View source for Wichard von Alvensleben

{{Short description|German military officer and nobleman}}
{{more citations needed|date=February 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = Wichard von Alvensleben
| image         = Wichard-Tankow.jpg
| caption       = von Alvensleben in 1960
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1902|05|19|df=y}}
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1982|08|14|1902|05|19|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Wittenmoor]], [[Province of Saxony]], [[German Empire]]
| death_place   = [[Ascheberg]], [[North Rhine-Westphalia]], [[West Germany]]
| allegiance    = {{flag|Nazi Germany}}
| branch        = [[German Army (1935–1945)|Heer]]
| branch_label  = 
| serviceyears  = 1939–1945
| rank          = [[File:WMacht H OF2 Hptm Inf h.svg|40px]] [[Hauptmann]]
| known_for     = Liberation of prominent prisoners in [[Transport of concentration camp inmates to Tyrol|South Tyrol]]
| battles       = [[World War II]]
[[Invasion of Poland]]
* [[Western Front (World War II)|Western Front]] 
**[[Battle of France]]
* [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]]
** [[Operation Barbarossa]]{{WIA}}
*[[Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II|Mediterranean theater]]
**[[North African campaign]]
**[[Italian campaign (World War II)|Italian campaign]]{{POW}}
| battles_label = 
| awards        = [[Iron Cross#Iron Cross|Iron Cross 1st Class]]<br/>
[[Wound Badge]]<br/>
[[Infantry Assault Badge]]
| spouse        = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Cora von Erxleben|1927|1945|end=d.}}
* {{marriage|Astrid von Brand|1946|1982|end=d.}}
}}
| laterwork     = agriculturist, estate administrator, and transport operator
}}
'''Wichard von Alvensleben''' (19 May 1902 &ndash; 14 August 1982) was a German [[agriculturist]], [[Wehrmacht]] Officer, and [[Knight]] of the [[Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg)|Order of Saint John]].  He was a member of the aristocratic [[House of Alvensleben]], one of the oldest in Germany.

Then a captain, Alvensleben was the commander of Wehrmacht troops stationed in April 1945 at [[Bolzano|Bozen]], whence he led a detachment of infantry to [[Transport of concentration camp inmates to Tyrol|liberate a group of high-status prisoners]] being held by the SS at [[Niederdorf, South Tyrol|Niederdorf]] in the [[state of Tyrol|Italian Tyrol]]. It is a curious coincidence of history that his brother SS-Colonel [[Ludolf Jakob von Alvensleben]] was commander ([[SS and police leader|SS and Police Leader]]) of all SS troops in the area (Adria-West) at that time.

==Early life==
{{unreferenced section|date=November 2022}}
Alvensleben was born on 19 May 1902, in [[Wittenmoor]] (now part of [[Stendal]]) to Ludolf Udo von Alvensleben (1852–1923) and Ida, née von Glasenapp (1866–1924). He was taught in various convent schools at [[Magdeburg]] in [[Brandenburg an der Havel]] and passed his [[Abitur]] in 1921 at the Klosterschule [[Roßleben]]. After four years of practical training he commenced studies in agriculture, forestry, and law in [[Eberswalde]] and [[Munich]].

In 1927, Alvensleben married Cora von Erxleben and started to work at his wife's country estates at Tankow-Seegenfelde in the district of [[Strzelce Krajeńskie|Friedeberg]], then in the [[Province of Brandenburg]], part of the German [[Free State of Prussia]], and at Dertzow in the district of [[Soldin]], [[New March]], also in the Province of Brandenburg, in 1929. In 1936, he bought the forested estate of Viarthlum, in the district of [[Miastko|Rummelsburg]], in the Free State [[Province of Pomerania (1815–1945)|Province of Pomerania]]. All were in areas transferred to [[Poland]] by the [[Potsdam Agreement]] in August 1945 following the end of World War II.

Alvensleben had two daughters, born in 1934 and 1936.  A deeply religious [[Christians|Christian]], he had become by then a Knight of Justice of the [[Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg)|Order of Saint John]].

==Military service==
{{one source|section|date=November 2022}}
In 1939, Alvensleben became an Officer of the German Wehrmacht, earning the rank of [[Hauptmann|Captain]], and served in [[Poland]], [[France]], [[Russia]], [[Africa]], and [[Italy]]. He was wounded in 1941 in Russia and received various decorations, including the [[Wound Badge]], the [[Infantry Assault Badge]], and the [[Iron Cross|Iron Cross 1st Class]].

On 29 January 1945, his wife committed suicide at the arrival of the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[Red Army]] at the family estate in Tankow-Seegenfelde.

In late April 1945, a group of 140 high-status prisoners ([[Prominenten]]) were [[Transport of concentration camp inmates to Tyrol|transferred to Tyrol]], guarded by SS troops. A Wehrmacht colonel among the prisoners contacted senior German army officers, made known the identity of these prisoners, and conveyed the apprehension that they were all to be executed. A regular German army unit under the command of Captain von Alvensleben was assigned by nearby military authorities to protect the prisoners. Outnumbered, the SS guards moved out, leaving the prisoners behind.<ref>[http://www.mythoselser.de/niederdorf.htm Die Befreiung der Sonder- und Sippenhäftlinge in Südtirol (German)]</ref> The prisoners were then set free, with the majority opting for sanctuary for a time in [[Pragser Wildsee]] under the protection of Alvensleben's troops until a U.S. force arrived to take custody.

==After the war==
{{unreferenced section|date=November 2022}}
In autumn 1945, Alvensleben was released from U.S. custody and started to work as a transport operator in a sugar refinery in [[Nörten-Hardenberg]]. In August 1946, Alvensleben married Astrid von Brand (widowed von Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt)  and in 1952 he became an administrator of the von Brockdorff estate [[Ascheberg, Schleswig-Holstein|Ascheberg]] near [[Plön]]. In 1956, Alvensleben was involved with ''[[Diakonisches Werk]]'', a charity organisation of the [[Lutheran]] Church at [[Rendsburg]]. He retired in 1974 and died on 14 August 1982, in Ascheberg.

== See also ==
* [[House of Alvensleben]]

==Literature==
*Hartmut Jäckel: ''Menschen in Berlin''. Stuttgart, München 2001, S. 46–48.
*Hans-Günter Richardi: ''SS-Geiseln in der Alpenfestung''. Bozen 2005

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==
* [http://www.mythoselser.de/niederdorf.htm Liberation of KZ inmates at Tyrol showing a picture of von Alvensleben](German)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvensleben, Wichard Von}}
[[Category:1902 births]]
[[Category:1982 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Stendal]]
[[Category:People from the Province of Saxony]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Iron Cross (1939), 1st class]]
[[Category:German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States]]
[[Category:Protestants in the German Resistance]]
[[Category:20th-century German farmers]]
[[Category:20th-century German landowners]]
[[Category:House of Alvensleben|Wichard]]
[[Category:Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development alumni]]