http://www.grolier.com/wwii/wwii_rundstedt.html
KARL VON RUNDSTEDT, (1875-1953), German army officer who became one of Adolf
HITLER's ablest generals. A member of an aristocratic Prussian family and the son of an army general, he was born in Aschersleben on Dec. 12, 1875. At the age of 12 he entered officers training school, and later he studied at the exclusive Potsdam cadet academy. During World War I, as a major, he commanded an infantry unit near Alsace and, as an army corps chief of staff, helped to reorganize the Turkish general staff.
After World War I, as a lieutenant colonel in the Reichswehr, he commanded the 3d military district, including Berlin. He reportedly took part in the clandestine effort to rearm Germany.