German Leadership

Towering like a colossus ...

Heinrich Hoffmann/?Bundesarchiv

Hitler still presented the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, at least to some recipients, personally in 1941, and was, not doubt, very happy to present the medal to Obersturmfuhrer (soon to be) Sturmbannfuhrer) Fritz Klingenberg of 2 SS Motorised Division, "Das Reich", in large part in recognition of his "capture" of Yugoslavia's capital, Belgrade, with the aid only of a small force of motorcyclists in April, 1941 (the Yugoslavs were probably just a little worried about the large German army following Klingenberg down the road ...). Hitler would almost certainly have met Klingenberg before the war, as the latter (a classic Nordic blonde god type) had done "protocol duties" in the Fuhrer's official household before the war. If so, he cannot have noticed him very much, or at least remembered that Fritz was a tall Nordic blonde god, clocking in at about 6 foot 4 inches. Short of standing on an orange box, the Fuhrer could not exactly match this. It created a problem for Heinrich Hoffmann, Hitler's court photographer, who was charged with taking the official photographs of the presentation. In this instance, he asked Klingenberg to stand a little behind Hitler, to mask the height difference. Clearly, this did not work. Might have been better to leave out the legs, and introduce an orange box. But then again, maybe not ... Best regards, JR.