Lourens Schroeter (father)
Lourens Schroeter | |
|---|---|
| Born | 15 December 1889 |
| Died | 14 February 1985 (aged 95) |
| Occupations |
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| Era | |
| Known for | Co-founder of Schroeter Romeo |
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) |
| Political party | NSDAP (1932–1945) |
| Spouse | Johanna van der Meer (m. 1927) |
| Children | At least 2, including Lourens Schroeter and Martin Schroeter |
| Parents |
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| Family | Schroeter family |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | |
| Branch | Army |
| Service years |
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| Rank | General der Infanterie |
| Unit | 5. Rheinisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 65 |
| Commands |
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| Conflicts | |
| Awards |
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Lourens Schroeter (15 December 1889 – 14 February 1985) was a German-Dutch engineer and automotive manufacturer who co-founded Schroeter Romeo with his son, Lau Schroeter. He served as a German Army officer during both world wars and reached the rank of General der Infanterie in the Wehrmacht. He was a member of the NSDAP from 1932 until 1945. After leaving military service in 1944, he returned to Rotterdam and began manufacturing road vehicles in 1945.
Early life
[edit | edit source]Schroeter was born in Cologne on 15 December 1889. His father, Lorenz Schroeter, was German, while his mother, Catharina Ladesteijn, came from Rotterdam. Lorenz died in 1896, and Catharina returned to Rotterdam with Lourens, moving into her parents' home. She continued taking him to Cologne to visit his father's relatives, and he grew up speaking Dutch and German.
He learned practical workshop skills in Rotterdam before training as a machinist and ship engineer. Schroeter later worked aboard short-sea cargo steamships sailing from Rotterdam. By 1913–1914, he was chief engineer on a small cargo steamer.
In 1910, Schroeter acquired Dutch nationality while retaining his German nationality. He lost his Dutch nationality after voluntarily entering German military service in 1914.
First World War
[edit | edit source]When the First World War began in 1914, Schroeter returned to Germany and volunteered for the army. He entered the replacement organisation of the 5. Rheinisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 65 in Cologne before joining the regiment in France. His technical training and experience as a ship's chief engineer helped him obtain a place as an officer candidate. He was commissioned as a Leutnant der Reserve in March 1915.
During 1915, the regiment fought in Champagne and around Saint-Mihiel. It later moved through Artois to the Aisne. Heavy officer losses in 1916 repeatedly left Schroeter commanding more men than his rank normally required. By the second half of that year, he was regularly acting as a company commander during the fighting on the Somme.
Schroeter received permanent command of a company in May 1917 after its previous commander became a casualty near Arras. He frequently swore at soldiers and officers, including those serving alongside him. His manner caused arguments, but he remained in command.
Later that year, German artillery shelled a cemetery near his sector in Flanders. Schroeter confronted the officers responsible and called the expenditure of ammunition on the cemetery a "waste of bones". He considered the bombardment militarily useless and objected to spending shells on it. He received no formal punishment for the confrontation.
Promoted to Oberleutnant der Reserve late in 1917, Schroeter continued commanding his company during the German spring offensive of 1918. The company suffered heavy losses, and he rebuilt it using surviving soldiers and newly arrived replacements.
In August 1918, shell fragments struck the side of his face and scalp without penetrating his skull. He recovered sufficiently to return to Infanterie-Regiment 65 and was serving with the regiment again before the armistice.
Interwar period
[edit | edit source]After the war, Schroeter returned to Rotterdam and worked at a general machine works from 1919 until 1925. He repaired marine engines and industrial machinery, with motor vehicles becoming an increasing part of his work.
He moved back to Germany in 1925 and entered the civilian Landesschutz, or L-Dienst, organisation associated with the Reichswehr. Assigned to Wehrkreis II in Stettin, he served as a Kreisoffizier in Pomerania. He maintained district mobilisation records and prepared the reserve personnel and equipment that would be called up during a war.
Schroeter joined the NSDAP on 1 July 1932.
He returned to active military service in 1934 as a Hauptmann and was promoted to Major in 1935. On 1 April 1936, he took command of I./Infanterie-Regiment 78 in the newly formed 26. Infanterie-Division. His battalion became I./Infanterie-Regiment 77 following a regimental reorganisation that October.
In late 1937, Schroeter was promoted to Oberstleutnant and transferred to the divisional staff. He worked on mobilisation preparations and infantry readiness as the German Army expanded.
Second World War
[edit | edit source]The 26. Infanterie-Division mobilised in August 1939 and took up positions on Germany's western frontier. Schroeter remained with the division during the opening months of the Second World War and became an Oberst in early 1940.
During the German offensive in the west, he accompanied the division through Luxembourg and into France. Fighting around Voncq on the Aisne on 9 June 1940 caused an infantry crossing to become congested while French counterattacks were under way. Schroeter went forward to reorganise movement across the available routes. He also pushed engineering support and heavy weapons towards the soldiers who had already crossed the river. His conduct during the fighting was later cited in support of his promotion.
