Leo Leixner
{{Infobox military person
|birth_name= Leopold Leixner
|birth_date= {{birth date|1908|3|26}}
|death_date= {{death date and age|1942|8|14|1908|3|26}}
|birth_place= Thörl-Maglern, Duchy of Carinthia, Austria-Hungary
|death_place= Krasnodar/Kuban, RSFSR, USSR
|image= File:Leixnerfn.jpg
|caption=
|nickname=
|allegiance={{flag|Nazi Germany}}
|serviceyears=
|rank= Wachtmeister
|branch=Army
|commands=
|unit=
|battles= World War II
|awards= Iron Cross First Class
|relations= Marga Käthe Leixner (née Gambalis- Altmann)
}}
Leo Leixner (1908–1942) was an Austrian journalist and war correspondent. He is known for his book [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1543059252 From Lemberg to Bordeaux], a first-hand account of war in Poland, the Low Countries, and France, 1939–40, during World War II.
Early life and education
Leo Leixner, a schoolteacher's son, was born in Thörl-Maglern, Austria, on March 26, 1908, and graduated in 1918 from the German National Real Gymnasium in Villach. He studied German Literature at the University of Graz and received his Doctor of Philosophy in 1932, with a dissertation entitled Mohammed in German Poetry.Erich Nussbaumer, Josef-Friedrich-Perkonig-Gesellschaft. Kärnten im Wort: Aus d. Dichtung eines halben Jahrhunderts, 1971, p. 279Joh. Leon. Carinthia I.: Mitteilungen des Geschichtsvereins für Kärnten. 2004, p. 105
Journalist and war correspondent
After 1933, Leixner wrote for Der Angriff newspaper, and was assigned to the Vienna office. He also wrote for the Völkischer Beobachter and other Nazi publications. On August 22, 1939, Leixner volunteered for the Wehrmacht. His most popular book was the illustrated [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1543059252 From Lemberg to Bordeaux]: Front Experiences of a War Reporter (1941).[http://othes.univie.ac.at/7194/ Pruckner, Marion. Dr. Leo Leixner – ein typischer Vertreter der nationalsozialistischen Kriegsberichterstatter? Thesis, University of Vienna 2009][https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchArg=leo+leixner+steven+lehrer&searchCode=GKEY%5E*&searchType=0&recCount=25 From Lemberg to Bordeaux in the Library of Congress catalog]
Death
Leixner was killed on 14 August 1942 in Krasnodar-Kuban (Russia). He was shot through the head while crossing the Kuban River in an inflatable boat. He was awarded an Iron Cross First Class on the day of his death.[http://www.volksbund.de/graebersuche/detailansicht.html?tx_igverlustsuche_pi2%5Bgid%5D=8482ecd719594b1e3364a44da0c27fd2&cHash=3872d6f5824edcdc17fce0ab479516b1 Leo Leixner on Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V.]
Books
- Von Lemberg bis Bordeaux: Fronterlebnisse eines Kriegsberichters ([https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1543059252 From Lemberg to Bordeaux: Front Experiences of a War Reporter] by Leo Leixner. 11 editions published between 1941 and 1942 in German and held by 71 WorldCat member libraries worldwide)
- Generaloberst Eugen Ritter von Schobert; Lebensbild eines deutschen Armeeführers by Leo Leixner. Four editions published in 1942 in German and held by 13 WorldCat member libraries worldwide
References
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Category:People from Villach-Land
Category:People from the Duchy of Carinthia
Category:German Army soldiers of World War II
Category:German military writers
Category:German Army personnel killed in World War II
Category:Austrian war correspondents
Category:Deaths by firearm in the Soviet Union
Category:Deaths by firearm in Russia