Ernst Lindemann
Ernst Lindemann | |
---|---|
Kapitän zur See (Captain) | |
Unit | SMS Hertha SMS Lothringen SMS Bayern SMS Hannover SMS Elsass SMS Schleswig-Holstein SMS Hessen Heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer |
Commands held | 1st Artillery Company, Friedrichsort Ship Construction Dept, OKM Naval Gunnery School Bismarck |
Battles/wars |
|
Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (posthumously) |
Relations | Ernst Heinrich Lindemann (grandfather) Georg Lindemann (cousin) |
Otto Ernst Lindemann (28 March 1894 – 27 May 1941) was a German
Lindemann joined the German Imperial Navy (
In May 1941, Lindemann commanded Bismarck during
He was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), at the time the highest award in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany. The medal was presented to his widow, Hildegard, on 6 January 1942.
Early life
Otto Ernst Lindemann was born on 28 March 1894 in Altenkirchen in the Westerwald, Rhine Province. He was the first of three children of Dr. jur. Georg Heinrich Ernst Lindemann and Maria Lindemann, née Lieber. Known as Ernst, Georg Lindemann was a probationary judge (Gerichtsassessor) and later president of the Prussian Central Land Credit Company, a Prussian credit bank.[Note 1][2][Note 2]
Otto Ernst Lindemann was baptised into the Protestant Church on 26 April 1894. The family moved to the Charlottenburg quarter of Berlin, where they lived at 6 Carmer Street,[Tr 1] in 1895. His younger brother—Kurt—was born in 1896, followed by a second brother, Hans-Wolfgang, in 1900.[Note 3] The family relocated again in 1903, this time to their own house in the Dahlem quarter of Berlin, near the Grunewald forest.[2]
In 1910, when Lindemann was 16, his uncle
Lindemann graduated from the Bismarck-Gymnasium (secondary school) in Berlin-Wilmersdorf with his Abitur (diploma) late in 1912 with an average-to-good overall rating. For the next six months, he attended the Royal Polytechnic Institution in Richmond, London.[9]
Personal life
Ernst Lindemann met Charlotte Weil (née Fritsche; 1899–1979), a Berlin singer, in the spring of 1920.[10] The couple married on 1 February 1921, and they had a daughter, Helga Maria, born on 26 February 1924.[11] Lindemann's job as a naval officer demanded that he be away from his family for long periods of time. This proved to be too demanding on the marriage, and they were divorced in 1932.[12] Lindemann was engaged again on 20 July 1933 to his youngest brother's sister-in-law, Hildegard Burchard. Hildegard was 14 years younger than Lindemann.[13] They married on 27 October 1934 in the St. Annen Church in Berlin–Dahlem. The ceremony was performed by Martin Niemöller, a founder of the Confessing Church, later imprisoned as an anti-Nazi.[14] They had a daughter, Heidi Maria, born on 6 July 1939.[15]
On 26 March 1913, Lindemann traveled with his parents to
In early May 1913, the cadets of Crew 1913 were sent to the training ships
One week later, Hertha began a seven-month training cruise (15 August 1913 – 12 March 1914). The voyage took Lindemann to
World War I
With the
On 19 March 1916, Lindemann was transferred to the newly commissioned battleship
After the
Between the wars: Reichsmarine
When Ernst Lindemann returned to Germany, it was uncertain whether he could remain on active military service. As a result of the Treaty of Versailles which was signed on 28 June 1919, the former Imperial German Navy was downsized to 15,000 men, including 1,500 officers, while being renamed the Reichsmarine in the era of the Weimar Republic. As Lindemann had finished fifth in the Class of 1913, he stood a good chance of being retained. He served temporarily in the Dahlem Protection Company a part of the Protection Regiment of Greater Berlin (June–July 1919),[Tr 6][Tr 7] before he became adjutant to the newly created chief of the Naval Command Department (1 August 1919 – 30 September 1922),[Tr 8] at the time under the command of William Michaelis. The Naval Command Department was directly subordinated to the Admiralty Staff.[Tr 9] At the same time, he held the position of adjutant in the Fleet Department.[22][Tr 10] During this assignment Lindemann was promoted to Oberleutnant zur See (Sub-Lieutenant) on 7 January 1920.[22][28]
