Wilhelm Heye

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Wilhelm Heye (31 January 1869 – 11 March 1947) was a German army officer who rose to the rank of Generaloberst (Colonel General) and led the Army Command in the Reichswehr during the Weimar Republic. Born in Fulda, he came from a military family and joined the Prussian Army in 1888. He trained at the War Academy, served on the general staff, spent time with the Schutztruppe in German South West Africa, and fought in World War I on both the Eastern and Western fronts. After the war, Heye became chief of staff of the Troop Office in 1919 and then led the covert Reichswehr General Staff, the Truppenamt, from 1920. In 1926 he was named Chief of the Army Command (Chef der Heeresleitung) and held that post until his retirement in 1930; he was promoted to General der Infanterie in 1926 and to Generaloberst in 1930. He died in Braunlage in 1947. His son Hellmuth Heye became a vice admiral in the navy.