20+ | any pronouns | WW2 history nerd~help I think I fell back into my Downfall parodies hyperfixation~~lurking into reichblr (probably mostly Wehrmacht/GFM related)~NOT a nazi, just expressing my interests in slightly odd ways sometimesnazis, racists, lgbtq-phobes & co DNI | read my pinned before following
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Hello, sorry for disturbing but I have seen your callout post and I need to inform you that there are some individuals (around 5 people) in reichblr who make racist comments and that are trying to lurk people in other community spaces to radicalise them.
Unfortunately I can imagine that, I think there are always a few who are trying to slip through the cracks and get comfortable here, which is why I think there has to be a community effort to not let them do that. I would hope that the majority of community members aren't like that though.
If you have information on who these people are, I think it would be good to share these to warn others. It definitely would be good if you can provide some proof though (like screenshots of them saying racist things etc) - I think just spreading accusations without anything to back them up isn't the right way either, awareness/callout posts and such should still be reasonable and not just sending people on witch hunts. If you are afraid of revealing yourself because they might attack you, maybe you could make an anonymous side blog or something to share them.
Also something that I forgot to mention in my other post: Even if someone is called out as a Nazi (or other type of problematic, I don't remember exactly but I think that Alf guy for instance was also a groomer and/or pedo?), do not go over to their blog and harass them or send anon spam/hate. Even if you think they may deserve it, it most likely won't do anything and you don't need to sink down on that level. Just block them, consider reporting them if they have any public posts that contain hate speech (or something else that doesn't align with tumblr's community guidelines), and make other people aware.
I'd hope that most people can agree with me that reichblr should be a place to share our passion and interest for history, it may be a community about the history of Nazis, but never should it be one for them.
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The Bayerlein Family
The Bayerlein children, from left to right: Richard (*1897), Ellen (*1901) and Fritz (*1899). Photo undated, based on the kids' ages probably sometime around 1905.
A little bit more on Fritz Bayerlein's background: His father, Donat Bayerlein (born March 28th, 1861) was originally from Bütthard, a small village in Franconia (a cultural region in South Germany that nowadays is largely part of Bavaria). A lot of Bayerleins lived around that area, but in 1890, Donat moved to the near town of Würzburg for the sake of better employment, and became a civil servant for the local town government.
Fritz' mother Louise Denkmann (born October 13th, 1869) on the other hand was originally from Magdeburg, a city located further north in what is nowadays the state of Saxony-Anhalt. She was born as an illegitimate child to the daughter of a miller, her father was never identified. In 1890, she as well left her home and happened to come to Würzburg. She started out working as a housekeeper for richer families, and managed to put enough money to the side to eventually attend further education and fulfil her dream of becoming a music teacher.
Louise and Donat eventually met in Würzburg, they married in 1896 and proceeded to move into a small apartment together. A year later, their first son Richard was born on September 20th, 1897. Their second son Fritz followed on January 14th, 1899, and their only daughter Ellen was born on April 22nd, 1901. Later on, Donat also took over the care of his deceased stepbrother's two children, and they moved into the Bayerlein household as well.
An interesting side fact: Donat was baptised Catholic as a child while Louise was Protestant, however this never seemed to be a problem for them, neither for getting married nor for their personal life. Later in his life their son Fritz, whenever he was asked to report his religious affiliation on any official documents, would sometimes list his mother's, other times his father's faith as his own, always depending on which he assumed to be favoured by the authorities in question. There isn't really anything known about his personal religious beliefs, but as it seems he either felt equally connected with both (since a person who was very strongly adherent to a particular religion probably likely wouldn't claim a different faith as their own), or he simply didn't care that much for religion in general that it would even make a difference to him.
