Dr. Erich Kästner, last german WWI veteran dies at 107

[Doktor Krollspell]

Picked up (via AHF) the following Wikipedia article about a Dr. Erich Kästner (not the famous author by the same name) that died on January 1st, 2008 at the age of nearly 108 years. He was supposedly the last surviving german veteran of World War One.

Dr. Erich Kästner (March 10, 1900 - January 1, 2008) was the last known German veteran of the First World War since the death of William Seegers, a combat veteran. At the time of his death, he was the second-oldest man in Germany (the oldest one did not serve).

Kästner joined the army in July 1918 in the "Sonder-Bataillon Hauck", and served on the Western Front. It is said that he marched in a parade before Kaiser Wilhelm II in November 1918. He later also took part in the Second World War. Kästner held a doctorate in law. He lived with the family of his son at Hanover. His wife died in 2003 aged 102.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_K%C3 ... veteran%29


Would be interesting to find a photograph and additional information him...


Regards,

Krollspell

[Rohrbach]

More info and a photograph from 25 January AP article:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/ ... TE=DEFAULT

Rohrbach

[Annelie]

there is not even an organization keeping track of the remaining veterans.

"That is the way history has developed," Kaestner's son, Peter Kaestner, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "In Germany, in this respect, these things are kept quiet - they're not a big deal."

The news did not even trickle out into the German press until this week, and the stories were more about how Germans remember than about Kaestner's death itself.

That is a sad commentary.