Reinecke joined the
German Imperial Army as a cadet in March 1905. He served throughout
World War I during which he was awarded the
Iron Cross first class and he was promoted to captain in 1916. He then continued his military service in the
Reichswehr with the Army Office of Administration, an infantry regiment and the Reich Defence Ministry in
Berlin. He served in the
Wehrmacht, providing political training on behalf of the Nazi leadership. In January 1939, Reinecke was promoted to major general as head of an office in the
OKW and appointed head of the General Office of the Armed Forces at OKW (
Allgemeines Wehrmachtamt,
AWA) in August 1940. Reinecke was also head of the office for the
Nationalsozialistische Führungsoffiziere (NSFO), which consisted of Nazi officers charged with political propaganda in the Wehrmacht. Major Karl August Meinel was shifted into the
Führerreserve on 1 August 1942, because on 13 January 1942 he wrote a critical report to Hermann Reinecke on the segregation and execution of Soviet prisoners of war in prison camp Stalag VII A by the Gestapo and the Sicherheitsdienst SD (security service) of the Reichsführer SS (
Heinrich Himmler). In 1942 Reinecke was promoted to
General of the Infantry.
20th July Plot (center) at the
People's Court, 1944 Following the
20 July plot coup attempt,
Joseph Goebbels tasked Reinecke with retaking the
Bendlerblock, and he was then a lay judge during the
People's Court trials of the conspirators. ==Trial and conviction==