Up until their 10th birthday, the Bayerlein kids were home-schooled. Despite not being from a wealthy background, the parents were relatively well-educated and managed to pass this on to their children - Fritz and his brother both were accepted at the local Gymnasium (an eight or nine year school for secondary education), something that only about five to ten percent of the applicants were able to achieve. The successful completion of this school was required for being allowed to attend to university, and was also needed if one wanted to apply as an officer candidate in the Imperial German Army. When he was young, Fritz dreamed of becoming a teacher for history, geography and mathematics, a career that wouldn't actually require such a high education (only teachers who worked at a Gymnasium needed to have a university degree, but not those at primary or trade schools). Regardless, his parents wanted to provide their children the best education they could afford, and Fritz proved himself to be a talented and hardworking student, even earning himself a stipend in 1915 for his exemplary grades. However, the outbreak of World War I, also known as the Great War, would chance the course of life for both Bayerlein sons forever - and in Richard's case, not with a good ending.
The tragic fate of Richard Bayerlein
Being the older brother, Richard would be the first to be conscripted. Learning about how many men had already died at the front, he decided that he wanted to become a Fahnenjunker (officer candidate) in hopes that in this kind of position he'd have a higher chance of survival than as a simple enlisted soldier. However, being accepted for an officer's career required money and influence, and the Bayerleins didn't have much of either; they weren't a traditional military family. In 1914, Donat Bayerlein made a request that his son would be accepted into the 1st Replacement Battalion of the King's Bavarian 11th Infantry Regiment, however he was declined. Throughout the following months, he continued his efforts, however futile. In February 1916, Richard was drafted. He fought throughout 1916 and 1917, and by the end of that year, he finally achieved his dream of becoming an officer as he was appointed the rank of Leutnant in November. By that time, it had become a lot easier for young men to become officers as the military was in desperate need for them (the Leutnant was the officer rank with the highest death rates), and a few months earlier, Fritz had received assignment as an officer candidate as well, which much less struggle than his brother once had.
Fritz' older brother Richard Bayerlein as a young officer, photo undated.
On May 4th 1918, Richard, who was currently stationed in Flanders, was reported missing. His father inquired by letter to learn more about his son's fate. It was told to him that Richard had been in a bad mental state, devastated about a recent loss and capture of some of the men under his command. The young officer struggled to handle the responsibilities laid upon him. Two other officers from his unit noted that he had acted strange and upset, and later that evening it was discovered that he had disappeared, however leaving behind his belongings and weapons in his shelter. Richard was never seen again after this day, and his body was never found. There were reports of French soldiers being nearby, and some assumed his death was an accident, however some of his comrades also believed that he purposefully walked into the enemy lines unarmed as his way of suicide.
Although he had never planned it, Fritz would go on to achieve Richard's dream of becoming a successful officer in his stead. He and his sister Ellen were now the remaining two Bayerlein siblings. They always had a good relationship with each other, and would continue to remain close and supportive of each other throughout their whole lives until Fritz' eventual death in 1970. Ellen would outlive her brother for 17 more years, until she passed away as well in 1987.
Aside from Richard, the Bayerleins all seem to be buried in their family grave in Würzburg (photo taken from Fritz' German Wikipedia page). It also lists the name of Ellen's son, who was also called Fritz (possibly as a nickname, as he's also referred to as Friedrich in Bayerlein's biography). He was probably named after his uncle and only passed away relatively recently in 2019. If he was still alive, he'd be able to celebrate his 100th birthday this month.
