Werner von Blomberg

German Army field marshal and Military Chief of the Wehrmacht Military Forces (Heer,Luftwaffe,Kriegsmarine) (1878-1946)

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Lived 1878–1946, aged 68Germany

Germany PoliticiansPolitician

Wikipedia
41 languages
Cross-language footprint
Era
1878–1946
Aged 68
Awards
13
recognised works

Summary

Updated 2026-06-09

Germany's first Nazi-era war minister, the field marshal who rearmed Hitler's Wehrmacht and purged its ranks of dissenters — then found himself ousted in a sex scandal engineered by Göring and Himmler when his enthusiasm for the regime's war plans cooled.

Biography

About

Werner von Blomberg served on the Western Front in World War I and climbed to chief of the Truppenamt, the covert General Staff, during the Weimar years from 1927 to 1929. President Hindenburg appointed him Defence Minister in January 1933, the same month Hitler took power. Renamed Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Blomberg steered Germany's rearmament and cleared the officer corps of anyone who balked at the new order. But as he grew wary of Nazi foreign adventurism, Göring and Himmler manufactured the Blomberg–Fritsch affair in 1938 and forced him out. He spent the…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Werner von Blomberg

Werner von Blomberg

said1941

Before 1938, the German generals were not opposed to Hitler because he produced the results they desired.

— Quoted in "Facts on File Yearbook" - 1941 - Page 2

Werner von Blomberg

said1940

Having been informed of events by Vice-Chancellor von Papen, President Hindenburg summoned General Goering, in his capacity of Chief of Police, and myself to Neudeck.

— Quoted in "Hitler and I" - Page 186 - by Otto Strasser, Gwenda David, Eric Mosbacher - Germany - 1940

Werner von Blomberg

saidundated