Wilhelm Adam (soldier)

Wilhelm Adam (September 15 1877 – 8 April 1949) was a German general who served as chief of staff for the Reichswehr in the period before Adolf Hitler.

Adam was born on in Ansbach, joining the German Army in 1897, and serving in Bavarian telegraph and Communication units before being detached to the Bavarian War Academy in 1907. During World War I he fought as a company leader of a Bavarian pioneer unit, but only for a short period. Towards the end of 1914 he became a General Staff Officer on the Staff of the Army High command. But right at the end of the war he was back to being a Bavarian engineer unit leader. With the end of the war, Adam served in various posts within the Reichswehr, from posts such as a liaison officer to the Bavarian Military Ministry and being an infantry battalion commander, in the 20th Infantry Regiment.

By Hitler's rise to power, Adam was Chief of the Troop Office and soon was commanding a division and was also at the same time commanding Military District VII. Adam retired on the 31 December 1938, but he was recalled for service from 26 August 1939. After several years of being at the disposal of the army he retired in 1943 and died in 1949 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.