Background
Nikolaus von Falkenhorst was born in Wroclaw on 17 January 1885. Descended from an old military family. In 1911 he changed this Polish-derived family name to the Germanized Falkenhorst (meaning "falcon's nest").
Nikolaus von Falkenhorst was born in Wroclaw on 17 January 1885. Descended from an old military family. In 1911 he changed this Polish-derived family name to the Germanized Falkenhorst (meaning "falcon's nest").
He joined the army in 1903 and served in World War I in regimental and staff roles, including a stint in Finland.
He joined the army in 1907 and during World War I was given various regimental and staff appointments. He was taken over by the Reichswehr and between 1925 and 1927 served in the Operations Division of the War Ministry.
Appointed Brigadier on 1 October 1932, von Falkenhorst was military attaché in Prague, Belgrade and Bucharest between 1933 and 1935.
On 1 July 1935 he was promoted to Major General and Chief of Staff of the Third Army (Dresden) and in 1937 to Lieutenant-General.
In 1939 he commanded the Twenty-first Army Corps during the Polish campaign and was promoted to General of Infantry. He was Commander-in-Chief of German forces in Norway from 1940 until his dismissal on 18 December 1944 for opposing the policies of Josef Terboven, the Reich Commissioner for Norway.
Von Falkenhorst was released on 23 July 1953 for reasons of health. He died in Holzminden on 18 June 1968.
Von Falkenhorst pursued a harsh policy towards prisoners of war: he handed over captured British commandos to be executed, for which he was sentenced to death by a British military tribunal in 1946. The sentence was later reduced to twenty years’ imprisonment.