From the DOV.
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pseudo-expert -
Very cool.
I met the son of the WM general von Sponeck here when he quit the UN.
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Not often you find an item you can track back as belonging to an RK bearer:
Hans Graf von Sponeck
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<!-- /jumpto --><!-- bodytext --><TABLE style="BORDER-SPACING: 2px; WIDTH: 315px; FONT-SIZE: 90%" class="infobox vcard" cellSpacing=5><TBODY><TR><TH style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(176,196,222); FONT-SIZE: 100%; FONT-WEIGHT: bold" class=fn colSpan=2>Hans Graf von Sponeck</TH></TR><TR><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(176,196,222)" colSpan=2>12 February 1888(1888-02-12) – 23 July 1944(1944-07-23) (aged 56)</TD></TR><TR><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(170,170,170) 1px solid; TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.5em" colSpan=2>
</TD></TR><TR><TH style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-RIGHT: 1em" scope=row>Place of birth</TH><TD>Düsseldorf</TD></TR><TR><TH style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-RIGHT: 1em" scope=row>Place of death</TH><TD>Germersheim</TD></TR><TR><TH style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-RIGHT: 1em" scope=row>Allegiance</TH><TD>
German Empire (to 1918)
Weimar Republic (to 1933)
Nazi Germany
</TD></TR><TR><TH style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-RIGHT: 1em" scope=row>Service/branch</TH><TD>Heer</TD></TR><TR><TH style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-RIGHT: 1em" scope=row>Rank</TH><TD>Generalleutnant</TD></TR><TR><TH style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-RIGHT: 1em" scope=row>Battles/wars</TH><TD>World War I
World War II
</TD></TR><TR><TH style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-RIGHT: 1em" scope=row>Awards</TH><TD>Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross</TD></TR><TR><TH style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-RIGHT: 1em" scope=row>Relations</TH><TD>Theodor Graf von Sponeck (cousin)
Hans von Sponeck (son)
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Hans Graf von Sponeck or Hans Emil Otto Graf Sponeck (February 12, 1888 – July 23, 1944) was a German General-Leutnant during World War II who was imprisoned for disobeying orders and later executed.
<TABLE id=toc class=toc><TBODY><TR><TD>Contents
[hide]- 1 Early history
- 2 During the First World War
- 3 Second World War
- 4 Eastern Campaign
- 5 Arrest and trial
- 6 20 July 1944 Plot
- 7 Last requiem
- 8 Note on name
- 9 References
- 10 External links
Sponeck was the youngest of four children, and only son, of Emil August Joseph Anton Graf Sponeck and Maria (née Courtin). He was born in Düsseldorf, Rhine Province, just months before his father's death at age 38. Hans spent his early years with his mother in Freiburg, Breisgau. This was near the "Burg Sponeck" which had given his family its title name.
Sponeck entered the cadet corps in Karlsruhe at 10, and became the "head cadet" at 17. He received his commission in 1908 at age 20 with rank of Lieutenant. He was also a gymnast and a soccer player. He was promoted to Captain in 1908. He married in 1910 and had two sons by this marriage.
[edit] During the First World War
Sponeck was a front line officer and battalion adjutant during World War I, and was wounded three times. In 1916 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Afterwards he was awarded both orders of the Iron Cross with Leaves.
Between 1924 and 1934 he served on the General Staff HQ and later as full colonel, commanded Infantry Regiment at Neustrelitz. In 1925, Graf von Sponeck was admitted to the Order of Saint John as a Knight of Honor in the Commandery of Brandenburg.<SUP id=cite_ref-0 class=reference>[1]</SUP> In 1937, he entered the German Air Service under Hermann Göring to establish the new Air Commando Units.
