Walburga stemmer biography examples

The future general wooed her with love letters after work commitments forced him to move away.

“I’m in such good spirits, darling, so full of life, so happy, because you care for me too,” Rommel wrote in one of the letters, quoted in Bild yesterday.

“I’ll probably have time off at the beginning of July... I could come to Weingarten for eight days. Tender kisses and greetings, your eternally loving Erwin.”

Rommel earned the respect of allied forces during the North African military campaigns of the war for his skilful command of his troops and his daring in warfare.

The letters belong to Rommel’s grandson, Josef Pan, whose mother Gertrud was the illegitimate daughter of the soldier’s romance with Walburga. At the time of Gertrud’s birth, Rommel already had another woman in his life, Lucie Mollin, whom he later married.

Walburga killed herself in 1928, the year Rommel’s son with Lucie was born. But the Desert Fox remained in contact with his first child, Gertrud.

“He lovingly took care of my mother. He often took her on official trips with him, and invited her to his home,” Pan said.

Rommel was forced to commit suicide by Hitler in 1944 after he was linked to a plot to kill the Nazi leader.

— Reuters

German field marshal (1891–1944)

"Rommel" redirects here. For other uses, see Rommel (disambiguation).

"General Rommel" redirects here. For the Polish general, see Juliusz Rómmel.

Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel (pronounced[ˈɛʁviːnˈʁɔməl]^ⓘ; 15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944), popularly known as The Desert Fox (German: Wüstenfuchs, pronounced[ˈvyːstn̩ˌfʊks]^ⓘ), was a German Generalfeldmarschall (field marshal) during World War II. He served in the Wehrmacht (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as in the Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic, and the army of Imperial Germany.

Rommel was a highly decorated officer in World War I and was awarded the Pour le Mérite for his actions on the Italian Front. In 1937, he published his classic book on military tactics, Infantry Attacks, drawing on his experiences in that war. In World War II, he commanded the 7th Panzer Division during the 1940 invasion of France. His leadership of German and Italian forces in the North African campaign established his reputation as one of the ablest tank commanders of the war, and earned him the nickname der Wüstenfuchs, "the Desert Fox". Among his British adversaries he had a reputation for chivalry, and his phrase "war without hate" has been unc

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