Ferdinand von Bredow

Ferdinand von Bredow
Ferdinand von Bredow
Born	(1884-05-16)16 May 1884 Neuruppin
Died	30 June 1934(1934-06-30) (aged 50) Berlin
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic
Service / branch	Reichswehr
Rank	Generalmajor
Commands	Abwehr

Ferdinand von Bredow (16 May 1884, in Neuruppin – 30 June 1934, in Berlin) was a German Generalmajor and former head of the Abwehr (the military intelligence service) in the Reich Defence Ministry (Reichswehrministerium) and deputy defence minister in Kurt von Schleicher's cabinet (December 1932 - January 1933). He became captain in November 1918 and took part in the first World War. Bredow was, along with Schleicher, among Adolf Hitler's bitterest adversaries at the time of the Weimar Republic's downfall. Towards the end of this régime, Bredow, as the leader of Schleicher's personal "information service" was head of a number of coexisting secret service organizations, among them even the SS's Sicherheitsdienst, which was under Reinhard Heydrich's leadership.

Bredow, along with Schleicher, was murdered in Berlin-Lichterfelde by SS men from the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler. Bredow was tied to a chair and shot five times in the chest on the Night of the Long Knives, a purge in which Hitler eliminated some of his most prominent opponents.

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross of 1914, 1st and 2nd class
• Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords