Friedrich Olbricht General of Infantry WW2 – Custom Printed Brick Block Figure

Character Identification

• Primary Subject: Friedrich Olbricht

• Specific Identification: This custom building block figure represents Friedrich Olbricht in his capacity as a General of Infantry (General der Infanterie) of the German Army during World War II. He is most famous for being one of the central masterminds behind the July 20 Plot against the Nazi regime.

Detailed Visual Description

This custom building block figure is meticulously designed to replicate the highly decorated uniform of a senior German General Officer, featuring detailed 360-degree pad printing.

• Front View: The building block character features bright blue eyes and a solemn facial expression. The torso block is printed with a standard field-grey (Feldgrau) officer’s tunic. Key printed details include the ornate red and gold collar tabs (Kragenspiegel) denoting a general officer, a gold breast eagle, and an Iron Cross pinned to the left breast pocket beneath a colorful ribbon bar. Notably, he wears the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross around his neck, and the tunic features a red piping line running down the center closure.

• Headgear & Accessories: The figure wears a dark grey peaked cap (Schirmmütze) detailed with gold piping, a gold national eagle, and a wreathed cockade, which are standard for generals of the era.

• Side Profiles (Left & Right): The side profiles highlight a crucial historical uniform detail: the double red stripes (Lampassen) running down the outside seam of the dark grey trousers. These wide red stripes were a traditional insignia worn exclusively by General Staff officers and Generals in the German military. The arms are molded in field-grey to match the tunic, ending in flesh-toned hands.

• Legs & Lower Body: The dark trousers transition cleanly into standard black officer’s boots at the base.

• Behind (Back View): The back of the torso features tailored seam lines outlining the rear cut of the officer’s tunic, complete with subtle crease printing to simulate fabric folds.

Historical Background

• Military Career: Friedrich Olbricht was a highly capable career soldier who served in World War I and rose through the ranks of the Reichswehr and later the Wehrmacht. By 1940, he was appointed Chief of the General Army Office (Allgemeines Heeresamt) within the Army High Command.

• The German Resistance: Secretly, Olbricht was one of the earliest and most steadfast military opponents of the Nazi regime. He used his prominent position in the Bendlerblock (the Army headquarters in Berlin) to recruit other officers and secretly plan the overthrow of the government.

• Operation Valkyrie: Olbricht was the actual mastermind who secretly rewrote Operation Valkyrie—a legitimate government continuity plan meant to suppress internal revolts—into a coup d’état plan for the Resistance. His updated orders would use the Reserve Army to arrest SS and Nazi Party officials once Adolf Hitler was assassinated.

• The July 20 Plot (1944): On the day of the assassination attempt by Claus von Stauffenberg, Olbricht was stationed in Berlin. His role was crucial: he was responsible for issuing the Valkyrie orders to mobilize the troops. However, nervous about whether Hitler was actually dead, Olbricht hesitated for several critical hours before issuing the orders, which severely crippled the momentum of the coup.

• Final Days: When it became clear that Hitler had survived the bombing at the Wolf’s Lair and the coup was collapsing, Olbricht was arrested in his office. Late that same night, on the orders of General Friedrich Fromm, Olbricht was executed by a firing squad in the courtyard of the Bendlerblock alongside Claus von Stauffenberg, Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim, and Werner von Haeften.