Source: Spayd, P. A. (2003). Bayerlein: From Afrikakorps to Panzer Lehr : the Life of Rommel’s Chief-of-staff Generalleutnant Fritz Bayerlein. Schiffer Pub Limited. (Chapter 1)
#I KNOW I said I have other stuff to do but I really wanted to share another Bayerlein post and where better to start than his early life#but also can I just say baby Fritz looks so adorable? those big curious eyes🥺 and I think you can still totally recognise that it's him#fritz bayerlein#biography#history#german history#imperial germany#world war 1#world war 2#ww1 history#ww1 germany#ww2 history#ww2 germany#reichblr#<- not yet actually but he was a relevant figure in ww2 after all so it makes sense to tag I guess#and idk what other tags to use so interested people would actually find it#I was also considering making the part about Richard a separate post but I didn't know fit in the last two paragraphs then
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I don't normally like making callout posts, but I stumbled over this person again today and I think this needs to be addressed. This person who occasionally posts in the reichblr tag is most surely an actual neo nazi. They spread antisemitic, racist and overall just extremely disgusting posts, as you can see here:
They also promote their discord server which they literally named "racist evil nazi club":
This photo was too big to fit on the page, but they showed that they were wearing jump boots with white shoe laces, a common dog-whistle among neo nazis:
I could go on because there is more, but honestly just looking at their blog just fucking disgusts me. They also seem to shit-post a lot so I was trying to give them benefit of the doubt that they're just an edgy teenager of a specifically immature type. However I fear that they're actually meaning the things they post, and such a person should not have a place in a historical community, especially one where many younger people are involved as well. I've reported them for hate speech before but it seems like that hasn't done anything yet, even though I gave tumblr support the exact links to a few specifically nasty posts. Please block them, and if you can report them as well, maybe it will do something if more people bring it to supports attention.
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Today is Fritz Bayerlein's birthday!
Exactly 126 years ago, on the 14th of January 1899, he was born in Würzburg. He was his parents' second son, and at the time they probably would have never anticipated what kind of path life would hold for their little boy. Happy birthday, Fritz!
I'm not 100% sure when exactly this photo was taken, however he is already wearing the swords to his Knight's Cross, which indicates it must've been some time after the 20th of July 1944 when they were awarded to him. He already held the rank of Generalleutnant at that time.
#not quite sure if it feels appropriate to wish him a 'happy' birthday since obv it's not bad to be critical even of 'decent' Wehrmacht men#but on the other hand he's probably deserving of it more than certain other historical figures😅#but also can I just say that Fritz is genuinely really good-looking?#in his biography it was noted multiple times that he was considered quite handsome by pretty much anyone around him#and like honestly I get where they're coming from#I think it's his smile in combination with those dark beautiful eyes#but also one thing I like specifically about this photo is that he really looks his age (he must've been around 45 here)#idk in many of his portraits in uniform I find him to be looking much younger than on photos from the same time taken directly in the field#probably because for a professional photo session he'd be all clean and washed and shaved whereas in the desert he didn't have such luxury#but I just find with him the difference is particularly striking I don't know why#also I wish I could've drawn something for the occasion but I'm so busy right now! maybe another time though#fritz bayerlein#wehrmacht#afrika korps#ww2#ww2 germany#ww2 history#reichblr
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Also just a short info I might be a bit inactive during January as I have a shitload of assignment deadlines coming up. I'd love to share more about Fritz Bayerlein now that that big post is finally out of the way but that may have to way for a while </3 Not going to deactivate or anything, but I might not come online for a while if I find it puts additional stress on me. You're still welcome to interact, comment, send asks etc my responses just might be slow(er than usual)
#saying that as I haven't already been super inactive during december💀#I know I'm not obligated to post anything but the thing is I WANT to share stuff I just don't find the time and mental space to make posts#especially those that require more preparation#I really wanted to get out that huge Bayerlein post before my holidays end so at least I can now be at peace with that#also gonna save a backup my blog just to be sure so take this as a reminder to do it with yours too👍#reichblr
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This is another one of my favourite Downfall parodies. Krebs and Burgdorf finally get to tie the knot and become proper husbands❤️ The procedure of the ceremony is ... interesting, though xD
#I think this was another one of the very first Downfall parodies I watched and one I still enjoy very much#it may have burned itself into my brain a little too much because sometimes when watching Downfall -#I'm actually confused for a second as to why there's no wedding music playing when Weidling is marching through the corridors😭😂#der untergang#downfall#downfall parodies#hans krebs#wilhelm burgdorf#helmuth weidling#hans krebs x wilhelm burgdorf#krebs x burgdorf#krebsdorf
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Unexpected Bayerlein Cameo🙌
I recently read issue 24 of The Desert Peach when - to my surprise - Fritz Bayerlein got a small cameo :D Even though he doesn't appear personally, I'm still happy that he was being mentioned. It's lowkey adorable that he's the only one Erwin would want to talk to, and that they even have their own radio frequency just for the two of them to use - or at least they thought so. Erwin looks so happy expecting a transmission from his friend, only to realise it's actually his little brother calling him😅
#his excited 'Hallo Fritz! :D' is so cute xD#only to realise it was in fact not Fritz who called him#but the next part where he and Pfirsich started talking in Swabian to confuse the Brits intercepting the transmission was so funny too xD#the desert peach#desert peach#erwin rommel#pfirsich rommel#fritz bayerlein#ww2 fiction#historical fiction#ww2#ww2 germany
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Who was Fritz Bayerlein?
