Alonzo
05-27-2008, 07:34 PM
Niederstetten, Germany - The last old soldier to have fought on the German side in World War I, Franz Kuenstler, has died at the age of 107, municipal officials in the south-western German town of Niederstetten said Tuesday. Kuenstler, who was also the oldest person alive in Germany, died after failing to recover from an intestinal operation and a fractured thigh, the German weekly magazine Bunte, which broke the story, reported.
He was born on July 24, 1900 in a place then known as Soost in present-day Romania. He was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian empire's Mounted Artillery in February 1918 and fought in Italy. The Austrians were allied with the Germans against Italy in the war.
He lived in Niederstetten, Germany from 1946 onwards and was for many years a guide in a museum of hunting there, Bunte said.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/208278,last-first-world-war-soldier-on-german-side-dies-at.html
He was born on July 24, 1900 in a place then known as Soost in present-day Romania. He was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian empire's Mounted Artillery in February 1918 and fought in Italy. The Austrians were allied with the Germans against Italy in the war.
He lived in Niederstetten, Germany from 1946 onwards and was for many years a guide in a museum of hunting there, Bunte said.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/208278,last-first-world-war-soldier-on-german-side-dies-at.html