Biography

Coming from an aristocratic Prussian family, Paul von Hindenburg joined the Prussian army as a young man, retiring as a general in 1913 at age 66. Recalled to duty during World War I, he was placed in command of the German forces at the battle of Tannenberg in 1914 against the Russians which, due to a combination of his skillful tactics and staggeringly incompetent leadership on the part of the Russian generals, resulted in a disastrous defeat for the Russian army, which lost an estimated 350,000 men. In 1916 he was made supreme commander of all German forces. He retired from the army again in 1919, but in 1925 returned to public life as a candidate for President of Germany, and won the election. He ran for re-election in 1932, not so much because he wanted to but because he was considered the only candidate who could beat Adolf Hitler, which he proceeded to do. Hindenburg had little use for Hitler and the Nazi party and did what he could to thwart their grab for power, but it was too little too late--in 1933, due to the Nazi party's gains in local and national elections and their majority of seats in the German parliament, Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor, and later he signed the Enabling Act of 1933, which granted sweeping powers to the government formed by Hitler. Frustrated, frail and in poor health, Hindenburg died the next year.
- IMDb mini biography by: frankfob2@yahoo.com

He attended high school until 1859 and shortly afterwards moved to the cadet college in Wahlstatt and later to Berlin. Von Hindenburg took part in the Battle of Königgrätz in 1866 and in the Battle of Sedan in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870/71. At the end he was the commanding general in Magdeburg. In 1911 he said goodbye to military service. In 1914, von Hindenburg took over the 8th Army as commander-in-chief. The Battle of Tannenberg also took place during this time, in which the 2nd Russian Army was defeated. The ensuing Battle of the Masurian Lakes brought victory over the 1st Russian Army. As a result of these successes, von Hindenburg was given supreme command of all German troops on the Eastern Front. Von Hindenburg took over the top army command in 1916. Two years later, after the failure of the spring offensive, von Hindenburg took over the top army command together with Erich Ludendorff.

Paul von Hindenburg retired to Hanover in 1919. In the National Assembly he propagated the theory of a "stab in the back" of the army. The independent von Hindenburg was elected Reich President in 1925 with a large majority, ahead of Wilhelm Marx. Although he supported the monarchy, he took the oath to uphold the Weimar constitution and was recognized as president. Five years later he made Heinrich Brüning Chancellor. On April 10, 1932, von Hindenburg was re-elected for the second time and even won against Adolf Hitler. In May he appointed Franz von Papen as Chancellor. Six months later, Kurt von Schleicher became Chancellor. On January 30, 1933, von Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor. Apart from Hitler, only two National Socialists belonged to the new Hitler cabinet: Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick and Hermann Göring as ministers without portfolio. Despite his personal dislike of Hitler, he became increasingly influenced by Hitler.

On February 1, 1933, Hindenburg dissolved the Reichstag. Hindenburg's participation in the "Day of Potsdam" staged by the National Socialists on March 21, 1933 increased the reputation of Hitler's government. The Enabling Act passed on March 23, 1933, with Hindenburg's consent, also overrode the legislative authority of parliament as defined in the Weimar Constitution and contributed to Hitler gaining total control over the political situation in Germany.

On August 2, 1934, Paul von Hindenburg died in Neudeck in West Prussia. The first grave site was the Tannenberg monument. His final resting place is today in Marburg in the Elisabeth Church.
- IMDb mini biography by: Christian_Wolfgang_Barth