[edit] Second World War
On 1 March 1938 Sponeck was promoted to Major-General. During the Werner von Fritsch affair Sponeck was called as a character witness but was roughly put down by Göring as Court President. Sponeck became commander of the 22nd Infantry Division with 42nd Army Corps training as airborne infantry divisions as paratrooper (Fallschirmjäger) regiments. The German airborne assault on the Low Countries began on 10 May 1940 with Generals Kurt Student and Hans Sponeck. Sponeck led the German troops in the failed Battle for the Hague and Von Sponeck was almost captured, only to be saved by occurrence of the strategic bombardment of Rotterdam on the 14th of May 1940, that led the Dutch capitulation. He was wounded and on his return to Germany was further awarded with Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and promoted to Lieutenant General by Adolf Hitler.
[edit] Eastern Campaign
Before dawn on 22 June 1941 the offensive against the Soviet Union was launched. Hans Sponeck was part of the 11th Army in the south attacking in the direction of Crimea. On Sponeck's return from injury leave, von Manstein gave him command of 46. Infanterie-Division which had taken the Kerch Peninsula on the extreme east tip of the Crimean Peninsula.
On 26 December 1941 the Russians launched an invasion of Crimea. Their plan was to land seaborne troops at Kerch and Mount Opuk, supported by later landings at Theodosia with 42,000 troops. On December 28 the battle in eastern Crimea had developed in favour of the Germans with them having eliminated one of the two Soviet beachheads around the town of Kerch. Sponeck requested permission to retreat to avoid being cut off and captured and so to regroup, but was denied three times. On 29 December the Russians landed additional forces on the southern coast at Theodosia and Sponeck had only thirty minutes to decide on his actions. On his own initiative, as a trained Prussian officer, he gave order for his 10,000 men to retreat. In temperatures of minus 30 degrees Celsius, in a howling snowstorm and icy winds, the battalions of the 46th Infantry Division marched west. The column was some 120 km long. The soldiers marched for 46 hours with only the occasional rest for coffee, to warm up. Many suffered frostbite, and most of the horses starved. Much of the Divisions heavy equipment, including its artillery, remained behind on the frozen road.
On 31 December Sponeck's 46th Infantry arrived at the Parpach neck, where they established a defensive line. The following day, 1 January 1942, the Russians attacked again and were held back by Sponeck's men. The arrival of a rail-mounted unit finished off sixteen Russian T-26 tanks. Sponeck and his forces held off the Russians long enough until reinforcements arrived.
[edit] Arrest and trial
On 23 January 1942 Lieutenant General Hans Graf Sponeck's trial took place in front of the Court President Hermann Göring. It did not go well for Sponeck and the court found him guilty of disobedience of a superior officer. Sponeck maintained that he had acted, as taught, on his own initiative against orders, in order to avoid the destruction of his division. He was nevertheless given the death sentence, but Adolf Hitler commuted the sentence to six years in prison. Hans Sponeck was to serve as an example to those who disobeyed Hitler's new order of no retreat. Sponeck was sent to Germersheim Fortress where he was held as a prisoner. He was allowed into town occasionally and his wife visited him for one week per month in the fortress, with their five year old son (Hans-Christof von Sponeck, later United Nations Diplomat & Assistant Secretary General to Kofi Annan).
[edit] 20 July 1944 Plot
On 20 July 1944 Sponeck heard on his radio of the bomb attempt on Hitler's life. Heinrich Himmler was given the position of Reichs Security Official and Sponeck was one of the first on his list as a suspected anti-Nazi. Himmler gave the order for Hans Graf von Sponeck to be executed by firing squad on 23 July 1944 in Germersheim, Germany. Sponeck was allowed Holy Communion before his execution. In a letter to his wife he wrote "I die with firm faith in my Redeemer". Pleading the innocence of his actions in the Kerch peninsula, he went to the firing squad boldly, as witnessed by the priest present, and requested not to be bound or to be blindfolded. Facing the firing squad his last words were "For forty years I have served Germany, which I have loved with my entire heart, as a soldier and an officer. If I must let myself die today, I die in the hope of a better Germany!" Sponeck was buried in Germersheim and while no citations or speeches were permitted at his grave, they did allow the Lord's Prayer to be said. After the war, Sponeck's mortal remains were exhumed and his last resting place was the Soldiers' Cemetery at Dahn in the Palatinate forest.
