Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt 
(12.12.1875 - 24.2.1953)
place of birth:  Aschersleben, Herzogtum Anhalt


Born in Saxony-Anhalt as the son of an aristocratic Prussian Major General. During World War I, as a major, he served as chief of general staff for three different army corps, and he also was a staff officer for the German military governments in Antwerp and Warsaw. After the war, as a lieutenant colonel in the Reichswehr, he commanded the 3rd military district which included Berlin. He reportedly took part in the clandestine effort to rearm Germany. Rundstedt later was promoted field marshal during World War Two, serving as Commander-in-Chief of the Western Theater (1942-45). He was regarded by Eisenhower and Montgomery as Germany's best commander.