Adolf Heusinger

Adolf Heusinger
Heusinger in Bundeswehr uniform, c. 1960
Chairman of the NATO Military Committee
In office
December 1961 – 1 April 1964
Preceded byCharles Paul de Cumont
Succeeded byCharles Paul de Cumont
Inspector General of the Bundeswehr
In office
1 June 1957 – 31 March 1961
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byFriedrich Foertsch
Chief of the OKH General Staff
Acting
In office
10 June 1944 – 21 July 1944
Preceded byKurt Zeitzler
Succeeded byHeinz Guderian
Personal details
Born
Adolf Bruno Heinrich Ernst Heusinger

(1897-08-04)4 August 1897
Holzminden, Duchy of Brunswick, German Empire
Died30 November 1982(1982-11-30) (aged 85)
Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany
Spouse
Gerda Luise Krüger
(m. 1931)
Children2
Military service
Allegiance German Empire
 Weimar Republic
 Nazi Germany
 West Germany
 NATO
Branch/service Imperial German Army
 Reichsheer
 German Army
Bundeswehr
Years of service1915–1945
1955–1964
RankGeneralleutnant (Wehrmacht)
General (Bundeswehr)
Battles/warsWorld War I
World War II
AwardsWar Merit Cross
Wound Badge of 20 July 1944 in silver

Adolf Bruno Heinrich Ernst Heusinger (4 August 1897 – 30 November 1982) was a German military officer whose career spanned the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, West Germany and NATO. He joined the German Army as a volunteer in 1915 and later became a professional soldier. He served as the Operations Chief within the general staff of the High Command of the German Army in the Wehrmacht from 1938 to 1944. He was then appointed acting Chief of the General Staff for two weeks in 1944 following Kurt Zeitzler's resignation. That year, Heusinger was accused of involvement in the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, but was cleared by the People's Court. Heusinger was later appointed head of the military cartography office when the war ended. He later became a general for West Germany and served as head of the West German military from 1957 to 1961 as well as Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 1961 to 1964.