I've been planning to make a post like this for a long time, since about August to be precise. But alas, motivation and free time don't always coincide. Last year, I've become very interested in the life of Fritz Bayerlein, former chief of staff of Erwin Rommel and also a close friend of his, and I wanted to share what I learned (and still continue to learn) about him here as well. However, I felt that probably not as many people would even know who he es, as he is not such an extremely well-known personality like for example Rommel himself, or some of the other most famous figures like Göring or Himmler, where you immediately have at least a basic idea of who they were. Hence I first wanted to make a comprehensive post with a short biography to present a basic overview of his life. Well, it probably became a bit more than "short". Of course, this means that I could not touch upon every detail, and I apologise if I've been too unprecise in some matters. As of now, I myself haven't read everything that there is to be found about him either, but very much plan to do so in the future. Now that this big thing is out of the way, I hope to make more posts about him, smaller and focusing in more detail on specific aspects of his life.
Fritz Hermann Michael Bayerlein was born on January 14th, 1899 in the town of Würzburg in Bavaria. He was the middle one of three children between an older brother and a younger sister. While the family was not rich or prestigious, the parents worked hard to provide for their children the best they could. Fritz and his siblings were home-schooled until the age of ten, before he and his brother were accepted into the local Gymnasium - a school type that would allow access to university upon successful completion, and required high performance from students. Fritz was an excellent student who aspired to become a teacher for history, geography and mathematics himself one day - although his father likely wanted him to strive for an education with better opportunities (becoming a primary school teacher didn't require a university degree back then and wasn't seen as a very prestigious job, teaches in higher institutes such as Gymnasiums usually had a better societal standing, but the education was often costly and difficult).
However, these dreams were shattered when the Great War broke out. In spring 1917, his school held emergency exams so that the 18-year-olds could graduate before being drafted. Fritz registered as a Fahnenjunker (officer candidate) into the 9th King's Bavarian Infantry Regiment. Unlike his older brother, who also tried to apply as an officer candidate but struggled a lot more with it (due the family not being rich or influential), Fritz had it much easier now, since a lot of young men had already died and the high command was in desperate need for new officers. After completing his training, he was later sent to the Western front. He received the Iron Cross 2nd Class for successfully holding off an enemy attack on August 30th, 1918. A day later he was wounded by a grenade splinter and sent home for recovery, just shortly after he was promoted to Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier and assigned to further training on his way to become an officer. By the time he completed his course, the war was over.
After the war, Bayerlein was part of the volunteer battalion "Dittmar" for a while, before being promoted to Fähnrich and being accepted into the Reichswehr in 1919. The regulations of the Versailles treaty only allowed a number of 4000 officers to remain, but he had proven to be a candidate with a lot of potential. The Reichswehr had some very strict rules: officers had to pledge themselves for twenty-five years of service, and among other things they had a strict marriage policy. Officers were only allowed to marry after the age of 27 or at least 8 years of service. Additionally, lower ranking officers usually didn't earn a lot, so unless they were coming from a wealthy background, supporting a family would have been difficult still. Bayerlein had been promoted to the rank of Leutnant in 1922, but still continued to live with his parents during times when he wasn't at the garrison as he couldn't have afforded a place of his own. The financial crisis during the 1920s further contributed to this.