Lindemann's next assignment (1 October 1922 – 30 September 1924) was aboard the battleship
His next assignment (27 September 1926 – 6 September 1929) placed him on the Admiral's staff at the Baltic Naval Station,[Tr 13] first as a staff officer and then as assistant to the chief of the station, which at the time was under the command of Vice Admiral Erich Raeder.[31] From here, he was transferred to the Elsass serving as the second gunnery officer and Fähnrichsoffizier (officer in charge of cadets), responsible for the on-board training of the officer cadets, from 7 September 1929 – 25 February 1930.[22][29] Holding the same rank and position, Lindemann then transferred to the Schleswig-Holstein.[21]
Between the wars: Kriegsmarine
On 30 January 1933, the
On Admiral Scheer, he again served as first gunnery officer, and in this position he participated in the Spanish Civil War (24 July–30 August 1936).[33] Admiral Scheer had to make ready for the mission on short notice; the order came from Admiral Rolf Carls on 23 July 1936 at 13:45. The normal 48 hours required to prepare the ship was reduced to 12 hours, demanding a lot of the crew and especially Lindemann. As the first gunnery officer, Lindemann was responsible for handling and storing all munitions. Admiral Scheer and the cruiser Deutschland left Germany on 24 July at 08:00.[34] Lindemann's main responsibilities included commanding the German landing parties and acting as diplomatic aid and interpreter for Captain Marschall. These landing parties consisted of up to 350 men, which included 11 officers, 15 non-commissioned officers and 266 sailors, or roughly one-third of the crew.[35] On the return voyage to Germany, Admiral Scheer stopped at Gibraltar on the morning of 25 August 1936. Marschall, Lindemann and other officers met with the British Governor and Rear Admiral James Somerville.[36] After Lindemann returned to Germany, he was promoted to Fregattenkapitän on 1 October 1936.[21]
Between 1936 and 1938, he was an adviser and later head of the ship construction department at the Naval High Command,
Commander of the battleship Bismarck
Ernst Lindemann was frustrated by the fact that—as commander of the Naval Gunnery School—he would never come into direct contact with the enemy. When he received the news that he had been selected to be the first commander of the battleship Bismarck, he was honoured by the trust that had been bestowed on him but doubted that he would be able to get Bismarck ready for action before the war was over. His doubts suggest that he was confident the war would end in a favourable outcome for Germany by mid-1940.[38] Prior to commanding Bismarck, Lindemann had never held any shipboard command, a situation rare if not unique in the Kriegsmarine. Nevertheless, Lindemann had served exclusively on ships with a gun calibre of at least 28 cm (11 in), and he was Germany's leading gunnery expert. In 1940, he ranked second out of Crew 1913 and was considered an outstanding leader.[39]
Lindemann arrived at the
Bismarck left the
In November 1940, Von Müllenheim-Rechberg was sent to the Naval Gunnery School at Wik to complete his heavy gun training courses, which ended his position as Lindemann's personal adjutant. Lindemann's new adjutant was the signals officer Second Lieutenant Wolfgang Reiner.[44] Bismarck's heavy guns were first test-fired in the second half of November, and Bismarck was shown to be a very stable gun platform.[45] After the 1940 Christmas celebration on board, Lindemann and the majority of the officers, non-commissioned officers and sailors went on home leave. First gunnery officer Lieutenant Commander Adalbert Schneider relieved Lindemann as Bismarck's commander during his absence. Lindemann spent his leave with his wife and daughter and returned on 1 January 1941.[46]
On 28 April 1941, the ship and crew were ready, and stores were on board for a three-month mission. Lindemann notified Naval High Command (Oberkommando der Marine), Naval Groups North and West (Marinegruppen Nord und West) and Fleet Command that Bismarck was ready for action.[47] The Chief of Fleet—Admiral Günther Lütjens—and his fleet staff held drills for the first time on board Bismarck on 13 May, testing the communication chain between Fleet Command and Bismarck's officers.[48]
Operation Rheinübung
