The Schwarze Kapelle (German for Black Orchestra) was a term used by the Gestapo to refer to a group of conspirators in Nazi Germany, including many senior officers in the Wehrmacht, who plotted to overthrow Adolf Hitler. Unlike the Rote Kapelle (Red Orchestra), the name given by the Gestapo to the Soviet spy network in the Third Reich, many members of the Black Orchestra were of aristocratic background, felt contempt for the ideology of the Nazi Party, and were politically close to the Western Allies.
Schwarze Kapelle claimed members throughout the German military and government. Those believed to have been active with the organisation included:
Admiral Wilhelm Canaris (1887–1945), ranking member, the head of German military intelligence, the Abwehr
Generalmajor Hans Oster 1887–1945, deputy head of the Abwehr
Generalmajor Henning von Tresckow (1901–1944), chief of operations at the HQ of Günther von Kluge's Army Group Centre
General Erich Fellgiebel (1886–1944), General of the Communications Troops
Generaloberst Ludwig Beck (1880–1944), the Chief of the General Staff, the OKH 1934–1938
Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben (1881–1944), Generalfieldmarshall in line to head all German armies after the coup
General Erich Hoepner (1886–1944), Wehrmacht commander in Poland, France, and Soviet Union in WWII
Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (1907–1944), member of a distinguished German military family, and perpetrator of the July 20 plot that almost killed Hitler.