In March 1926, he encountered Erwin Rommel for the first time during a vacation in Kleinwalsertal in Austria. Bayerlein was there with some men of his battalion from Würzburg, and likewise, Rommel was there with some officers from his company in Stuttgart, acting as their skiing instructor. Bayerlein was on a hike one day when he spotted the group on top of a particularly steep and difficult slope, and like everyone else watching he was left quite impressed when Rommel was the first one to go downhill, confident and without any trouble. He had learned Rommel's name at the time (upon asking one of the men that were with him), but they only got to know each other personally three years later. In 1929, Rommel was sent to Dresden to become an instructor at the infantry school there, and Bayerlein (now an Oberleutnant after being promoted two years earlier) was assigned to be his assistant. Over the next years, the men formed a close friendship: they worked together as instructors, but also spent a lot of time together off duty, going on walks in the woods (sometimes for literal hours), visiting some of the local landmarks, or simply spending time together at the apartment that the Rommel family lived in at the time. Fritz had a good relationship with Rommel's wife Lucie as well, and although he never had children of his own, his bond with their son Manfred was probably the closest he got to taking up a parental role.
When the Nazi party seized control in 1933, Bayerlein was currently attending the war academy in Berlin in order to become a general staff officer. Personally, he was politically leaning towards the Social Democratic Party (same as his late father), but as an officer he wouldn't have been allowed to vote either way. However, with the introduction of the Aryan paragraphs and in 1935 the Nuremburg Laws, he suddenly found himself "accused" of having Jewish ancestry, which would have resulted in a discharge from the army. The reason for this was mainly that he could not provide any record of his maternal grandfather's identity (his mother had been born as an illegitimate child and the father remained unknown) - therefore he couldn't deliver unequivocal proof to be of entirely "Aryan" descent by National Socialist standards. Additionally, his mothers maiden name Denkmann, along with his mere physical appearance were considered stereotypically Jewish by the Nazis (although they of course have no rational basis, it was plain antisemitic stereotyping). All of this resulted in Bayerlein being classified as a "quarter-Jew" or "2nd degree Mischling", even though there is no actual evidence that he has had any real Jewish ancestors - the unknown grandfather could have been anyone. Eventually, he was allowed to remain in the army, likely due to being regarded as a highly skilled officer. In the first few years of the Nazi reign "quarter-Jews" weren't as targeted yet (the explanation was that the "Aryan" part of their heritage should be protected), however this would eventually change.
From 1935 on up to the dawn of World War II, Bayerlein (since 1934 with the rank of Hauptmann) held positions in a few different units, mostly as a general staff officer. In April 1939, he was appointed the 1st general staff officer of the 10th Panzer Division, holding the rank of Major since his promotion the year before. With this unit he participated in the Invasion of Poland. He was noticed by Heinz Guderian, who commanded the 19th Army Corps during the invasion. Guderian awarded him the Iron Cross 1st Class for his successes during the campaign, he also liked that Bayerlein was a proponent of modern warfare, and had him eventually transferred to the general staff of his own unit. As 1st general staff officer under Guderian, he then proceeded to participate in the Battle of France and later the Invasion of the Soviet Union. He also received his promotion to Oberstleutnant in September 1940.
In October 1941, Bayerlein was transferred to North Africa and appointed chief of staff of the Afrikakorps - this era of his life is probably the one he's most well-known for, and likely also the one where the most photos of him have their origin. The commanding general and Bayerlein's direct superior at this time was Ludwig Crüwell - Erwin Rommel, who held the command before, had moved on to be the supreme commander of the entire Panzer Army Africa that the corps was also a part of. Regardless, Rommel and Bayerlein were working together very closely on many occasions, as documented by numerous photographs from the time that show Bayerlein at the side of his old friend. In December of the same year he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. He proved once again to be a capable officer, also the type who would sometimes disregard orders and act on his own initiative, similar to how Rommel sometimes did. He was promoted to Oberst in April 1942. Later in the same year, Rommel temporarily appointed him the commanding officer of the Afrikakorps (from November the 4th to the 16th), after the previous commander, General Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma, had been taken prisoner by British forces. In the following month, he was transferred to be chief of staff of the Panzer Army Africa, now serving directly under Rommel.
