Francis Joseph Trautmannsdorff

Francis Joseph Trautmannsdorff
Francis J. Trauttmansdorff, officer identification photograph, Mobile Field Interrogation Unit No. 1. Photo credit: (c) Private Collection
Personal details
Birth name	Franz Josef von Und zu Trauttmansdorff-Weinsberg
Born	21 January 1909 Berlin, Germany
Died	20 March 1974 Schloss Weißenegg
Nativity	Germany
Religion	Catholic
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	32712931
Rank	Second Lieutenant
Rank at Ritchie	Private
Camp Ritchie	Class 6 (13 March – 11 May 1943)
Section	3

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Francis Joseph Trautmannsdorff (born Franz Josef von und zu Trauttmansdorff-Weinsberg; 21 January 1909 – 20 March 1974) was a Berlin-born Austrian aristocrat, former adjutant to Otto von Habsburg, and Ritchie Boy who trained at Camp Ritchie, Maryland, in Class 6, served as a strategic interrogator in Britain and France, and received a battlefield commission.

Biography

Francis Joseph Trautmannsdorff was born Franz Josef von und zu Trauttmansdorff-Weinsberg in Berlin on 21 January 1909 into a Catholic family. He attended elementary school and the Gymnasium in Vienna, studied law from 1927 to 1930 without completing a degree, belonged to the Catholic-authoritarian Ostmärkische Sturmscharen, and in 1937 was adjutant to Otto von Habsburg. After the Nazi takeover he probably fled Austria and stayed in Paris among other places. After a trip to the United States in the spring of 1940, he left Europe for good in June 1940, sailing from Lisbon to New York. In October 1940 he was living in New York City, listed as unemployed and active in exile politics; according to Army records he did Catholic and anti-Nazi radio work for the Office of War Information.

Trautmannsdorff entered the Army in January 1943 and went through the Reception Center at Fort Dix, New Jersey, to basic training at the Quartermaster Replacement Training Center at Camp Lee, Virginia. In February 1943 he was transferred to the Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie, where he trained as a German-language prisoner-of-war interrogator in Class 6 (certificate 1701). In December 1943 he sailed for Europe and joined the 10th Replacement Depot at Lichfield, England, as a replacement, assigned to the Special Troops of the Military Intelligence Service. In January 1944 he joined the MIS Field Interrogation Detachment and, probably as a strategic interrogator, was detached to Prisoner of War Enclosure No. 1 and to the Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centre in London; in August he was stationed at the Prisoner of War Reception Center at Devizes.

By October 1944 Trautmannsdorff was serving in France, where he received a battlefield commission as second lieutenant (officer ASN O1997933). In November he was assigned as an interrogator to Mobile Field Interrogation Unit No. 1, which sent him, for example at Compiègne, to the 2031st Prisoner of War Overhead Detachment for detailed strategic interrogations of German prisoners. He served further in Belgium and Germany, from March 1945 apparently as head of the monitoring section of MFIU No. 1, and at the end of June 1945 he was in Vienna. He died at Schloss Weißenegg near Fernitz, Styria, on 20 March 1974.

Gallery

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Timeline

• 21 January 1909 — Born in Berlin, Germany.
• 1927–1930 — Law studies in Vienna.
• 1937 — Adjutant to Otto von Habsburg.
• June 1940 — Sailed from Lisbon to New York.
• January 1943 — Entered the Army (ASN 32712931); basic training at Camp Lee, Virginia.
• February 1943 — Transferred to Camp Ritchie; Class 6. Certificate # 1701.
• December 1943 — Sailed for Europe; 10th Replacement Depot, Lichfield, England.
• January 1944 — MIS Field Interrogation Detachment; POW Enclosure No. 1 and CSDIC, London.
• August 1944 — POW Reception Center, Devizes, England.
• October 1944 — France; battlefield commission as second lieutenant (O1997933).
• November 1944 — Mobile Field Interrogation Unit No. 1.
• March 1945 — Head of the monitoring section, MFIU No. 1.
• June 1945 — In Vienna.
• 20 March 1974 — Died at Schloss Weißenegg, Styria, Austria.

Technical record

Field	Imported value
Class_ASN	32712931
Class_Name	TRAUTMANSDORF, Francis J.
match_method	asn_exact_name_compatible
row_source	both

Research notes

• Was Franz Josef von Trautmannsdorff
• 1/21/1909- ?
• Also held officer ASN O1997933 (Austriansoldiers biography; shown on his officer identification photo).
• Spelling: the family name is Trauttmansdorff (Austriansoldiers; officer ID photo); the roster has TRAUTMANSDORF and the page title Trautmannsdorff. Title surname not changed; needs review.
• The Austriansoldiers biography gives his Class 6 section as 6 (German); the roster lists section 3.

Sources

• Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
• Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
• NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
• 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
• Austriansoldiers biography: Francis Joseph Trauttmansdorff, Austriansoldiers / Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Research on Consequences of War (in German; accessed 25 September 2026)