Theodor von Hippel

Dr. Theodor von Hippel (born 19 January 1890, date of death unknown) was the German army and intelligence officer responsible for the formation and training of the Brandenburgers commando unit. As a Hauptmann (Captain), von Hippel had served under General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck during the First World War in the East African theatre, where Lettow-Vorbeck had conducted a brilliant guerrilla campaign against Allied colonial troops. At the same time in the Middle East, T. E. Lawrence was enjoying great success employing similar guerrilla style hit-and-run tactics against Germany's Turkish allies.

World War II
Inspired by these examples, von Hippel proposed that small, élite units, highly trained in infiltration and sabotage and fluent in foreign languages, could operate behind enemy lines, wreaking havoc on the enemy’s command, communication and logistical chains. He approached the Reichswehr, with his unconventional idea but it was rejected by the traditionalist Prussian officers. Von Hippel then approached the Abwehr (German intelligence service) and its commander Admiral Wilhelm Canaris. Canaris approved and put von Hippel to work turning his vision into a reality.

Von Hippel was promoted to Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) and appointed head of Section II the Abwehr branch dealing with clandestine operations. Within weeks Hippel had organized a force of carefully selected men. Since the project was deemed top secret, this crack outfit was designated "Special Duty Training and Construction Company" (Lehr und Bau Kompagnie) to mask its true function.

The unit's missions would be determined by the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW). The company was headquartered at Stendal in the old Prussian province of Brandenburg from whence it would derive its name. Here, at an old country estate on the city's outskirts, von Hippel's commandos were taught the techniques of stealth and self-sufficiency; how to move silently through the woods, to live off the land and navigate by the stars. They also learned to handle kayaks, skis and parachutes, and even how to create explosives from potash, flour and sugar.

The Brandenburgers did make one concession to the old, Prussian chivalric code, however- they never attacked without first revealing their true uniforms, which they wore underneath their disguises. Though not always practical, this did give them the advantage, if captured, of being treated as uniformed enemy combatants rather than spies and thus being summarily executed. After achieving impressive early results in their training exercises, the company was expanded into a battalion, which was code named Ebbinghaus.

The Brandenburgers' first real test would come in mid-1939. Small teams of these commandos, disguised as miners and laborers, sneaked into Poland to begin infiltrating key factories, mines and power stations. The Germans now had a large, covert force of saboteurs deep behind Polish lines. The X-Day for Case White was set for September 1.

On the evening of August 31, a team of the Brandenburgers in civilian disguise prepared to go into action at Danzig. At 4:17 local time, they surrounded and attempted to seize the city's post office. A shootout then commenced between the commandos and armed postal workers which would last all day. This was, in effect, the opening engagement of the Second World War. Around the same time the old German battleship Schleswig-Holstein, supposedly in port on a "goodwill" visit, began shelling the city at point-blank range. There remains some debate on whether the war's first shots were fired by the Holstein, the Brandenburgers or by Polish Postal Workers. But regardless, by nightfall on X-Day both the city and its post office had fallen to the Germans.

Simultaneously, the saboteur teams began to blow up their target facilities where they had been, up until then, employed. Meanwhile, other Brandenburgers slipped across the frontiers, infiltrated behind Polish defensive positions and seized crucial bridges across the river Vistula. At 5:00 AM local time on X-Day, the Panzer spearheads of five German armies would charge across these bridges. But von Hippel's Brandenburgers themselves had been the real spearheads for this first blitzkrieg operation. Poland was unprepared not only for the conventional war but for the unconventional one which had preceded it. Within 27 days, a nation of 33 million would become the first, and perhaps most unfortunate, of the Third Reich's conquests. Von Hippel's commandos had passed their first test with ruthless efficiency.

Although Bataillon Ebbinghaus was disbanded at the end of the Polish campaign, they had performed well enough to be reconstituted, under their old Lehr und Bau Kompagnie codename, as a regiment in time to serve with distinction in the 1940 campaign in France and the low countries. By this time, Admiral Canaris had begun to push von Hippel aside and take a direct role in the Brandenburgers' operations himself. The unit continued to grow from a single regiment into one of the most feared and effective divisions fielded by Germany in World War II, participating on every front and in nearly every important campaign.

Von Hippel was captured in 1943 by American troops, while commanding a German-Arabic unit in Tunis.

Dates of rank

 * Leutnant
 * Oberleutnant: 1935
 * Hauptmann:
 * Major: October 1, 1940
 * Oberstleutnant: June 1, 1942

Notable decorations

 * Cross of Honor (1934)
 * Wound Badge in Black (1918)
 * Colonial Badge (Elephant Order)
 * Iron Cross Second (1914) and First (1939) Classes
 * Clasp to the Iron Cross Second Class