The goal of Operation Rheinübung (Rhine Exercise) was for Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen—under the command of Lindemann's Crew 1913 classmate Captain Helmuth Brinkmann—to break into the Atlantic and attack Allied shipping. Grand Admiral Raeder's orders to the task force commander—Admiral Günther Lütjens—were that "the objective of the Bismarck is not to defeat enemies of equal strength, but to tie them down in a delaying action, while preserving combat capacity as much as possible, so as to allow Prinz Eugen to get at the merchant ships in the convoy" and "The primary target in this operation is the enemy's merchant shipping; enemy warships will be engaged only when that objective makes it necessary and it can be done without excessive risk."[50]
At 02:00 on 19 May 1941, Bismarck and Prinz Eugen left Gotenhafen and proceeded through the Baltic Sea and out toward the Atlantic. Unknown to Lütjens, the British had intercepted enough signals to infer that a German naval operation might occur in the area. The German task force was first encountered by the Swedish seaplane-cruiser Gotland on 20 May heading north-west past Gothenburg. The British Admiralty was informed through a Norwegian officer in Stockholm who had learned of the sighting from a Swedish military intelligence source. Alerted by this report, British Admiralty requested air reconnaissance of the Norwegian coast. A Spitfire reconnaissance aircraft found and photographed the German task force in the Grimstad fjord (60°19.49′N 5°14.48′E / 60.32483°N 5.24133°E), near Bergen, at 13:15 on 21 May.[51] On the evening of 23 May at 19:22, the German force was detected by the heavy cruisers HMS Suffolk and Norfolk that had been patrolling the Denmark Strait in the expectation of a German breakout. The alarm was sounded and Lindemann announced at 20:30 over the intercom: "Feind in Sicht an Backbord, Schiff nimmt Gefecht auf". (Enemy sighted to port. Engage!) Bismarck fired five salvos without scoring a direct hit. The heavily outgunned British cruisers retired to a safe distance and shadowed the enemy until their own heavy units could draw closer. However, Bismarck's forward radar had failed as a result of vibration from the heavy guns firing during this skirmish, and Lütjens was obliged to order Prinz Eugen to move ahead of Bismarck in order to provide the squadron with forward radar coverage.[52]
At the
Following the explosion, Prince of Wales was targeted by both German ships and disengaged from combat after seven direct hits, four by Bismarck and three by Prinz Eugen, at about 06:09. During this brief engagement, Prince of Wales had also hit Bismarck three times, first striking the commander's boat and putting the seaplane catapult amidships out of action. The second shell passed right through the bow from one side to the other. The third struck the hull underwater and burst inside the ship, flooding a generator room and damaging the bulkhead of an adjoining boiler room, partially flooding it. The damage caused to Bismarck by these two shots allowed 2,000 t (2,200 short tons) of water into the ship.[57]
Lindemann and Lütjens at this point differed on how best to continue the mission. Lindemann, as commander of a battleship, was guided by the tactical situation, and wanted to hunt down the damaged Prince of Wales. (The Germans did not at that time know the ship to be Prince of Wales, but knew that it was a
Bismarck was sunk three days later, after a concentrated effort by Britain's
Bismarck's alarm sounded for the last time at 08:00 on the morning of 27 May 1941. Norfolk sighted the Bismarck at 08:15, and the battleship
Death
Burkard von Müllenheim-Rechberg saw Lindemann for the last time at around 08:00 on the command bridge just prior to the final battle. Von Müllenheim-Rechberg described the normally intelligent, humorous and optimistic Lindemann as pessimistic and withdrawn. Von Müllenheim-Rechberg tried to talk to him and was ignored, and later wondered whether this was due to combat fatigue or whether the disagreements with Lütjens had worn him down.[67]
Lindemann's body was never recovered, and it is thought that he, Lütjens and other officers were probably killed in action when shellfire from the British warships landed on Bismarck's bridge at 09:02.
