Born 25 December 1886 in Gumbinnen, East Prussia. He was a cousin of Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt. His wife was Jewish. During the First World War he fought on both the Eastern and Western fronts. In the Second World War he became renowned as a capable commander in retreat situations. In 1943 he refused to obey an order to destroy the city of Smolensk by fire before the German army’s retreat, and he was temporarily dismissed from his post as commander. On 20 March he was appointed to command the Army Group Vistula, which was tasked with preventing the Soviets from crossing the Oder (Odra) River. In the final stages of the war he was captured by the British, spending three years in a prisoner-of-war camp. He died on 13 December 1971.
