Wilhelm Canaris

Germany state institutions Counter-revolutionary forces Conservatism and Christian democracy 1887–1945 ✕ Executed

Admiral who helped form Freikorps units in 1919 and headed the Abwehr, the military intelligence service, from 1935 to 1944

He entered the Imperial Navy in 1905 and served as intelligence officer of the cruiser Dresden in the First World War. During the revolution of 1918–19 he helped form Freikorps units to crush the communist movement and, on Defence Minister Noske’s orders, kept contact with the staff of the Guards Cavalry Rifle Division. He sat on the military court that tried, and largely acquitted, those involved in murdering Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, and helped the convicted Kurt Vogel escape from prison. He also took part in the 1920 Kapp Putsch. In January 1935 he became head of the Abwehr, the armed forces’ intelligence service. At first a supporter of Hitler, he moved to passive and active resistance after the invasion of Poland in 1939. Dismissed in February 1944 and arrested after the 20 July plot, he was hanged at Flossenbürg concentration camp on 9 April 1945.

Also known as: Wilhelm Franz Canaris