Alternatively, Lindemann may have left his combat position when the ship's controls were rendered inoperable—and prior to the lethal hit on the command position—in order to give the command to abandon the ship. The surviving Matrose Paul Hillen—who had managed to escape to the upper deck in the final phase of the battle—stated that he had seen a group of 20–30 people standing at the bow, among them a man with a white peaked cap. Normally on a German naval vessel at sea, a white cap is worn only by the commanding officer.
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Lindemann's comrades of Crew 1913 all contacted the young widow after his death. The former head of Crew 1913, Captain Otto Klüber, contacted Mrs Lindemann in the fall of 1941 and offered her an honorary membership. Shortly after Christmas on 27 December 1941, exactly seven months after the sinking of Bismarck and the death of its commander, Captain Ernst Lindemann received a posthumous Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. He received this high award because the Oberkommando der Marine felt that his skilled leadership significantly contributed to the destruction of the British battlecruiser Hood and the damage inflicted on the British battleship Prince of Wales.[74] Lindemann was the 94th recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in the Kriegsmarine.[75]
Lindemann's first gunnery officer—Lieutenant Commander Adalbert Schneider—had been awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 27 May 1941. Traditionally, the commanding officer would have received this award before any other crew member was so honoured. This exception had been criticized by various circles in the Wehrmacht. It is thought likely that Ernst Lindemann's cousin, the former General der Kavallarie (General of the Cavalry) Georg Lindemann, intervened. Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, with whom Lindemann shared a 20-year comradeship dating to the early days of the Reichsmarine, presented the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross to Mrs Lindemann on Tuesday, 6 January 1942, in Dahlem. Raeder went on to provide moral and emotional support to Lindemann's mother and widow.[74]
Awards and honours
- Iron Cross (1914)
- 2nd Class
- 1st Class (27 September 1919)[21]
- Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 (6 December 1934)[21]
- Service Award (Dienstauszeichnung) 2nd to 4th Class (2 October 1936)[21][22]
- Service Award (Dienstauszeichnung) 1st Class (16 March 1938)[21]
- Spanish
- Spanish Naval Merit Cross in White (Cruz Naval con distintivo Blanco) (21 August 1939)[21][22]
- Spanish Naval Merit Cross in Gold (Cruz Naval con distintivo Amarillo) 3rd Class (21 August 1939)[21][22]
- Swedish Royal Order of the Sword (Kungliga Svärdsorden) (11 January 1941)[22][77]
- War Merit Cross, 2nd Class with Swords (20 January 1941)[22][77]
- Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939)
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 27 December 1941 (posthumously) as captain and commander of battleship Bismarck[78][79][80]
- High Seas Fleet Badge (posthumously 1 April 1942)[77]
Lindemann Battery
To honour the late Captain Lindemann, the heavy naval battery at
In popular culture
Austrian actor Carl Möhner played Captain Ernst Lindemann in the 1960 black-and-white British war film Sink the Bismarck! The film was based on the novel The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck by C. S. Forester.[82]
Translation notes
- ^ Carmer Street – Carmerstraße
- ^ 2nd Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet – II. Geschwader der Hochseeflotte
- ^ 3rd wireless telegraphy officer – III. FT Offizier; Funktelegrafie
- ^ wireless telegraphy school – FT Schule
- ^ telegraphy officer – II. FT Offizier
- ^ Dahlem Protection Company – Schutzkompanie Dahlem
- ^ Protection Regiment of Greater Berlin – Schutz-Regiment "Groß-Berlin"
- ^ Naval Command Department – Marinekommandoamt (A)
- Admiralstab
- ^ Fleet Department – Flottenabteilung (A II)
- ^ 1st Artillery Company – 1. (Artillerie) Kompanie
