Colonel Weissner
Colonel Weissner was a brutal SS officer who served as the Schloss Adler's chief of security. He was sent to arrest John Smith's team under the pretense that they were German deserters. He found them in a local inn, the Zum Wilden Hirsch. The owner, Josef Wartmann, thought that the SS had come for him, but Weissner reassured him. Barmaid Heidi Schmidt, who Weissner knew fondly, pointed out Smith and the others to the Colonel, who arrested them. He sent Olaf Christiansen, Lee Thomas and Edward Carraciola away for interrogation with his men, while he personally escorted Smith and Morris Schaffer in his staff car. En route, Smith pretended to be Heinrich Himmler's nephew and demanded to be released. A terrified Weissner believed him and complied. He and Schaffer commandeered Weissner's car, forcing him and his men to get out, and drove off, leaving them on the side of the road.
Comments
- Weissner's fate is much different in the film than in the novel. Smith and the others surrender themselves, rather than being pointed out by Heidi. Whilst driving in the car, rather than pretending to be Himmler's nephew, Smith grabs the MP40 being held by one of the soldiers riding in the backseat with him, and shoots the driver. The car crashes, flinging Weissner through the windshield and killing him.
