SPIEGEL: Wilhelm Ohnesorge
- #news
- #headline

Figure timeline
Karl Wilhelm Ohnesorge was a German politician in Nazi Germany who sat in the Hitler cabinet. From 1937 to 1945, he was the Reichsminister of the Reich Postal Ministry, having succeeded Paul Freiherr von Eltz-Rübenach. Along with his ministerial duties, Ohnesorge also significantly delved into research relating to propagation and promotion of the Nazi Party through the radio, initiatives in German…
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
politics · German Nazi politician (1872–1962) · politician · minister · also Wilhelm Ohnesorge, Ohnesorge
Born 8 June 1872 · Died 1 February 1962 · Q62905
19 published statements · 0 followers
See & hear
3 photos
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
Pulling headlines from trusted outlets — this usually takes a few seconds
Checking the wires…
Feed scan
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Live pulse
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
SPIEGEL: Wilhelm Ohnesorge
Died 1962-02-01.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Succeeded in having his previous verdict overturned and the proceedings discontinued, subsequently being granted the retirement benefits of a president of the Reich Postal Central Office
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Moved to a farm in the neighboring village of Kirchbichl, but left the region for Munich in 1954, where he attempted to continue work on technical matters
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
As General Erich Fellgiebel and General Fritz Thiele of the Signal Corps both had professional ties to ITT
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
To induce Heinrich Himmler to sign a warrant for Westrick's arrest on charges of high treason, with the intent of placing him in a concentration camp while the Reichspost disposed of ITT’s shares
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Ohnesorge, edited and published a propaganda text for the Reichpost containing a significant amount of letters and anecdotes from lower ranking postal staff and former staff serving in the army praising him and his leade
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Married his third wife, Auguste Videcnik (1912-2008), with whom he had one son and two daughters
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Following the Anschluss of Austria the Reichspost under Wilhelm Ohnesorge expanded to absorb the Austrian postal and telegraphic administration, as well as the property of the Österreichische Postsparkasse
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Ohnesorge was appointed an honorary rank within the National Socialist Motor Corps, a distinction granted to high-ranking officials who had rendered service to the corps or from whom the NSKK leadership sought to gain su
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career landmark: Reichspostminister (1937–1945).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Was appointed the Reichsminister of the Postal Ministry, following Eltz-Rübenach's forced resignation due to his questioning of the suppression of the Catholic Church by the Nazis
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Leading to the first formal tests of wartime and civil postal protocols in 1937
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Maintained telephone connections with the unoccupied part of the German Reich in defiance of Allied prohibitions
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Developed the "Ohnesorge four-wire circuit," which enabled the first telephone connection between the western front at Charleville-Mézières and Constantinople
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Married Elsbeth Marie Ebert (1874–1915), the child of a Privy Senior Postal Councillor, with whom he had four daughters
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
After attending the Postal and Telegraph School in Berlin, he passed the higher administrative examination
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Entered the local telegraph office as a trainee
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Born 1872-06-08.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Connections