[edit] Last requiem
On 23 July 1999, the 55th anniversary of the execution, Sponeck's son by his second marriage, Hans-Christof Graf Sponeck, who was just six years old when his father was executed, held a requiem at his father's grave. Hans-Christof Graf Sponeck served as Assistant Secretary General and Diplomat, United Nations, until his retirement a short time ago.
[edit] Note on name
Graf is an historic Germannoble title equivalent in rank to "count" or to the British "earl". In Germany today, however, Graf is legally considered part of the name and no longer a noble title.
[edit] References
- ^ Robert M. Clark, Jr., The Evangelical Knights of Saint John; Dallas, Texas: 2003; p. 46.
Gotta love Google.pseudo-expertComment
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Wow!
That is an amazing item, and v. Sponeck had a very interesting life.
Did you buy it as "Graf v. Sponeck's DOV medal," or did you buy it simply as a DOV medal and do the search afterward?Best regards,
Streptile
Looking for ROUND BUTTON 1939 EK1 Spange cases (LDO or PKZ)Comment
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It was listed as a Old Style Credit Card for a German Officer. You also gotta love ignorant ebay sellers. I googled it before I bought it.pseudo-expertComment
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unfrickingbelievableComment
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The name "Graf von Sponeck" without any first name, means it could also refer to
one of his relatives, such as his cousin Theodor Graf von Sponeck (mentioned in the wikki article cut and pasted here). Hans and Theodor served in WWI and later WWII as WH generals. Unless I'm missing something here, with no first name on the piece, and both men having the same "Graf" as part of their names, the item could belong to either of the two men unless only one of them belonged to the DOV.
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I'm with Les here. There was also a Max, born in 1877 and possibly some more. I'm not sure why Don believes this to be Hans'.
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Perhaps because none of those other guys come up in Google. Perhaps their membership lists are out there and the number can be checked.pseudo-expertComment
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I can only congratulate to such a nice find ...
these are some very nice items themselves ,,
but with a known name even Moore attractive..
again ,, my honest congratulations.
regards kay
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I knew you would llike it Kay. Any way we can verify the owner by his member number?pseudo-expertComment
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Originally posted by Don Doering View Post
sorry Don ,,but I had to quit my investigations about the firm.
after phone costs ( and other costs as well ) sky-rocketed a bit to far in my investigations affords . ( not only this one )
what I can tell you is that in official government files they could not even find the name off the firm back ..
so very quickly my investigations stopped at some dead ends .
but the member lists must exist ,,somewhere .
on thing I can tel you ,,the number is unusual as I am missing the 0 as first number ..
so ,I believe you have a very early member number , on a later dated coin .
I believe you rely got a interesting chance this is the real thing .
who it will be I don't know ?
regards kay
there's only one strange thing ,,officially titles are not to be on the coin .
.Last edited by Montgomery Burns; 08-08-2011, 02:54 PM.Comment
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An interesting family for sure: http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com.../0004page.html
I have a question about titles of nobility. Prior to the ending of the nobility would more than one family member have used the title "Graf" at the same time? Or would the other members just have been von Sponecks?
Kay, could it have been a family account vice an individual account?pseudo-expertComment
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no . I don't think so,,the measurements off uniforms and personel info's where kept with the membership number.Originally posted by Don Doering View Post
it wood be not much functional to have a family account.
(and measurement may be mixed up)
and that little regulation that I have don't mansion such possibility's
but there's so little known about the regulations and how strong the influence off nobility and high ranking officers wood help to bend the regulations... I think anything is possible until we find the member lists off DOV and the full regulations off all years .
Don ,please don't forget to post this wonderful item in the files off DOV
regards kay
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by the way ,,,
I am a bit surprised to see that the coint is off an complete different stamp (Die) as my examples.
so there's a interesting difference and possibility's fore a even Moore interesting comparing ( dating )
.Last edited by Montgomery Burns; 08-08-2011, 04:14 PM.Comment
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