- ^ 3rd Coastal Defense Department – Küstenabwehrabteilung III – K.W.A. III
- ^ Baltic Naval Station – Marinestation der Ostsee
- ^ Naval High Command – Oberkommando der Marine
- ^ Naval Training Department – Marineausbildungsabteilung
- ^ Naval Gunnery School – Schiffsartillerie-Schule – SAS
Notes
- ^ The Prussian Central Land Credit Company (Preußische Central-Bodenkredit-Aktiengesellschaft AG) was a Prussian land and real estate public limited credit company formed in 1870. Today, after a number of mergers, the bank is part of the Eurohypo AG.[1]
- Colonel General) Georg Lindemann,[3] and the son of Ernst Heinrich Lindemann (25 January 1833 – 8 May 1900), a lawyer and former mayor of Essen (1859–1868), Dortmund (1878–1886) and Düsseldorf (1886–1899).[4]
- ^ Friedrich Tiesmeyer (15 October 1867 – 18 January 1917) was the son of pastor Ludwig Tiesmeyer (1835–1919) and Auguste Wilhelmine Luise Lindemann (1845–1897), Ernst Lindemann's paternal aunt.[7]
- ^ Regarding personal names: Freiherr is a former title (translated as Baron). In Germany since 1919, it forms part of family names. The feminine forms are Freifrau and Freiin.
- ^ This quotation is cited by Burkard Freiherr von Müllenheim-Rechberg, who at the time was in the rear gun director watching for Suffolk and Norfolk and listening to Schneider's gunnery commands over the fire control intercom. It was most likely reported by a surviving crew member who overheard the conversation between Schneider and Lindemann over the gunnery telephone.[54]
- ^ Hood carried eight 42-calibre BL 15-inch Mark I guns. These guns were mounted in the hydraulically powered Mark II twin turrets which were designated 'A', 'B', 'X' and 'Y' from front to rear.
- ^ Bismarck had four 38 cm SK C/34 dual gun turrets. The two forward turrets were Anton and Bruno. The aft turrets were Caesar and Dora.
References
Citations
- ^ "Eurohypo AG". uni-protokolle.de (in German). Archived from the original on 11 August 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
- ^ a b Grützner 2010, p. 21.
- ^ Grützner 2010, p. 15.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 16–17.
- ^ Grützner 2010, p. 209.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr & Steinmetz 1990, volume 6 p. 37.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 225–226.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 21–22, 229.
- ^ Grützner 2010, p. 23.
- ^ Grützner 2010, p. 66.
- ^ Grützner 2010, p. 72.
- ^ Grützner 2010, p. 86.
- ^ Grützner 2010, p. 91.
- ^ Grützner 2010, p. 92.
- ^ Grützner 2010, p. 137.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 25–26.
- ^ Dörr 1996, pp. 11–12.
- ^ Grützner 2010, p. 27.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 28–29.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 29–33.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Grützner 2010, p. 212.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Dörr 1996, p. 12.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 35–37.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 39–41.
- ^ Grützner 2010, p. 41.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 48–51.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 56–58.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 60–62, 211–212.
- ^ a b Grützner 2010, p. 211.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 74, 212.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 76–78, 211.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 89–96, 212.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 91–100, 212.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 100–101.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 102–128.
- ^ Grützner 2010, p. 130.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 139–142, 212.
- ^ Grützner 2010, p. 144.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 221–222.
- ^ Grützner 2010, p. 145.
- ^ Müllenheim-Rechberg 1980, pp. 15–16.
- ^ Grützner 2010, p. 153.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 152, 397.
- ^ Müllenheim-Rechberg 1980, p. 43.
- ^ Müllenheim-Rechberg 1980, pp. 44–45.
- ^ Grützner 2010, p. 157.
