Heinrich Tillessen
| Heinrich Tillessen | |
|---|---|
| Born |
November 27, 1894 Cologne |
| Died | November 12, 1984 (aged 89) Koblenz |
| Criminal charge | Murder |
| Criminal penalty | 15 years imprisonment |
| Relatives | Karl Tillessen |
| Killings | |
| Victims | Matthias Erzberger |
| Date | August 26, 1921 |
Heinrich Tillessen (born November 27, 1894 in Cologne, died 12 November 1984 in Koblenz) was one of the murderers of Matthias Erzberger, the former minister of finance of the Centre Party. One of his brothers was Karl Tillessen, the deputy Hermann Ehrhardt in the Organisation Consul. The accomplice was Heinrich Schulz. The trial of Heinrich Tillessen was a trial in postwar Germany, that had a high attention of the public and of the legal experts. There were numerous problems of judicial processing of crimes before and during the Nazi period, this also showed the continuing influence of National Socialist injustice.
The father of Heinrich Tillessen was an artillery officer. Mother Karoline was Dutch. He grew up with 10 siblings (three brothers and 7 sisters) in Cologne, Metz and Koblenz - the garrison locations of his father. Another of his brothers was the future Navy Admiral Werner Tillessen. The family was considered as strict Catholic. The father retired in 1904. The family then moved to Koblenz.
Heinrich Tillesen 1920 (aged 26)
After the death of his father and mother (1910 and 1911) Heinrich Tillessen left the school with the so-called primary maturity and entered on April 1, 1912 as a midshipman the service of the Imperial German Navy. On April 12, 1914, he was promoted to Fähnrich zur See, at March 22, 1915 to Leutnant zur See.
During the First World War he did first service as a deck officer on smaller units. On 13 July 1917 he was transferred to the 17th Torpedo Boat Division, where he was employed under the commander Hermann Ehrhardt as watch on the leading boat. As part of the delivery of the German navy, he led a charge torpedo boat to Scapa Flow. After the scuttling of the fleet there, he had to remain in 1920 in English captivity until the end of July. On 30 July 1920 he was dismissed at his own request from the Marine.
Heinrich Tillessen failed then to get a foothold in a civilian job. He was a member of the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt of his former commander and took in March 1920 part of the Kapp Putsch. The dissolution of the Ehrhardt Brigade had been ordered already on February 29, 1920 by the victors. Heinrich Tillessen went to the successor group in Munich, Organisation Consul, which was also led by Hermann Ehrhardt. The stated goal was the implementation of lynchings. The chief of operations in the Munich headquarters was Manfred von Killinger, also former torpedo boat commander. From him Heinrich Tillessen and Heinrich Schulz received in August 1921 the personal mission to assassinate Erzberger. On August 26, 1921 in the morning the two met at a lonely place in the Black Forest in Bad Griesbach Erzberger, who was walking there with his party colleague Carl Diez. The perpetrators made a number of pistol shots and injured both seriously. Erzberger tried to escape down, but collapsed after 10 meters. The perpetrators went after him, and slew him with head shots at close range.
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