| # | Fact |
|---|
| 1 | He only wanted to end the war in the West against the democracies, not the war in the East against the Soviet Union. |
| 2 | In 1913 he was involved in a skiing accident which left him requiring stitches on his knee. Despite being still a little child at that time, he somehow managed to convince doctors he would not need any local anesthesia. Later in life, he also refused to take morphine after he was wounded to avoid addiction. This fact was purposely left out in the movie 'Valkyrie (2008)' because "people would think it's a contrivance", according to director Brian J. Singer. |
| 3 | A Grand Tattoo for him was held on 15 November 2007 - when he would have turned 100 years - in his birthplace. |
| 4 | Was once responsible for the training of future Olympic Games horseback riders. |
| 5 | His mother was 15 years younger than his father. |
| 6 | Learned to speak English to native level within 2 years. He also visited England for several weeks twice. |
| 7 | His wife, nicknamed "Nina", was born 27 August 1913 - which made her nearly 6 years younger than her husband - in Lithuania (back then Russia) to a German-speaking family. |
| 8 | Wrote poetry as a teenager and published articles as an adult. He even won a prize for one of his articles. |
| 9 | Graduated from school one year before he would have had regularly. |
| 10 | Was known to be very humorous and joked after only three of his fingers remained he never knew what to do with that many fingers anyway. |
| 11 | Became a member of poet Stefan George's circle of acquaintances, which was called "George-Kreis", when he was 16. He also attended the poet's funeral in Locarno in 1926. |
| 12 | His grandson, Philipp von Schulthess, will be in the movie "Valkyrie" which is about the plot. |
| 13 | Claimed seriously when asked by Nina's mother that he only wanted to get married to avoid his family becoming extinct. Since the couple never had any serious marriage problems, it is believed Claus only wanted to provoke his mother-in-law to-be, just as he liked to provoke his superiors. |
| 14 | Was already fluent in French as a child. |
| 15 | Nina's mother, whom he had met earlier, introduced him to her daughter. The mother mentioned his politeness and that he was a very good dancer, which roused Nina's curiosity. |
| 16 | There was a worry about he would become blind on his remaining eye at first. |
| 17 | Was a patient of famous surgeon Ferdinand Sauerbruch, who developed and artificial limb hand for Graf von Stauffenberg. Anyway, he never even tried out the hand, because the officer told the doctor he had "no time for that at the moment" several times. |
| 18 | When he was about 11, he designed a plan how to rebuild the entire family castle. |
| 19 | August Neidhardt von Gneisenau is among his maternal ancestors. |
| 20 | An avid horseman, he often went on horseback rides until going to work. |
| 21 | His widow, who never remarried, died in 2006. |
| 22 | Could play violoncello and piano. |
| 23 | Trained as a cavalryman, he was still able to break horses when, after his serious injuries, only three of his fingers remained. |
| 24 | He was Baltic/Austrian from his mother's side and Swabian from his father's side. |
| 25 | His closest friend was his brother Berthold. |
| 26 | As a child and teenager, he often missed school because he was ill, mainly with bronchitis and tonsillitis. |
| 27 | In 1929, he finished his training in Hanover as sixth-best of his age group and as best in cavalry. |
| 28 | He was seriously wounded when being stationed in Tunisia (April 1943) - he lost his whole right hand, his left eye and two fingers of his left hand. He later taught himself how to write with his left hand. |
| 29 | When working as a cavalryman in Bamberg, he was transferred to Hanover by his line manager. It is believed that this actually happened because of disciplinary reasons. |
| 30 | Admired poet Stefan George and often quoted him. |
| 31 | Suffered a broken collarbone when he fell off a horse in 1936. |
| 32 | His mother was an Austrian-born countess form Eastern Prussia. |
| 33 | Finished school with Grade B in French, History, Geography and Mathematics, Grade C in Essay Writing, Literature, Philosophy, Greek and Natural History and Grade D in Latin. |
| 34 | He and his future wife got engaged on his 23rd birthday. |
| 35 | Born 01:00 a.m. CET. |
| 36 | He and his wife had 3 sons and 2 daughters: Berthold (named after Claus's brother), Heimeran, Franz-Ludwig, Valerie and Konstanze. Konstanze was actually born after her father's dead. |
| 37 | Daughter Valerie was born on his 33rd birthday. |
| 38 | He was portrayed by Wolfgang Preiss in The Plot to Assassinate Hitler (1955), Bernhard Wicki in It Happened on July 20th (1955), Sebastian Koch in Stauffenberg (2004) and Tom Cruise in Valkyrie (2008). |
| 39 | Met his future wife when she was only 16. |
| 40 | Mainly raised in Stuttgart. |
| 41 | Although he had ongoing health problems until he was a teenager, he opted for a military career and developed a heavy smoking habit (which was shared by his wife, who smoked until she died aged 92). |
| 42 | Originally wanted to become a musician or an architect. |
| 43 | Was fluent in Russian, French and English and semi-fluent in Greek and Latin. He also worked as a military interpreter for English once. |
| 44 | He had a twin brother, Konrad Maria, who died when he was just one day old. His two older brothers, Alexander and Berthold, were also twins. |
| 45 | Was arrested and later executed shortly before 1 a.m. on 21 July 1944. |
| 46 | One of the leading figures of the July 20, 1944, plot by German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler. He actually planted the suitcase containing the bomb under the table where Hitler was standing. |
$17 Million