Paul von Hindenburg

Older brother of Otto (b. 24 Aug 1849), Ida (b. 19 Dec 1851) and Bernhard (b. 17 Jan 1859).

Had three children: Irmengard Pauline (b. 1880), Oskar (b. 31 Jan 1883) and Annemaria (b. 19 Nov 1891, m. to Christian Alexander Franz von Pentz and had issue).

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.

President of Germany's Weimar Republic (1925-1934).

1,171th Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece (1931).

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.

He appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor on 30 January 1933.

The German zeppelin Hindenburg, which caught fire and burned at Lakehurst, NJ, in 1937, was named after him.

Portrayed by Sig Ruman in The Hitler Gang (1944), Walter Williams in Fräulein Doktor (1969) and Peter O' Toole in the miniseries, Hitler: The Rise of Evil.