Hermann von Hanneken ( soldier ) Hermann Konstantin Albert Julius von Hanneken ( 5 January 1890 – 22 July 1981 ) was a German General of the Infantry who was supreme commander of the German forces in Denmark from 29 September 1942 to January 1945 . Early career . In 1908 after training in cadet school von Hanneken joined the army and as " Fähnrich " . A year later he was promoted to " Leutnant " . In April 1917 he was transferred to the General Staff , and the year after he was promoted to " Hauptmann " . World War I . In 1915 von Hanneken became " Oberleutnant " and aide to a regiment in World War I . In July 1916 von Hanneken was transferred to the 260th Reserve - Infantry - Regiment , where he was served as leader of the Machine Gun - Company . Interbellum . After the war von Hanneken was in 1919 among the officers who joined the German Reichswehr . Then he took a job in Reichwehr Ministry where he was the next year . Then from 1924 to 1927 he was transferred to Reichwaffenamt ( materiel command ) . From 1927 he led troops as a company commander , and it continued until in 1930 where he was promoted to " Major " . Three years later he was again promoted to " Oberstleutnant " . From 1935 he had command of a regiment and was thus promoted to " Oberst " . A year later , in 1936 , he was transferred to Heereswaffenamt ( materiel command ) , where he became Chief of Staff . On 3 July 1937 , he became responsible for the purchase of iron and steel . On 1 September 1939 he was appointed Head of Section II ( Industrial ) in the ministry of commercial . In 1940 he received the position as vice Secretary of State . That same year he was promoted to " Generalleutnant " and in 1941 he was the " General der Infanterie " . World War II . After the outbreak of World War II a supply crisis in the iron and steel division caused him problems , and only Hans Kehrl could save him . Delivery time had increased dramatically because over a period of two years von Hanneken had approved supplies that exceeded the amount of iron and steel that could be delivered . Hans Kehrl said nothing about this in its public records , but his caseworker Arnold Köster did in return . Kehrl wrote in his memoirs that von Hanneken was not sufficiently decisive and was afraid of conflict . von Hanneken was also responsible for addressing the issues of coal to the steel industry . So on 6 June 1941 he raised at the 11th meeting in Generalrat der Wirtschaft the problem that the demand for coal in the last four years had risen faster than supply . The European countries which were dependent on German coal only got 60 % of the claimed amounts . From April 1941 domestic coal consumers had to accept a reduction of supplies of around 10 % . This led to many closures of companies or reduction of operations . Domestic energy suppliers had to accept a reduction in coal consumption of 20 % . In March / April 1942 von Hanneken was denied responsibility for the distribution of iron and steel , which were transferred to the so - called central planning . As a result of further changes in the tasks of Section II largely transferred to other bodies so Hanneken went on holiday in August 1942 and left Section II in October . On 12 October 1942 he took over the duties of commander of the German forces in Denmark . He was responsible for defending the invasion and took a tougher line against the Danish resistance movement , which brought him into conflict with Werner Best . On 29 August 1943 von Hanneken imposed martial law in Denmark . It was the result of growing unrest , strikes and sabotage in the months ahead . Simultaneously , the Danish army and navy were dissolved and their personnel interned . von Hanneke was made aware of but was not otherwise involved in the action against the Danish Jews in early October 1943 led by Günther Pancke . On 19 September 1944 he backtracked over the dissolution of the Danish police . In January 1945 he was released from his command and replaced by Georg Lindemann . He was accused of corruption and by the German National - martial sentenced 8 years imprisonment . He was , however , pardoned by Adolf Hitler , who thought that they could not afford the luxury of letting von Hanneken sit in jail . Instead , von Hanneken was demoted to Major and sent to the front . At the end of the war he became an American prisoner . From there , he was extradited to Denmark , where in 1948 he was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment . At the Court he was acquitted on 9 May 1949 . He was expelled from Denmark and lived thereafter retracted until his death in 1981 . References . town