Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck

The subject of the article is general Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck (1870-1964). He was the commander of the German army in East Africa during the First World War, where he gained the reputation of an invincible and chivalrous leader. For many German people he was a national hero. He never came to terms with the fall of monarchy in Germany, in the period of the Weimar Republic he represented the previous era, continuing to be a champion of colonialism and reconstruction of the German army. In the period of the Third Reich Lettow-Vorbeck did not join the National Socialist German Workers' Party (German: NSDAP), but nevertheless collaborated with the regime. After the Second World War he again became a hero of the collective imagination, however in the 1960s he was strongly criticized. The article presents not only the biography of Lettow-Vorbeck but also how his myth was created in the public sphere and how he was perceived by the society and media in particular periods.