Wolfgang Fürstner - Biography

Wolfgang Fürstner (4 April 1896 - 19 August 1936) was a German Wehrmacht captain. In 1936 Fürstner was the first commander, then vice-commander, of the Olympic village during the Berlin Olympic Games, summer 1936.

Family

Wolfgang Fürstner was married to Leonie von Schlick, daughter of Marie Gräfin von Reventlow and Albert Heinrich Hans Karl von Schlick (1874–1957), last commander of the World War I battleship SMS Derfflinger.

Hitler Plays Down Regime's Anti-Semitism

To turn the summer Berlin Olympic Games into a showcase for other German achievements, Hitler made efforts to play down his regime’s notorious anti-Semitism. He allowed a few token Jews to represent the Reich, among them the fencer Helene Meyer, the hockey star Rudi Ball, and Captain Wolfgang Fürstner, who built and organized the Olympic Village.

Fürstner Replaced

At the end of June 1936 Fürstner was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Werner Freiherr von und zu Gilsa. Fürstner was demoted to local vice-commander. Officially Fürstner’s demotion was due to the fact that “Fürstner did not act with the necessary energy,” because 370,000 visitors had poured through from the opening on the first of May to the 15th of June and caused damage. Probably this explanation was only a pretext to disparage Fürstner because he was half-Jewish. The non-Jewish Werner von Gilsa was promoted to General der Infanterie, and as last Wehrmacht commandant of Dresden, committed suicide May 8, 1945.

Fürstner's Suicide

Fürstner committed suicide with a pistol shot three days after the end of the Games; he had been awarded the Olympic Medal First Class and had attended a banquet for his successor Gilsa. But Fürstner, a career officer, had learned that according to the Nuremberg Laws he was classified as a Jew and was to be dismissed from the Wehrmacht.

Regime's Cover-up

In order to cover up Fürstner’s suicide and protect the international reputation of Germany, the Nazis said Fürstner’s death was the result of a car accident, and Fürstner was buried in the Invalidenfriedhof, section F, alongside the honored dead of Germany’s wars. The grave was listed in the Official Berlin Invalidenfriedhof Guidebook (Der Invalidenfriedhof in Berlin – Ein Ehrenhain preußisch-deutscher Geschichte), which appeared between 1936 and 1940 in several editions.

Restoration of Fürstner's Grave

A new stone marker for Fürstner's grave was donated by the German Olympic Committee and dedicated in June 2002 by the Committee President, Walther Tröger. The stone lists Fürstner as "Deputy Commandant of the Olympic Village 1936" (stellvertretender Kommandant des Olympischen Dorfes 1936).

Bibliography

• Dost, Susanne. Das Olympische Dorf 1936 im Wandel der Zeit, Neddermeyer, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-933254-12-4