- ^ Müllenheim-Rechberg 1980, p. 62.
- ^ Müllenheim-Rechberg 1980, p. 63.
- ^ Müllenheim-Rechberg 1980, pp. 71–73.
- ^ Boyne 1997, pp. 53–54.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 172–174, 313.
- ^ Grützner 2010, p. 179.
- ^ Müllenheim-Rechberg 1980, pp. 103–106.
- ^ Grützner 2010, p. 180.
- ^ Grützner 2010, p. 181.
- ^ Müllenheim-Rechberg 1980, pp. 110–111.
- ^ Grützner 2010, p. 184.
- ^ Bercuson & Herwig 2003, pp. 165–166.
- ^ Bercuson & Herwig 2003, pp. 171–172.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr & Steinmetz 1990, volume 7 p. 41.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 182–183.
- ^ Mitcham 2008, p. 426.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 186–187.
- ^ Boyne 1997, p. 66.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 190–191.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr & Steinmetz 1990, volume 2 p. 81.
- ^ Müllenheim-Rechberg 1980, pp. 195–197.
- ^ Bercuson & Herwig 2003, p. 291.
- ^ Jackson 2002, p. 87.
- ^ "Bismarck". The Wreck. Archived from the original on 20 November 2010. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
- ^ Grützner 2010, p. 201.
- ^ Grützner 2010, p. 202.
- ^ McGowen 1999, pp. 58–59.
- ^ a b Grützner 2010, p. 205.
- ^ Range 1974, p. 116.
- ^ Rangliste der Deutschen Reichsmarine (in German). Berlin: Reichswehrministerium, Mittler & Sohn. 1932. p. 44.
- ^ a b c d Grützner 2010, p. 213.
- ^ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 292.
- ^ Fellgiebel, Colton & Rogers 2003, p. 239.
- ^ Scherzer 2007, p. 507.
- ^ Grützner 2010, pp. 213–216.
- IMDb. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-0-7858-2205-9.
- Bercuson, David J.; Herwig, Holger H. (2003). The Destruction of the Bismarck. New York: The Overlook Press. ISBN 978-1-58567-397-1.
- ISBN 978-0-684-83914-1.
- Dörr, Manfred (1996). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Überwasserstreitkräfte der Kriegsmarine – Band 2:L–Z (in German). Osnabrück: Biblio Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2497-6.
- ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
- Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer; Colton, C. F.; Rogers, Duncan (2003). Elite of the Third Reich: the recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, 1939–45. Helion & Company Limited. ISBN 978-1-874622-46-8. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
- Grützner, Jens (2010). Kapitän zur See Ernst Lindemann: Der Bismarck-Kommandant – Eine Biographie [Captain at Sea Ernst Lindemann: The Bismarck-Commander – A Biography] (in German). VDM Heinz Nickel. ISBN 978-3-86619-047-4.
- Hildebrand, Hans H.; Röhr, Albert; Steinmetz, Hans-Otto (1990). Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe. Biographien – ein Spiegel der Marinegeschichte von 1815 bis zur Gegenwart. (10 Bände) (in German). Mundus Verlag. ASIN B003VHSRKE.
- Jackson, Robert (2002). The Bismarck. Staplehurst: Spellmount. ISBN 978-1-86227-173-9.
- ISBN 978-0-304-35526-6.
- McGowen, Tom (1999). Sink The Bismarck!. Brookfield, Connecticut: Twenty-First Century Books. ISBN 978-0-7613-1510-0.
- Mitcham, Samuel W. (2008). The rise of the Wehrmacht: the German armed forces and World War II, Volume 1. Westport, Connecticut: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-275-99659-8.
- Müllenheim-Rechberg, Burkard (1980). Battleship Bismarck: A Survivor's Story. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-096-9.
- Range, Clemens (1974). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kriegsmarine (in German). Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 3-87943-355-0.
- Scherzer, Veit (2007). Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
External links
- Ernst Lindemann in the German National Library catalogue