Wilhelm Keitel
German field marshal and chief of the Wehrmacht high command.
Wilhelm Keitel was born in 1882 in Helmscherode, a village in the Duchy of Brunswick, as the eldest son of a middle-class landowner. His early interests centered on hunting and riding, and he initially hoped to manage the family estates after his schooling, but his father’s refusal to retire led him to a military career. He entered the Prussian Army as an officer cadet in 1901, serving in a field artillery regiment because his commoner status barred him from the cavalry. He married Lisa Fontaine, a wealthy landowner’s daughter, in 1909. During World War I, Keitel fought on the Western Front, was severely wounded in Flanders, and rose to captain, later serving on an infantry division’s staff. After the war, he remained in the Weimar Republic’s Reichswehr, helping organize Freikorps units on the Polish border. In 1924, he transferred to the Ministry of the Reichswehr in Berlin, working in the disguised General Staff. By 1929, he was a lieutenant-colonel heading the Organizational Department, a role vital to German rearmament, and he traveled to the Soviet Union to inspect secret training camps. A heart attack and double pneumonia in 1932 slowed him, but by 1934 he commanded the 22nd Infantry Division. In 1935, promoted to major general, he became chief of the Armed Forces Office in the Reich Ministry of War. In early 1938, Keitel forwarded evidence that War Minister Werner von Blomberg’s wife had been a prostitute to Hermann Göring, leading to Blomberg’s resignation. When Hitler sought a replacement, Blomberg recommended Keitel, who was astonished to become chief of staff of the Wehrmacht, effectively assuming war minister duties with cabinet-level rank. Keitel then secured Walther von Brauchitsch as Army commander and his own brother as head of the Army Personnel Office. Promoted to colonel general in 1938, he received the Golden Party Badge in 1939. Among military peers, Keitel was reviled as a sycophantic “yes-man” to Hitler, earning nicknames like “Lakeitel” (a pun on lackey) and “Nickgeselle” (after a nodding donkey toy). Field Marshal Ewald von Kleist called him a “stupid follower,” and Göring said he had a sergeant’s mind in a field marshal’s body. Hitler himself, while verbally abusing Keitel, admitted he kept him because of his doglike loyalty.
- born
- 22 September 1882, Helmscherode, Duchy of Brunswick, Germany
- died
- 16 October 1946, Nuremberg, Germany
- field
- Military command
- nationality
- German
- known_for
- Chief of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW); signing criminal orders; convicted war criminal
Lore & Background
Wilhelm Keitel was born in the village of Helmscherode near Gandersheim, the eldest son of Carl Keitel, a middle-class landowner, and his wife Apollonia Vissering. As a youngster his main interests were hunting and riding horses, hobbies he pursued later in life. He wanted to take over his family's estates but his father did not want to retire, so he embarked on a military career in 1901 as an officer cadet of the Prussian Army. He married Lisa Fontaine, a wealthy landowner's daughter, on 18 April 1909. During World War I, Keitel served on the Western Front, fought in Flanders where he was severely wounded, and was promoted to captain before being posted to the staff of an infantry division in 1915. After the war, he was retained in the Reichswehr and played a part in organizing paramilitary Freikorps units on the Polish border. In 1924 he was transferred to the Ministry of the Reichswehr in Berlin, serving with the Truppenamt, and later returned to field command. By 1929 he was a lieutenant-colonel assigned to the war ministry, soon becoming Head of the Organizational Department, a post he held until 1933. He traveled at least once to the Soviet Union to inspect secret Reichswehr training camps. In autumn 1932 he suffered a heart attack and double pneumonia; after recovery, in October 1933, he was appointed deputy commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, and in 1934 he commanded the 22nd Infantry Division at Bremen.
Reader's Guide
Keitel's significance lies in his role as chief of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, where he functioned as Hitler's primary military staff officer and enforcer. He signed criminal orders and directives that led to numerous war crimes, and his servile attitude toward Hitler earned him the nickname 'Lakeitel' and the contempt of his peers. After the war, he was the only senior German commander to be convicted on all four counts at Nuremberg—crimes against humanity, crimes against peace, criminal conspiracy, and war crimes—and was executed. His legacy is that of a high-ranking officer who subordinated military professionalism to Nazi ideology, facilitating the regime's most brutal policies. The International Military Tribunal's verdict cemented his place as a symbol of the dangers of unquestioning obedience in military command structures.
Did You Know?
- Keitel was 1.85 metres (6 feet 1 inch) tall and described as a solidly built, square-jawed Prussian.
- He acquired the nickname 'Lakeitel', a pun derived from Lakai ('lackey') and his surname.
- Hermann Göring described Keitel as having 'a sergeant's mind inside a field marshal's body'.
- Keitel sat on the army 'court of honour' after the failed 20 July 1944 plot.
Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)
"I call on God Almighty to have mercy on the German people. More than two million German soldiers went to their death for the fatherland before me. I follow now my sons - all for Germany." — Wilhelm Keitel "I am a soldier and I worked for the kaiser, under Ebert, Hindenburg, and Hitler, all the same way, for the past 44 years." — Wilhelm Keitel "I believe German soldiers are good and decent, and if they did anything wrong it was because of military necessity." — Wilhelm Keitel "Hitler gave us orders - and we believed in him. Then he commits suicide and leaves us to bear the guilt. He should have remained alive to bear his share." — Wilhelm Keitel
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