- One of the leading figures of the 7/20/1944 plot by German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler. He actually planted the suitcase containing the bomb under the table where Hitler was standing.
- Originally wanted to become a musician or an architect.
- 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).
- 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).
- Daughter Valerie was born on his 33rd birthday.
- He and his wife had three sons and two daughters: Berthold (named after Claus' brother), Heimeran, Franz-Ludwig, Valerie and Konstanze. Konstanze was actually born after her father's death.
- 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.
- Was seriously wounded while 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.
- In 1929 he finished his training in Hanover as sixth-best of his age group and as best in cavalry.
- As a child and teenager, he often missed school because he was ill, mainly with bronchitis and tonsillitis.
- His widow, who never remarried, died in 2006.
- An avid horseman, he often went on horseback rides until going to work.
- Was a patient of famous surgeon Ferdinand Sauerbruch, who developed an artificial hand for him. He never made use of it, though, telling the doctor several times that he had "no time for that at the moment".
- When he lost his eye, there was concern that he would go blind in his remaining eye, but that never happened.
- His wife 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.
- 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.
- His grandson, Philipp von Schulthess, will be in the movie "Valkyrie" which is about the plot.
- In 1913 he was involved in a skiing accident that left him requiring stitches on his knee. Despite being still a 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.
- He only wanted to end the war in the West against the democracies, not the war in the East against the Soviet Union.
- Arrested and later executed shortly before 1 a.m. on 7/21/1944.
- 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.
- Was fluent in Russian, French and English and semi-fluent in Greek and Latin. He also worked as a military interpreter for English once.
- Mainly raised in Stuttgart.
- Met his future wife when she was only 16.
- Born 01:00 a.m. CET.
- He and his future wife got engaged on his 23rd birthday.
- His mother was an Austrian-born countess form Eastern Prussia.
- Suffered a broken collarbone when he fell off a horse in 1936.
- Admired poet Stefan George and often quoted him.
- 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.
- His closest friend was his brother Berthold.
- Was Baltic/Austrian from his mother's side and Swabian from his father's side.
- Trained as a cavalryman, he was still able to break horses when, after his serious injuries, only three of his fingers remained.
- Could play violoncello and piano.
- August Neidhardt von Gneisenau is among his maternal ancestors.
- When he was about 11 he designed a plan how to rebuild the entire family castle.
- Was already fluent in French as a child.
- 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.
- 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.
- Graduated from school one year before he ordinarily would have.
- Wrote poetry as a teenager and published articles as an adult. He even won a prize for one of his articles.
- His wife, nicknamed "Nina", was born 8/27/1913, which made her nearly six years younger than her husband, in Lithuania (back then Russia) to a German-speaking family.
- Learned to speak English to native level within two years. He also visited England for several weeks twice.
- His mother was 15 years younger than his father.
- Was once responsible for the training of future Olympic Games horseback riders.
- A Grand Tattoo for him was held on 11/15/ 2007,ll which would have been his 100th birthday, in his birthplace.
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