichsheer; Army (Wehrmacht); Kasernierte Volkspolizei;
Service years	1914–1945;[citation needed] 1948–1956
Rank	Generalleutnant of the Wehrmacht; Generalmajor of the KVP
Commands	12th Infantry Division
Conflicts	World War I; World War II
Other work	Main Directorate for Reconnaissance

Rudolf Bamler (6 May 1896 – 13 March 1972) was a German general during World War II. Although Bamler was a member of the Nazi Party^[1] he would later serve as a leading member of the East German security forces.

Early life

Bamler was born in Osterburg (Altmark), Saxony-Anhalt, the son of Protestant clergyman Johannes Bamler (born 1864) and his wife Anna Garlipp (1873-1932).^[2] He enlisted in the Prussian Army and served in the First World War with the 15th Division.^[3]

Abwehr

Bamler was attached to the Abwehr as the head of section III (counterespionage) and here he helped to encourage closer co-operation with the Gestapo and Sicherheitsdienst (SD).^[4] This role also meant that Bamler maintained a network of informers across German society rivalled only by that of the SD.^[5] Although he had a difficult personal relationship with his superior Wilhelm Canaris the two co-operated closely in supporting Canaris' friend Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War.^[6]

World War II

Following the outbreak of the Second World War Bamler was appointed Chief of Staff of Wehrkreis VII (Munich) before a transfer to the same role in XX (Danzig).^[7] Bamler was then made Chief of Staff to the XXXXVII Panzer Corps in 1940.^[7] From 1942 to 1944 he was Chief of Staff^[8] to the German Army in Norway under Generaloberst Nikolaus von Falkenhorst, having risen to the rank of lieutenant general.^[9]

Bamler was then moved to the Eastern Front; from June 1 to June 27, he was commander of the 121st Infantry Division, before being replaced by Helmuth Prieß.^[10] He commanded, simultaneously, the 12th Infantry Division, and was in turn succeeded by Gerhard Engel.^[11] Bamler's command concluded with his surrender to the Red Army on 27 June 1944 of the 12th Infantry Division and Mogilev during Operation Bagration.^[12] Following his capture, he later defected to the Soviet Union.^[7]

Later years

Bamler settled in East Germany and worked as a Stasi police officer there from 1946 until his retirement in 1962.^[7] He also held the rank of major general in the Kasernierte Volkspolizei.^[13] He died in Groß Glienicke aged 77.^[14]

References

↑ Michael Mueller, Geoffrey Brooks, Canaris: The Life and Death of Hitler's Spymaster, Naval Institute Press, 2007, p. 95
↑ Rüdiger Wenzke, "Rudolf Bamler – Karrierebruch in der KVP" on Hans Ehlert, Armin Wagner (eds.), Genosse General! Die Militärelite der DDR in biografischen Skizzen, Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2003, p. 33
↑ Jürgen Kraus, Handbuch der Verbände und Truppen des deutschen Heeres 1914–1918. Teil IX: Feldartillerie Band 1, Verlag Militaria Wien 2007, p. 266
↑ George C. Browder, Foundations of the Nazi Police State: The Formation of Sipo and SD, University Press of Kentucky, 2004, p. 180
↑ Peter Padfield, Himmler, Cassell & Co, 2001, p. 215
↑ John H. Waller, The Unseen War in Europe: Espionage and Conspiracy in the Second World War, I.B.Tauris, 1996, p. 16
1 2 3 4 Samuel W. Mitcham, The German Defeat in the East, 1944-45, Stackpole Books, 2007, p. 39
↑ Toppnazisten ble kommunist - sønnen ble spion [The top Nazi became a communist - the son became a spy]
↑ Hans Fredrik Dahl, Quisling: A Study in Treachery, Cambridge University Press, 1999, p. 343
↑ Samuel W. Mitcham, German Order of Battle Volume One, Volume 3, Stackpole Books, 2007, p. 173
↑ Mitcham, German Order of Battle Volume One, Volume 3, p. 52
↑ Veal, Stephen Ariel (1991). The collapse of the German army in the East in the summer of 1944 (Volume 1) (MA History thesis). Portland State University. p. 335. doi:10.15760/etd.6183.
↑ Walter Henry Nelson, Germany Rearmed, Simon and Schuster, 1972, p. 246
↑ Wenzke, p. 52

[1] Michael Mueller, Geoffrey Brooks, Canaris: The Life and Death of Hitler's Spymaster, Naval Institute Press, 2007, p. 95

[Wenzke-2] Rüdiger Wenzke, "Rudolf Bamler – Karrierebruch in der KVP" on Hans Ehlert, Armin Wagner (eds.), Genosse General! Die Militärelite der DDR in biografischen Skizzen, Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2003, p. 33

[3] Jürgen Kraus, Handbuch der Verbände und Truppen des deutschen Heeres 1914–1918. Teil IX: Feldartillerie Band 1, Verlag Militaria Wien 2007, p. 266

[4] George C. Browder, Foundations of the Nazi Police State: The Formation of Sipo and SD, University Press of Kentucky, 2004, p. 180

[5] Peter Padfield, Himmler, Cassell & Co, 2001, p. 215

[6] John H. Waller, The Unseen War in Europe: Espionage and Conspiracy in the Second World War, I.B.Tauris, 1996, p. 16

[Defeat-7] 1 2 3 4 Samuel W. Mitcham, The German Defeat in the East, 1944-45, Stackpole Books, 2007, p. 39

[8] Toppnazisten ble kommunist - sønnen ble spion [The top Nazi became a communist - the son became a spy]

[9] Hans Fredrik Dahl, Quisling: A Study in Treachery, Cambridge University Press, 1999, p. 343

[10] Samuel W. Mitcham, German Order of Battle Volume One, Volume 3, Stackpole Books, 2007, p. 173

[11] Mitcham, German Order of Battle Volume One, Volume 3, p. 52

[12] Veal, Stephen Ariel (1991). The collapse of the German army in the East in the summer of 1944 (Volume 1) (MA History thesis). Portland State University. p. 335. doi:10.15760/etd.6183.

[13] Walter Henry Nelson, Germany Rearmed, Simon and Schuster, 1972, p. 246

[14] Wenzke, p. 52

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