Manfred Rommel

Manfred Rommel CBE (24 December 1928 – 7 November 2013) was a German politician belonging to the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), who served as Lord Mayor of Stuttgart from 1974 until 1996. He was the only son of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and his wife Lucia Maria Mollin.

Background and family

Rommel was born in Stuttgart and entered service as a Luftwaffenhelfer (Air Force assistant) at age 14, serving in an anti-aircraft battery. He considered joining the Waffen SS, but his father opposed it. On 14 October 1944, he was present at his parents’ house when his father was led off and forced to commit suicide for his alleged complicity in the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, which was publicly portrayed by the Nazi leadership as a death resulting from a war injury. In February 1945, Rommel was dismissed from Air Force service and in March 1945 he was conscripted to the paramilitary Reichsarbeitsdienst service. Being in the town of Riedlingen by the end of April, immediately before the French First Army taking over, he deserted. He was taken prisoner of war, disclosed the truth about his father’s death and was interrogated by General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny.