Ernst Graf Strachwitz

Ernst Graf Strachwitz von Groß Zauche und Camminetz ^{[Notes 1]} (22 December 1919 – 13 July 1998) was a German Army officer, Austrian politician and lawyer.

Strachwitz was born and raised in Wöbling in the municipality Laßnitzhöhe in Styria.

Strachwitz joined the Gebirgsjäger in 1938, fought as a paratrooper at the Battle of Narvik, on the Western Front and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 26 November 1944, while serving in Finland. He finished the war as Major and bataillon commander with the 2nd Mountain Division.

After the War he became a lawyer in Vienna, went into politics and served as a member of the National Council of Austria from 1949 to 1953 for the Austrian People's Party.

He was a distant nephew of Hyazinth Graf Strachwitz von Gross-Zauche und Camminetz.

Awards

• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 26 November 1944 as Hauptmann and leader of the II./Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 137^[1]

Notes

1. Regarding personal names: Graf was a title before 1919, but now is regarded as part of the surname. It is translated as Count. Before the August 1919 abolition of nobility as a legal class, titles preceded the full name when given (Graf Helmuth James von Moltke). Since 1919, these titles, along with any nobiliary prefix (von, zu, etc.), can be used, but are regarded as a dependent part of the surname, and thus come after any given names (Helmuth James Graf von Moltke). Titles and all dependent parts of surnames are ignored in alphabetical sorting. The feminine form is Gräfin.

References

Citations

1. Fellgiebel 2000, pp. 413, 505.

Bibliography

• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die 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, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.