Wolf Graf von Baudissin


Wolf Graf von Baudissin was a German general, military planner and peace researcher. He was one of the developers of the concepts of Innere Führung and Staatsbürger in Uniform, the two lead concepts of the modern German Bundeswehr.

Early life

Baudissin was born in Trier into the Baudissin family. He studied law, history and economics in Berlin.
In World War II, Baudissin served as hauptmann im Generalstab at the personal request of General Erwin Rommel. He was captured by Australian troops in North Africa in 1941, and sent to Australia, where he was held in the Dhurringile prisoner-of-war camp in Victoria. While a POW, he was promoted to major. At Dhurringile, Baudissin developed the idea of the Kriegsgefangenenuniversität. He organized classes in which German prisoners with particular knowledge or expertise taught their comrades in various subjects and prepared them for a life after the war. Baudissin was released in 1947.

Career in the ''Bundeswehr''

In October 1950, Baudissin worked on the secret Himmeroder Denkschrift, a paper advocating German rearmament. In 1956 he helped to create the new German armed forces, the Bundeswehr, receiving the rank of colonel, and soon headed a tank brigade. In 1963, he was promoted to lieutenant general and was appointed Commandant of the NATO Defence College in Paris, serving until 1965. Baudissin then served as Deputy Chief of Staff at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, the headquarters of NATO.

After the ''Bundeswehr''

Baudissin retired in 1967, and became an active member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany the following year. He actively supported Willy Brandt's bid for chancellorship in 1972.
From 1971 to 1984, Baudissin served as founding director for the Institut für Friedensforschung und Sicherheitspolitik at the University of Hamburg. In 1979, he was made professor. From 1980 to 1986, he served as professor for social science at the University of the Bundeswehr in Hamburg.With the concepts of Innere Führung and citizen in uniform he advocated to assure that the norms and values of the German Basic Law were embedded in the new German armed forces following World War II.
Baudissin died in Hamburg in 1993.

Awards and honors

Baudissin was a member of the peace movement group Generale für den Frieden. In 1967, he was awarded the :de:Theodor-Heuss-Preis|Theodor Heuss Prize and the Bundesverdienstkreuz, with stars and sash.
On 19 April 1994, the hall of the Bundeswehr's Zentrum für Innere Führung in Koblenz was renamed "Forum Wolf Graf von Baudissin". On 7 June of the same year, the "General Schwartzkopff Barracks" in Osdorf were renamed "Lieutenant General Graf von Baudissin Barracks".

Personal life

His wife was the sculptress Dagmar Gräfin zu Dohna-Schlodien. She was a daughter of jurist and politician Alexander Graf zu Dohna-Schlodien.