Helmuth Otto Ludwig Weidling was a German general during the Second World War. He was the last commander of the Berlin Defence Area during the Battle of Berlin, led the defence of the city against Soviet forces and finally surrendered just before the end of World War II in Europe.
Weidling as Generalmajor in 1943
Memorial plaque commemorating the capitulation in Berlin. "This building was the headquarters of Marshal Chuikov, commander of the Soviet 8th Guards Army. Here, on May 2, 1945, General Weidling, as commander of the Berlin Defence Area, signed the order for all German forces in Berlin to cease hostilities immediately. For Berlin, this meant the end of the war."
The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II.
Raising a Flag over the Reichstag, May 1945
Hasso von Manteuffel
Konstantin Rokossovsky
Gotthard Heinrici