Detlof Sigismund von Winterfeldt
(29.03.1862 - 10.10.1931)
place of birth:  Berlin
Königreich Preußen:  Mil-Attaché,  Generalmajor


Generalmajor von Winterfeldt served as the military liaison with the Imperial German delegation which concluded the 11 November 1918 Armistice proceedings in Compiègne, France. Detlof followed his older brother Hans Karl von Winterfeldt (promoted to Generalleutnant during Great War) in joining Garde-Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 2 in Berlin. Their father General der Infanterie Rudolf von Winterfeldt had also previously served with the Prussian Army. Detlof received his commission in 1888 and graduated from the War College in 1897. He thereafter served for over 14 years as a Prussian General Staff officer. In this capacity, he served from 1901 to 1905 as military attaché at the Imperial German Embassy in Brussels, Belgium.

From 1909 through 1914, Winterfeldt served as Germany's military attaché at the embassy in Paris, France. He was well-liked by both his German colleagues and French military counterparts, and known for his hospitable personality, good humor and musical prowess, as well as his command of the French language. In September 1913, on his way to observe a French military exercise in southern France, Winterfeldt suffered severe injuries which the vehicle he was in overturned. For the following few months, he was forced to convalesce in a French hospital near Toulouse, undergoing numerous operations to help him recover from wounds to his kidneys, pelvis, and legs. He was finally returned to Berlin just prior to August 1914 mobilization.

Oberstleutnant von Winterfeldt was finally well enough to perform administrative functions by New Years 1915, assigned as a Department Chief at the non-mobilized General Staff headquarters in Berlin. He remained in this role for two and a half years, receiving a promotion to Oberst in May of 1915. In August 1917, still not physically recovered, he was transferred to the Imperial German Chancellery to serve as military liaison to Chancellor Georg Michaelis (and later, to Count Georg von Hertling.) With the War coming to an end, Generalmajor von Winterfeldt was selected to serve as a military member of Matthias Erzberger's delegation tasked with signing the Armistice in Compiègne. Winterfeldt ultimately viewed the terms and conditions of Germany's surrender as overly harsh and resigned from the delegation in protest. Generalmajor and his wife Marianne had three sons, two of which were killed in action during the War.

	Generalmajor	25.02.1918