Paul von Hindenburg

Paul von Hindenburg
President of Germany
In office 1925–1934
Preceded by	Friedrich Ebert
Succeeded by	Adolf Hitler (as Führer)
Born	October 2, 1847 Posen, Prussia (now Poznań, Poland)
Died	August 2, 1934 Neudeck, Nazi Germany (now Ogrodzieniec, Poland)

Paul von Hindenburg (1847 - 1934) was a German general, World War I military hero and eventually the president of Germany from 1925 to 1934 under the Weimar Republic.

Hindenburg was a career military man who fought in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War and the 1871 Franco-Prussian War before being appointed to the chiefs of staff in 1878. Retiring in 1911, he came out of retirement for World War I and was given credit for the great German victory at the Battle of Tannenberg in 1914 and was promoted to commander of all the German armies in 1916. Together with Erich Ludendorff he directed the World War I efforts and military strategies. Officially retired in 1919, he came back in 1925 to be elected president and serve as the leader of the shattered German state. Hindenburg continued to serve until his death. While he was alive the aged Hindenburg slowed Hitler's rise to power, but upon his death, nothing stood in the way of Hitler taking control of Germany.

The Hindenburg, which met a fiery fate, was named for Paul von Hindenburg.

References

• The New American Desk Encyclopedia, Penguin Group, 1989