born Sept. 22, 1882, Helmscherode, Ger.
died Oct. 16, 1946, Nürnberg
German field marshal.
After serving in World War I, he held administrative posts from 1918 to 1933, after which he became minister of war (1935) and head of the German armed forces high command (1938). Although one of Adolf Hitler 's most trusted lieutenants, he was generally regarded as a weak officer and served chiefly as Hitler's lackey. He signed the act of Germany's military surrender in 1945. After the war he was convicted at the Nürnberg trials and executed as a war criminal.