On 1 February 1941, Schroeter was promoted to Generalmajor and assigned to Höheres Kommando z.b.V. LX in Normandy. He inspected infantry formations in the western Cotentin and criticised the placement of reserves too far inland. During an anti-landing exercise, part of the reserve was unable to reach the threatened coast quickly enough. Schroeter argued with officers over the results, after which the local deployment plan was changed.
His promotion to Generalleutnant took effect on 1 March 1942. Later that year, he was transferred to duties under OB West and Heeresgruppe D.
Following the Allied raid on Dieppe in August 1942, Schroeter examined how the German defence had responded. He supported the decision to hold back mobile reserves until the main threat had been identified. His report called for predetermined routes that reserves could use during an attack. He also wanted coastal commands to communicate more quickly so troops could be moved without unnecessary delay.
Schroeter became a General der Infanterie in October 1942. He subsequently commanded the temporary Gruppe Schroeter under 15. Armee. The formation coordinated mobile infantry reserves behind the fixed coastal defences, while the existing corps retained command of their own sectors.
Martinus Antonius Johannes Paap became commander of 15. Armee on 20 March 1943. Schroeter served under him as a senior inspector and adviser. During his inspections, he found that some static formations performed adequately from prepared positions but struggled when ordered to fight away from them. With Paap's approval, he removed deficient units from bunker duty and put them through repeated field exercises and movement training.[1]
Schroeter and Paap became friends while serving in France. They argued regularly, although both favoured keeping mobile forces behind the coast. When Erwin Rommel became involved in strengthening the western defences, Schroeter disagreed with his preference for positioning reserves close enough to the beaches to counterattack immediately. He wanted a substantial mobile reserve farther inland until the main Allied landing had been identified.
When the Normandy landings began on 6 June 1944, Schroeter initially suspected that Normandy was a diversion and that a larger landing might still occur in the Pas-de-Calais. Paap believed Normandy was the main invasion from the beginning and requested the release of formations from his sector. By around 20 June, Schroeter had accepted that Normandy was the principal Allied operation.[2]
Late that month, Schroeter was sent into Normandy to examine the condition of depleted German formations. He needed to establish whether they could still move and receive supplies under Allied air attack, and whether enough remained of them to continue fighting. He considered Allied air superiority the most immediate problem. He ordered transport to move during darkness and broke up large vehicle columns into smaller groups. Where possible, drivers used concealed stopping places and alternative roads to avoid Allied aircraft.
Paap took command of 7. Armee on 28 June, and Schroeter continued his work in Normandy under his authority.[2]
By July, Schroeter was exhausted and increasingly angry about the condition of the German forces. During a telephone call with Paap, he described the formations around him as "a pair of broken bones". He also complained that "even the Italians fortified better" during an argument about the failure to establish stronger defences after the Allied breakout from the beaches.
Paap gave him a special assignment inspecting combat readiness and movement discipline. Schroeter travelled between sectors and ordered immediate changes when he found units that could no longer move or reorganise properly.
In July, he encountered a large supply and reinforcement column preparing to travel during daylight. He stopped its departure and divided the vehicles into smaller groups, then ordered them under cover until they could move more safely. Allied aircraft appeared over the area later that day. Complaints about Schroeter's treatment of the transport officers reached Paap, who privately warned him against publicly humiliating officers or threatening to remove them without headquarters approval.
After Operation Cobra began on 25 July, Schroeter was temporarily given authority over badly depleted German forces along the Coutances–Avranches axis. He used the remaining troops around the road network to establish temporary blocking positions while other units withdrew.
Around the end of July, he encountered a battalion retreating along the Coutances–Avranches road. Schroeter blocked its movement with vehicles from his staff and forced the officers to establish how many men and usable weapons remained. He reorganised the survivors and sent them back into a temporary defensive position, but the battalion broke again under American pressure. Schroeter tried to reorganise it a second time until Paap ordered him to stop sending the exhausted soldiers back into combat out of anger over their withdrawal.
In early August, Paap attempted to remove Schroeter from direct field command and return him to inspection duties. Schroeter refused the order. Paap travelled to his headquarters and confronted him personally. Following the confrontation, Schroeter was allowed to remain near the front but lost his independent command authority.
During the retreat from the Falaise area towards the Seine, Schroeter encountered troops abandoning usable transport and guns before the road had become impassable. He ordered the recovery of equipment that could still be moved and the disabling of anything that had to be left behind. An officer objected that the recovery was too dangerous because of Allied aircraft. Schroeter struck him, and members of his staff intervened to separate them.
Paap decided against seeking a court-martial. He removed Schroeter from 7. Armee and cited exhaustion when the incident was reported.
Schroeter was placed in the Führerreserve. When another active assignment was proposed in September 1944, he refused it and requested release from military service. A medical examination found serious spinal disease in addition to exhaustion. He suffered from degenerative lumbar spondylosis with lumbar spinal stenosis, which had caused a permanent limp and made prolonged standing difficult.
