Werner von Alvensleben

Werner von Alvensleben (Neugattersleben, 4 July 1875 – Bremen-Vegesack, 30 June 1947) was a German businessman and politician. He was the second son of Werner Graf von Alvensleben-Neugattersleben (1840–1929) and Anna von Veltheim (1853–1897). His younger brother Bodo Graf von Alvensleben-Neugattersleben was later to become the president of the German Gentlemen's Club (Deutscher Herrenklub). He joined the army after studying law, became second lieutenant in Infantry Regiment No. 24 and attended the Prussian War Academy in 1904–1905. He then resigned from military service, fell out with his father who disinherited him, and travelled to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This is where his younger brother, Gustav Konstantin von Alvensleben, was already living, who had worked his way up from a simple workman to become a successful entrepreneur. In 1909 he married Alexandra Gräfin von Einsiedel (1888–1947). Three daughters, Alexandra, Armgard and Anna Caroline Harriet were born to this marriage, as well as a son named Werner. From this time on he worked as a businessman in export and financial transactions. During World War I von Alvensleben was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class, later he became an orderly officer in the Army Group Gallwitz, aide-de-camp to Hermann von Eichhorn, the military governor of the Ukraine, and finally personal aide-de-camp of the Kaiser to Pavlo Skoropadskyi (1873–1945), the Hetman of Ukraine, in Kiev. In this capacity he championed independence for Ukraine. After the war, von Alvensleben became increasingly involved in politics alongside his professional activities. Although he had been a member of the German Conservative Party before the war, he did not join a political party afterwards, preferring to work in the background above all. Nor did he belong to the gentlemen's club of which his younger brother Bodo was the president. In June 1930 the Deutscher Bund zum Schutz der abendländischen Kultur (German Union for the Protection of Occidental Culture) was founded and he became its president.