By spring 1943, the defeat of the German and Italian forces was inevitable. On the 1st of March, Rommel promoted Bayerlein to the rank of Generalmajor, just a few days before his departure. Bayerlein followed him just about two months later with one of the last flights before the surrender of the remaining troops. He also received the oak leaves to his Knight's Cross. After a few months in the Führerreserve, he was appointed commander of the 3rd Panzer Division as was sent to the Eastern Front. Based on his experiences in Africa, he tried to implement a form of warfare that focused on mobility. At the beginning of 1944, he was tasked by Guderian to become the commander of the newly formed Panzer Lehr Division - it was a division made up of training and demonstration troops and the only fully mechanised division in the Wehrmacht. After it was called to participate in the occupation of Hungary for a few weeks, the division moved on to its original destination in France. In the meantime, Bayerlein had also been promoted to the rank of Generalleutnant. After D-Day, he was tasked to lead the division in the defence of Normandy, but was faced with heavy losses and eventually had to retreat. He later had to temporarily hand off command due to an injury, but took it up again once he had recovered, and lead the division in the Ardennes Offensive. In the meantime, he had also received the swords to his Knight's Cross. In February 1945, after the offensive had failed and the Panzer Lehr Division was severely decimated, Bayerlein was reassigned to the 53rd Army Corps. The troops continued retreating until they were encircled in the Ruhr pocket, and on 15th of April, Bayerlein sent a formal capitulation message to the U.S. 7th Armored Division, which was accepted in the early morning of the following day. He was the first commanding general of the Wehrmacht who surrendered his entire corps, rather than just himself and his staff.
Bayerlein spent the next two years as a prisoner of war. During this time, he showed to be cooperative with the Allied forces. He started working for the U.S. Historical Division, helping them document battle histories, later he also took up work as a car mechanic, hoping to stick to this occupation after his release. He never intended to continue his career as in officer in the later formed Bundeswehr, after almost three decades in the army, he had had enough.
The new beginning after his release was rough. Bayerlein moved into a small apartment in his hometown of Würzburg. The house it was in belonged to him, it had been given to him as a reward alongside the swords to his Knight's Cross. Although the other inhabitants paid rent to him, money was tight as it had not been decided yet how to handle retirement pensions for former Wehrmacht officers. However, once these matters were settled, he was able to enjoy quite a decent life. He continued working for the Historical Division, and later also helped as advisor for books and films on WW2 topics, such as The Guns of Navarone. He was also a main contributor in B. H. Liddell-Hart's The Rommel Papers together with Lucie and Manfred Rommel. Bayerlein had a close relationship with the Rommel family even after his friend's death and would remain in regular contact with them for the rest of his life, it wasn't uncommon that he would pay them a visit or invite them over to his own place every once in a while.
During the early 1950s, Bayerlein's name became known to the police as he was suspected to have had sexual relationships with other men. Homosexuality between men was still prohibited in Germany at the time under §175. Multiple acquaintances of his mentioned his name in police interrogations, many of them were suspected of being homosexuals themselves, and were assumed to either be former partners of him themselves or have knowledge about his relationships with other men, as they were frequenting the same social circles. Although there were mentions of having Bayerlein called in for an interrogation, it seems that this never happened, at least there are no documents to be found. It remained at the suspicions, and he was never convicted for a supposed crime. According to other reports from friends and family members, Bayerlein also had multiple relationships with women during this time of his life. Nowadays it is assumed that he probably was bisexual and enjoyed relationships with both women and men. He moved around different town during these years and always liked to keep his relationships separate, with no long commitment. He never got married or even engaged throughout all his life and didn't have any children - by his own choice, he would have had plenty of opportunities to do so as he was considered an attractive and pleasant man who was liked by many women. He simply enjoyed being independent, but it seems he was always upfront about it, not making any promises about marriage or commitment that he didn't keep. The topic of his sexuality might be never fully cleared up. Bayerlein himself never had a chance to be publicly open about it even if it was something he had wanted - only in 1969, a year before his death, the law was loosened to allow relationships between men if both partners were over the age of 21 and not in any kind of dependent relationship (e.g. as employee and employer). Similarly, even the close friends and acquaintances who might have known more likely kept quiet in order to protect him, despite the change of the law, homophobia was of course still quite rampant and could have unpleasant consequences. In the end, he himself was probably the one who knew best about his true feelings.