He remained in the Führerreserve until his formal discharge from active military service on 31 December 1944.
Postwar life and Schroeter Romeo
[edit | edit source]Schroeter returned to Overschie in January 1945 as a medically discharged German civilian. Following the liberation of the Netherlands in May, he was arrested in Rotterdam and detained for several months while authorities investigated his political membership and military record.
Ferdinand Schroeter helped arrange legal representation and provided guarantees for his accommodation after release. His spinal condition worsened during his detention. Schroeter was conditionally released in the autumn of 1945 and remained subject to restrictions while the investigation continued. He was not convicted of war crimes.
After his release, he returned to Overschie and began working in a small workshop with his five-year-old son, Lau Schroeter. The workshop earned money through ordinary repair work and recovered usable components from damaged or incomplete wartime vehicles. Schroeter used these parts to assemble complete road vehicles. Lau helped with simple tasks while his father performed the mechanical work.
The workshop expanded during the second half of the 1940s. By 1950, they had assembled several hundred vehicles, although the early cars differed considerably depending on which components were available. The business was formally registered in Vriendendam as Schroeter Romeo in 1950.[3]
Schroeter regained Dutch nationality through naturalisation in 1952.
In 1959, he attended the second Middenvader Commissie alongside Ferdinand Schroeter. He supported Ferdinand's opposition to dissolving Schroeter Traktoren and argued for keeping the family's farming assets. Because of his spinal condition, he remained seated for much of the meeting, although he repeatedly took part in the arguments. He stayed with Ferdinand and the other Schroeters when the Schroeters-West delegation walked out.[4]
Schroeter Traktoren was dissolved later that year, but Schroeter Romeo continued operating. It became one of the principal industrial businesses of the family after the split.[5]
By the early 1960s, Schroeter was still a formal co-director of Schroeter Romeo, although Lau had taken over most of the daily management. He continued examining vehicle designs and helping solve mechanical problems.
Around 1965, Schroeter underwent spinal surgery. The operation relieved some of his leg pain but did not restore normal mobility. He continued as co-director and increasingly examined company matters from home. Lau brought technical drawings and unresolved engineering problems to him, while visits to the factory became uncommon.
Schroeter's wartime service continued to attract public attention. He refused to apologise for serving in the German Army and maintained that his military career should be distinguished from his political affiliation. When questioned about joining the NSDAP in 1932, he acknowledged that his membership had been genuine but refused to explain why he had joined.
Personal life and health
[edit | edit source]Schroeter married Johanna van der Meer, a Dutch woman from Rotterdam, in 1927. Their known children were Lourens (Lau) Albert Wilhelm Schroeter, born on 14 January 1940, and Martin Schroeter, born on 5 December 1940.
Johanna remained in Rotterdam while Schroeter worked in Germany and later served abroad. He returned home when his military leave allowed. During the war, Johanna and the children occasionally stayed near his postings in occupied France, although their permanent home remained in Overschie.
Schroeter was less harsh with his family than with the soldiers under his command. He spent time teaching Lau how machinery worked and later involved him in the workshop. Martin also grew up around the workshop but showed little interest in engineering and took only a minor part in the business.
His friendship with Martinus Antonius Johannes Paap continued after the war, despite the arguments they had during their service in France.
Schroeter's spinal disease continued to worsen after 1945. By the middle of the 1960s, he commonly used a walker for short distances and a wheelchair when travelling farther.
He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease around 1968. The disease added to his existing mobility problems and gradually affected his speech. By the middle of the 1970s, he depended heavily on a wheelchair, although he could still understand and discuss company matters.
In 1976, Schroeter suffered a stroke that left him weaker and further impaired his speech. He could no longer continue his remaining work for Schroeter Romeo. He stayed at home and became increasingly dependent on Johanna and other carers.
Johanna died suddenly from a cerebral haemorrhage on 14 September 1984. In the following months, Schroeter began eating less and lost further strength. He required increasing assistance with daily activities.
Death
[edit | edit source]In late January 1985, Schroeter developed a urinary tract infection at his home in Overschie. Doctors initially treated the infection at home, but it progressed to sepsis and acute kidney failure.
He died at home on 14 February 1985, aged 95.
Members of the Schroeter family attended his funeral alongside senior employees of Schroeter Romeo. The funeral was civilian and included no Wehrmacht honours. Schroeter was buried at Hofwijk cemetery in Rotterdam.
See also
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ "Higher command". Martinus Antonius Johannes Paap. Vrienden Universe Wiki.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Normandy". Martinus Antonius Johannes Paap. Vrienden Universe Wiki.
- ↑ "History". Schroeter Romeo. Vrienden Universe Wiki.
- ↑ "Second commission (1959)". Middenvader Commissie. Vrienden Universe Wiki.
- ↑ "Later history". Schroeter family. Vrienden Universe Wiki.
[[Category:German Army personnel