World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseErnst Maisel was born in Landau, Germany. At the rank of colonel while serving with the 42nd Infantry Regiment, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 6 Apr 1942. At the rank of major general, he served as the chief of the Army office for officers' education and welfare in the personnel department. In that capacity, he accompanied his superior General Wilhelm Burgdorf to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's home in southern Germany as a witness to the completion of Rommel's suicide on 14 Oct 1944. Maisel was present in Rommel's study when Burgdorf offered Rommel the choice of facing the People's Court or commit suicide, but was not present when Burgdorf provided Rommel with a cyanide capsule. While he accompanied Burgdorf in escorting Rommel, in a vehicle, to the location where Rommel was to take the cyanide capsule, Maisel was once again dismissed by Burgdorf, thus only saw the field marshal's remains but did not witness the process. Near the end of the war, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and was placed in command of the 68th Infantry Division. He was captured by the Americans on 7 May 1945 and was imprisoned until Mar 1947. He passed away in Schönau am Königsee, Bavaria, Germany in 1978.

Ernst Maisel Timeline