Weikersthal, Walther Ludwig Otto Karl Bernhard Fischer von, born 15-09-1890 in Stuttgart, 
the son of of the Oberstleutnant a. D. (last commander of the Landwehr district of Rottweil) Karl Wilhelm Philipp Fischer von Weikersthal (1849–1924) from Dischingen and his wife Sophie Auguste Friederike, born Freiin von Malchus (1858–1941) from Oberhof. Walther attended Gymnasium in Rottweil and Stuttgart, then entered the 1. Württembergisches Grenadier-Regiment in 1909.
Weikersthal served on both fronts in World War I, including sixteen months on the Western Front and nine months on the Eastern Front (from December 1914 to September 1915). He was wounded 
in France in September 1914. Fighting in the 26th Infantry Division, under command of Wilhelm, 2nd Duke of Urach 
, divisional commander from 1912 to 1917 Walther served in Poland before his division was transferred to Serbia. As General Staff officer of XIII Army Corps, he assisted with secretive troop demobilizations in autumn 1918.
Oberleutnant Fischer von Weikersthal married his fiancée Irmgard Fritsch on 12-09-1917 (born 02-03-1895 in Makassar, Celebes), the war wedding took place in Wiesbaden. Irmgard was the daughter of Ludwig Fritsch (1853–1929), businessman, shipowner, consul in Makassar on Celebes, resident as a consul a. D. in Wiesbaden, most recently retired in Stuttgart. The marriage gave birth to three children: two daughters (Jutta Irmgard born, 08-06-1918 in Wiesbaden and Ingrid Irmgard Oda Edelgunde Klara born 22-10-1922 in Stuttgart) and son Karl Ulrich (born 27-07-1928 in Königsberg).
Under the Nazi regime, Weikersthal supported Adolf Hitler‘s opposition to the Treaty of Versailles and his promises of military rearmament. His family later recounted that his first impressions of the Nazis were “very positive.” Shortly before the 1938 annexation of Austria, 
Weikersthal was promoted to the rank of General.
In October 1940, Weikersthal was appointed commander of the 35th Infantry Division, 
which was earmarked for Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. cHe succeeded General der Infanterie Hans Wolfgang Reinhard 
Before the invasion, the German military’s Supreme Command issued the Commissar Order on 06-06-1941, ordering the Wehrmacht to summarily execute captured Soviet political officers. While Freiherr von Welck claims that Weikersthal “expressly forbade the passing of this order down to [his] troops”, the division shot three commissars by the end of its first week of combat in Barbarossa.
Weikersthal’s 35th Division fought in the battles of Białystok–Minsk, Smolensk, and Vyazma, the three major battles of encirclement on the Eastern Front, in which German forces captured over 1.2 million Soviet prisoners. At Smolensk, Weikersthal was awarded the Knight’s Cross. 
In intense fighting against determined Soviet troops, the German military became increasingly brutalized; a “no-prisoners mentality” became predominant among the 35th Division, which executed Red Army prisoners and shot Jews in reprisals. David Wildermuth notes that Weikersthal’s position on prisoner executions was one of “silent acquiescence,” and his stance on the murder of Soviet Jews “[lay] between silent acquiescence and undocumented approval.”
At the same time, Weikersthal attempted to curb the forced requisitioning by his troops, concerned about maintaining the public image of the German military “as the representative of Anti-bolshevism.” Still, although he urged the “correct and respectful comportment” of his troops towards Soviet POWs and civilians, incidents of looting, rape, and violence against the populace were widespread in the Ninth Army by August.
From August to September, the 35th Division was situated in the Wassiljewa region while it prepared for Operation Typhoon. 
Seeking to cultivate an ally in the Soviet populace against the partisans, Weikersthal forbade the plundering of the civilian population and provided sufficient food for them. When the Ninth Army on 10 September ordered the summary executions of partisans and hostage-taking, Weikersthal emphasized that “every hostile action toward the German army and its facilities will be punishable without exception with death,” but also encouraged rewards for civilian collaborators. Even still, the residents of Wassiljewa remained the targets of German requisitions, and Weikersthal approved the execution of hostages, the burning of Bielica, and the November public hanging of eight alleged partisans in Wolokolamsk.
On 01-12-1942 Weikersthal was promoted to General der Infanterie. Additionally, he was given command of LIII Corps, part of Heinz Guderian‘s 
Second Panzer Army 
under Army Group Center. By December, his units were exhausted from the severe cold and attrition. While Hitler urged his military to stand fast against Soviet counterattacks, Weikersthal was forced to pull his depleted units back, reserving the right to “act as my conscience dictates” and resign if necessary. Retreating across the Oka River, Weikersthal ordered a scorched-earth policy of destroying “all structures that could be possibly used for shelter.”
When Guderian was dismissed on 26 December, after disobeying Hitler’s no-retreat order, Generaloberst Rudolf Schmidt 
was promoted to command Second Panzer Army. Schmidt soon ordered the retreat of Weikersthal’s units from Kosjolsk, but the Second Panzer Army command soon insisted that “not one foot of ground should be surrendered.” Weikersthal attempted to improve morale and discipline by forming squads to punish deserters, but his control over the tactical situation was beginning to erode as Schmidt gained control over his forces. In January 1942, Weikersthal insisted to Schmidt that counterattacks to restore the German lines were unfeasible due to a lack of reinforcements, and that “abandoning… some present positions” might be necessary. However, this led to a direct order from Hitler for LIII Corps to hold its positions “to the last moment.” When Weikersthal ordered some of his units under pressure to retreat, leading to another argument between LIII Corps and 2nd Panzer Army, 
he was relieved of command on 25-01-1942 and placed in the Führerreserve, under the guise of health problems.
From the end of April 1942 to mid-June 1942, he was mentioned as commander of Höheres Kommando z.b.V. XXXIII in Central Norway. In September 1942, he was appointed commanding General of the LXVII Reserve Army Corps in Brussels. He led this General command, also after the renaming into LXVII Army Corps in January 1944, until the summer of 1944. Then he was again transferred to the Führer Reserve. In March 1945 he was reappointed, now as commanding General of the Higher Command Oberrhein.
Death and burial ground of Weikersthal, Walther Ludwig Otto Karl Bernhard Fischer von.
Walther Fischer von Weikersthal left with, Generalfeldmarschall der Panzertruppe Erwin Rommel
und Eugen Felix Schwalbe 
right, nördlich der Somme-Mündung am 11-03-1944. Schwalbe survived the war and died, age 82, on 12-07-1974.
General Weikersthal, Walther Ludwig Otto Karl Bernhard Fischer von, got in captivity and was released from American custody in 1947, and died on, age 62, on 11-02-1953 in Stuttgart and is buried on the Old cemetery in Tettnang.
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