Friedrich von Stülpnagel

Friedrich von Stülpnagel, a 400 metre runner, earned a bronze medal with the 4x400 relay at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, running the second leg. He was then the first sportsman from Postdam to win an Olympic medal. He qualified for the Berlin Games after placing third at the 1936 German Championships after only five months training at the Army Sports School Wünsdorf. One year later von Stülpnagel retired and concentrated on his military career.

Von Stülpnagel was a professional soldier, first in the Deutsche Wehrmacht during World War II, later in the Deutsche Bundeswehr. In 1955, Border Patrol Major Friedrich von Stülpnagel became CEO of the Federal Border Police Association. He later pursued a career as an officer in the Bundeswehr and retired in 1972 as a colonel.

Friedrich von Stülpnagel second marriage was to Lucia Luise Countess of Ingelheim, called Echterin von und zu Mespelbrunn. His family members took some controversial positions in the Third Reich. His cousin Otto Edwin von Stülpnagel, 1935 Commander of the Air War College, 1936 Air General, was Military Commander of France and was responsible for numerous acts of violence and deportations between 1940 and 1942. While in custody in France, he committed suicide after the war. Another cousin Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel, an Infantry General since 1939, was an active participant in the famous attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler on 20 July 1944. Heinrich then attempted to commit suicide by shooting himself in his head, but was unsuccessful, and was later convicted to death by the People’s Court and executed. Friedrich’s uncle Joachim von Stülpnagel, a Colonel since 1922 and Head of a Military Department, was appointed in 1934 to head an infantry regiment by Adolf Hitler, and in 1939 was named Commander of the Reserve Army.

Personal Best: 400 - 48.9 (1936).