Vincenz Müller

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Vincenz Müller
NDPD) speaking in the Volkskammer 15 September 1951.
Born(1894-11-05)5 November 1894
Aichach, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire
Died15 May 1961(1961-05-15) (aged 66)
East Berlin, East Germany
Allegiance German Empire (to 1918)
 Weimar Republic (to 1933)
 Nazi Germany (to 1944)
German Empire NKFD (to 1945)
 East Germany
Service/branch
Years of service1908–45; 1952–58
Rank
XII Corps
4th Army
Battles/warsWorld War I
World War II
AwardsKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross Patriotic Order of Merit

Vincenz Müller (5 November 1894 – 12 May 1961) was a military officer and

German Democratic Republic, where he was also a politician. Müller eventually became a member of the East German parliament, the Volkskammer
, and served as chief of staff of the National People's Army.

Early career

Müller was born in the

Gallipoli, and was then transferred to Baghdad and the Persian Front, returning to Germany after contracting malaria and typhus
. In 1917 he returned to Turkey as a tactics instructor for Turkish officers.

After the war, he continued to serve with the

captain
.

Nazi Germany

After Hitler's appointment as chancellor on 30 January 1933, Müller served from 1933 to 1935 as head of the construction of the

Army Group 2, in Kassel. During this time he was promoted to colonel
. During this period, he is known to have had some contact with the conservative anti-Nazi resistance in the army through Erwin von Witzleben, but did not commit himself as an active plotter.

If his political affiliations remained unclear, Müller showed complete willingness to serve the Nazis' military plans and advance his Wehrmacht career. As a staff officer he was involved in planning

XII Corps
.

Müller found himself thrust into prominence during events in the

18th Panzergrenadier Division
, was captured by 8 July and most of Fourth Army was destroyed.

Soviet captivity

Müller showed a willingness to cooperate with the Soviets from the time of his capture, issuing an order to troops of the Fourth Army to lay down their weapons.

During his time as a POW, Müller had an apparent change of views and professed to have become an anti-Nazi: within days of his capture he had joined the

XXXXI Panzer Corps, and Rudolf Bamler of the 12th Infantry Division) who became especially prominent in NKFD activity. Unlike many of his colleagues, however, Müller claimed to have become a staunch Communist. Along with Bamler, Müller is known to have attended special training in Krasnogorsk late in 1944, and is believed to have been recruited by the Soviet secret services to spy on fellow NKFD members, such as Friedrich Paulus
.

The German Democratic Republic

Vincenz Müller in Leipzig, 1950

Vincenz Müller was released relatively early from Soviet captivity, in 1948, and joined the National Democratic Party of Germany, the

NDPD. From 1949 to 1952 he was the party's deputy chairman and was Vice-President of the East German parliament, the Volkskammer
. During this period he is believed to have continued to act as an informant for East German state security.

Vincenz Müller congratulates DDR President Wilhelm Pieck, 1957

After 1952, Vincenz Müller returned to a military career and was given the responsibility of reconstructing East Germany's armed forces; he was returned to the rank of Lieutenant-General. After heading the Ministry of the Interior, and successfully developing the Volkspolizei, he was appointed the Chief of Staff of the newly formed National People's Army - effectively the second-in-command of the East German military behind Willi Stoph. Müller's later career is perhaps the most significant example of the East German regime's use of former Nazis and military officers, the so-called Ehemaligen, in reconstructing its state apparatus. He was, however, known to be in favour of the independence of the NVA from the Soviet military, and to have maintained some contacts in the West through military and Bavarian circles (Western intelligence services in fact attempted to persuade Müller to defect during this period). He is also known to have conducted secret discussions with the West German Finance Minister, Fritz Schäffer, on a possible détente between East and West Germany.

After being gradually sidelined, Müller retired in 1958 amidst longstanding concerns over his loyalty to the East German administration, and came under increasing pressure from the

POWs.[1]
He died in 1961, in somewhat controversial circumstances, as he fell from the balcony of his home on the day he was scheduled to return to hospital; it was rumoured that he had committed suicide when a police vehicle drew up outside.

A posthumous autobiography, Ich fand das wahre Vaterland (English: I found the true fatherland), was published in 1963, edited by Klaus Mammach, an SED historian.

Awards and decorations

References

Citations

  1. ISSN 1423-3967
    . Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Rangliste des Deutschen Reichsheeres, p. 145.
  3. ^ a b Scherzer 2007, p. 558.

Bibliography

Military offices
Preceded by
Generalmajor Otto Fretter-Pico
 Commander of 57. Infanterie-Division
1 September 1943 – 19 September 1943 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Commander of 56. Infanterie-Division
Commander of Korpsabteilung D
19 September 1943 – 4 June 1944 		Succeeded by
Generalmajor Edmund Blaurock
Preceded by
General der Infanterie Kurt von Tippelskirch
 Commander of XII. Armee Corps
4 June – 5 July 1944 		Succeeded by
Corps destroyed
Preceded by
General der Infanterie Kurt von Tippelskirch
 Commander of 4. Armee
30 June 1944 - 7 July 1944 		Succeeded by
General der Infanterie Kurt von Tippelskirch
International
National
People
Other
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