In 1957, Bayerlein quit his work for the Historical Division, it seems he finally wanted to move on from military matters, though he still served as an advisor for some books, recounting his experiences as an officer. He moved back to his hometown of Würzburg where he and his sister opened an Oriental carpet shop that they managed together. He spent his last years rather peacefully, enjoying his time with friends (like the Rommel family and others) and family members, though his health started deteriorating in his last years. He had suffered from coming and going liver and kidney issues for a long time, possibly since his time in Africa or even before, and had needed to be hospitalised because of it a few times before already, though when he was younger he had always managed to recover again. Eventually however, it had finally caught up to him, and on 30th of January 1970, Fritz Bayerlein passed away at the age of 71 years. His funeral was one of the last public military funerals held in Germany, and aside from family and friends, many of the men who served alongside him in the Afrikakorps or Panzer Lehr Division attended to pay their last respect for their former commander.
Main sources: U.S. National Archives, Box 329, AE 501661, Fritz Bayerlein, 1-155. Spayd, P. A. (2003). Bayerlein: From Afrikakorps to Panzer Lehr : the Life of Rommel’s Chief-of-staff Generalleutnant Fritz Bayerlein. Schiffer Pub Limited. Rigg, B. M. (2009). Lives of Hitler’s Jewish soldiers: Untold Tales of Men of Jewish Descent who Fought for the Third Reich. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Bayerlein_(Generalleutnant) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Bayerlein
[I'm aware that some sources are already a bit older, and that not everything presented in them may be in accordance with more up-to-date research, and tried to keep this in mind while writing. Additionally, I want to note that of course I'm not infallible and can make mistakes, and I'd still recommend you to do your own research as well should you be interested in the topic.]
#fritz bayerlein#erwin rommel#wehrmacht#afrika korps#world war 2#ww2#ww2 germany#ww2 history#history#biography#reichblr#I've been meaning to write this up for so long and FINALLY it's done#I neglected some of my university work for this but I needed to get it out of my system so badly💀#I might revise it another time but I can't be assed to do that at the moment so I hope you can forgive me minor errors or typos#it was fun to write but the naming conventions of the different divisions and corps and who's reporting to whom can be confusing as fuck#also considered adding more photos but I can't right now I'm sorry I'm so done you'll get more Bayerlein pictures another time
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I remember watching this years ago! They are so chaotic, his subordinates are suggesting the most ridiculous nicknames ever and Rommel is just so done with it😂 But I think look-wise the actor actually makes a pretty good Rommel, if there was ever a need for an actor to play him for documentary or something I think he'd be a great choice. I wonder if he could pull off the Swabian dialect too if he tried. My favourites of the proposed nicknames were probably "Erwin das Erdmännchen" (Erwin the Meerkat) - because he's small and (in my humble opinion) has a cute face - and "Rommel der Pyramidenschreck" (Rommel the Pyramid Terror) - because it's just so absolutely nonsensical😂
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@littledesertfox This keeps coming up in my YouTube recommendations and I think of you when I see it.
