serviceyears monarch death_date children allegiance term birth_date signature term_end death_place battles order term_start spouse image rank name predecessor birth_place president awards party chancellor successor religion article_title birth_name
1866-1911 , 1914-1919 wilhelm ii 2 august 1934 oskar annemaria von hindenburg von hindenburg , irmengard pauline von hindenburg , kingdom of prussia german empire weimar republic 12 may 1925 & ndash ; 2 august 1934 2 october 1847 paul von hindenburg signature.svg 3 july 1919 neudeck -lrb- now ogrodzieniec near susz , warmian-masurian voivodeship , poland near -rrb- rosenberg , east prussia , nazi germany austro-prussian war , franco-prussian war , world war i 2nd staff president of germany chief of the german general 29 august 1916 gertrud von hindenburg president hindenburg.jpg field marshal paul von hindenburg friedrich ebert erich von falkenhayn posen poznań , greater poland voivodeship , poland -rrb- , duchy of posen , prussia -lrb- now friedrich ebert pour le mérite independent hans von papen kurt von schleicher adolf hitler luther wilhelm marx hermann müller heinrich brüning franz adolf as president -rrb- wilhelm groener hitler -lrb- as führer -rrb- karl dönitz -lrb- lutheranism paul von hindenburg
 paul ludwig hans anton von beneckendorff und von hindenburg
paul von hindenburg

paul ludwig hans anton von beneckendorff und von hindenburg -lrb- -rrb- , known universally as paul von hindenburg -lrb- ; 2 october 1847 -- 2 august 1934 -rrb- was a german field marshal , statesman , and politician , and served as the second president of germany -lrb- 1925 -- 34 -rrb- .
hindenburg retired from the army for the first time in 1911 , but was recalled shortly after the outbreak of world war i in 1914 and first came to national attention at the age of 66 , as the victor of the decisive battle of tannenberg in august 1914 .
as germany 's chief of the general staff from 1916 -lrb- having replaced erich von falkenhayn on august 29 -rrb- , he and his deputy , erich ludendorff , rose greatly in the german public 's esteem .
he and ludendorff would then lead germany in a de facto military dictatorship throughout the war , marginalizing the german emperor as well as the reichstag .
during the war in line with lebensraum program he advocated wide sweeping annexations in poland , ukraine and russia to germanize these territories .
hindenburg retired again in 1919 , but returned to public life in 1925 to be elected as the second president of germany .
hindenburg , as german president , appointed nazi party leader adolf hitler as chancellor of germany .
hindenburg personally despised hitler , condescendingly referring to him as that `` bohemian corporal '' .
hitler repeatedly and forcefully pressured hindenburg to appoint him as chancellor ; hindenburg repeatedly refused hitler 's demand .
though 84 years old and in poor health , hindenburg was persuaded to run for reelection in 1932 , as he was considered the only candidate who could defeat hitler .
hindenburg was reelected in a runoff .
although he opposed hitler , he played an important role in the nazi party 's rise to power , due to the increasing political instability in the weimar republic .
he dissolved the parliament twice in 1932 and finally appointed hitler chancellor in january 1933 .
in february , he issued the reichstag fire decree , which suspended various civil liberties , and in march he signed the enabling act , which gave hitler 's administration legislative powers .
hindenburg died the following year , after which hitler declared the office of president vacant and , as `` führer und reichskanzler '' , made himself head of state .
the famed zeppelin `` hindenburg '' that was destroyed by fire in 1937 was named in his honor , as was the hindenburgdamm , a causeway joining the island of sylt to mainland schleswig-holstein that was built during his time in office .
the previously german upper silesian town of zabrze -lrb- -rrb- was also renamed after him in 1915 , as well as the sms `` hindenburg '' , a battlecruiser commissioned in the imperial german navy in 1917 and the last capital ship to enter service in the imperial navy .
