Wilhelm Ohnesorge

Along with his ministerial duties, Ohnesorge also significantly delved into research relating to propagation and promotion of the Nazi Party through the radio, initiatives in German signals intelligence (SIGINT), including the interception of Anglo-American communications via the research department of the Reichspost, and the development of a proposed German atomic bomb. Born in Gräfenhainichen, in the Prussian Province of Saxony, Ohnesorge was the son of Johann Ferdinand Ohnesorge (1837–1924), a former sergeant major in the 6th Dragoon Regiment and later a senior telegraph assistant, and Ida Franziska Auguste (1845–1897) from Bismark. Ohnesorge was educated in Frankfurt and, after graduating from high school in 1890, entered the local telegraph office as a trainee. In 1897, after attending the Postal and Telegraph School in Berlin, he passed the higher administrative examination. He then studied mathematics and physics at the universities of Kiel and Berlin. From 1900, he was employed in Berlin at the Telegraph Experimental Office, the Telephone Exchange, and the Higher Postal Directorate (OPD). Ohnesorge served in the Imperial German Army throughout World War I, from 1914 to 1918. He initially served as a communications officer at the Supreme Army Command; from August 1915, he headed the Telegraph Directorate of the supreme headquarters with the rank of Oberstleutnant.