#erwin rommel#I also checked the actor's imdb and it says that he was actually about 10cm taller than Rommel (supposedly) was#but they still managed to make him look kind of short here or maybe the other guys were just that much taller xD
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Imagine your favorite historical figure hugs you
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Dug this out of my drafts because I've been thinking about it again-
I had the silly idea of maybe making a Downfall parody discord server (mainly Krebsdorf centered probably, but also about the other characters/the parody universe in general) ... I have no idea if I'll actually go through with it because 1. I have no idea if there's even any demand at all for a server like that, we'd probably end up being like 3 people😅 (maybe it could be extended to other WW2 media as well?) And 2. I feel like I'd be about the worst person to lead a discord server, I'm pretty introverted and quiet, whenever I joined someone else's server I usually soon become just a silent reader and struggle to take part in conversations :') It's not even that I don't want to I just don't know how to do it if I feel like everyone else already knows each other much better and I'm seeing myself kind of as an intruder🥲 But I also think it would be fun to just have a place to share our thoughts with each other!
#I have no idea if there are any Downfall servers nowadays tbh#I mean I think HRP has one but that's also a pretty big one iirc and I tend to be scared of joining those anyway🥲#plus idk if they're that much into Krebsdorf and shipping in general. like I feel that's more of a niche part in the community?#I dunno what to do about it yet#maybe a server about ww2 media in general would make more sense? (Inglorious Basterds Hogan's Heroes Jojo Rabbit 'Allo 'Allo etc)#I would have planned a channel for discussing other media anyway but idk if that's too little#downfall#der untergang#downfall parody#downfall parodies#krebsdorf#krebs x burgdorf#ww2 fiction#ww2 movies#ww2 history#reichblr#<- not rlly but just so people who'd possibly be interested will see it
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I'm a few days late, but I couldn't get this idea out of my head and just had to write a short Krebsdorf Christmas fanfic. Nothing special, I just wanted them to have a quiet and happy moment to themselves for once <3
#der untergang#downfall#downfall parodies#hans krebs#wilhelm burgdorf#hans krebs x wilhelm burgdorf#krebs x burgdorf#krebsdorf#ww2 fiction#I stayed up way too long for this oop okay definitely bedtime now#it's been so long since I've written anything#also first time using my ao3 account yay! I've had it since September xD#the fic I started in August is still not finished lmao but I hope I'll get to it some time now
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Been absent for just a few days because of real life things and already ran into a racist in the reichblr tag💀
#blocked them of course but whyyy#get out#I don't like making callout posts usually when I notice nazis following me I just quietly block and report them#but this person seems to actively try interacting with the community so I feel like it'd be the responsible thing to make others aware#not sure if I actually should so I'm not saying names here just yet#to be fair they didn't post anything problematic *in* the tag itself but their blog is not it#I actually related to the post that I found them through that's why I went to their blog in the first place#only to get whiplashed with some nasty ''opinions'' on jewish and black people#why can't we have nice things😭#reichblr
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I’ve just had a weeks holiday in Finland where it was lovely and snowy and I spent my time there writing about my favourite doomed generals.
I apologise that my other fic is really depressing and probably more so now if you read this one first. I can’t seem to be able to write fluff - I blame the emo era I grew up, we ate up this kind of stuff for breakfast.
Another cringy title - I hate giving them names - It was very nearly called Brokeback Krebsdorf 🙈
#I need to read this once I have time#krebsdorf#krebs x burgdorf#hans krebs#wilhelm burgdorf#der untergang#downfall#downfall parodies
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Post appreciation of my favorite lesbian couple <3
#them <33#I love them so much#krebsdorf#krebs x burgdorf#hans krebs#wilhelm burgdorf#downfall parodies#downfall#der untergang
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Burgdorf: [banging a pen on the table out of frustration] Krebs: Stop that. How would YOU feel if I banged you on the table? Burgdorf: I— Burgdorf: I don’t know the correct answer to that question.
#admit it Burgy that's exactly what you'd want😏#hans krebs#wilhelm burgdorf#krebs x burgdorf#downfall parodies#downfall#der untergang
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Krebs: Til death do us part, right, Burgdorf? Burgdorf: It's cute you think death can separate us.
#wait this hits harder considering the end of the actual movie#hans krebs#wilhelm burgdorf#krebs x burgdorf#downfall parodies#downfall#der untergang
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