caption serviceyears branch death_place death_date birth_place allegiance signature_size awards battles birth_date signature rank image article_title name |laterwork
lieutenant-general dr. hans speidel in 1944 1914 -- 45 1955 -- 63 23px '' wehrmacht '' 23px '' bundeswehr '' imperial german army 23px '' reichswehr '' 23px bad honnef , germany 28 november 1984 metzingen , germany german to 1933 -rrb- nazi germany -lrb- to 1944 -rrb- west empire germany nato -lrb- to 1918 -rrb- weimar republic -lrb- 150 knight 's cross of the iron cross german cross world war i world war ii 28 october 1897 spiedel unterschrift.jpg general bundesarchiv bild 146-2004-0024 , hans speidel.jpg hans speidel
 hans speidel commander-in-chief from april 1957 to september 1963 of the allied ground forces in central europe
hans speidel

hans speidel -lrb- 28 october 1897 -- 28 november 1984 -rrb- was a german general during world war ii and the cold war .
the former chief of staff to field marshal erwin rommel , speidel was a key member of the july 20 plot to assassinate hitler , after which he was jailed by the gestapo .
he served as supreme commander of the nato ground forces in central europe from 1957 to 1963 , as the first german nato commander during the cold war , and with headquarters at the palace of fontainebleau in paris .
he was also a military historian .
