Heinz BRANDT

In 1932 Heinz Brandt was the German Show Jumping Champion and in 1936 was a member of the German gold medal-winning team at the Berlin Olympics. In the tournament's individual competition finished equal 16th with 20.00 points. Brandt was a professional soldier from 1925 and had a brilliant career in the Deutsche Wehrmacht. He attended a course at the cavalry school in Hanover from 1927-28 and was commissioned a lieutenant.

In 1939 he was commanded to the Generalstab des Heeres. In May 1943 Brandt was promoted to Oberst (Colonel), and on 20 July 1944, he took part in a briefing meeting at Wolfsschanze (Wolf’s Lair), during which Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg attempted to assassinate the Reich’s Chancellor Adolf Hitler by placing a bomb under the table. Brandt pushed the briefcase containing the bomb with his foot behind a pedestal so he could get a better look at the deployed location map. Hitler was only slightly injured in the explosion, but Brandt was seriously injured and lost one leg. He died the next day from his wounds in a hospital in Rastenburg. Posthumously, he was promoted on 22 July 1944, to the rank of Generalmajor.