Captain Friedrich von Hecht was a German Wehrmacht officer of skill and cunning. He appeared in the film Hornets' Nest and was played by Sergio Fantoni. He served as the primary antagonist.
Biography[]
Friedrich von Hecht was stationed in Italy in 1944, but had also served in Africa. He was tasked by the German High Command with finding the rogue American soldier Captain Turner, the lone survivor of a group of commandos who had parachuted in behind enemy lines, only to be ambushed and killed by von Hecht's men.
Assisted by his faithful second in command Sergeant Schwalberg, he and his men doggedly pursued Turner all across the region. When von Hecht discovered evidence that Turner was going to blow up the Della Norte Dam, he tried to tell Colonel Jannings, but Jannings ignored him, convinced the American's target was instead the farther away Grimaldi Tunnel. After the death of Corporal Gunther, a vengeful Jannings turned the hunt for Turner into an SS affair, having von Hecht's superior General von Kleber removed from command and placing von Hecht under the command of the sadistic Major Taussig, who'd ordered the massacre of the village of Reanoto.
In the meantime, Turner had teamed up the orphaned children of Reanoto and taught them how to use machine guns. The boys then attacked the SS' headquarters and slaughtered all of Taussig's men in revenge for their parents' deaths. When a shocked Taussig still refused to listen to reason and divert troops to the Della Norte Dam, an enraged von Hecht shot him and went rogue, driving to the dam and taking over command from Captain Kreuger. It didn't take Kreuger long to realize von Hecht wasn't supposed to be there. He tried to have von Hecht arrested. Right then, Turner and the boys attacked the dam. Von Hecht was able to grab a rifle and slip away in the confusion, and consequently survived the destruction of the dam.
While tracking his prey in the woods later, he came upon Aldo, who shot him in the arm. An impressed von Hecht surrendered to the boy, but Aldo, whose thirst for blood wasn't quenched by wiping out the SS, prepared to execute von Hecht. Von Hecht was saved by the timely arrival of Turner and the other boys, as well as German doctor Bianca, who convinced Aldo to let von Hecht live. After being tended to by Bianca, a grateful von Hecht told his former enemy Turner he admired how he admired him. He then went with Turner, Bianca and the others to meet up with an approaching column of American troops.
Personality[]
Von Hecht was a highly disciplined military officer with a strict moral code. Although he could be ruthless and unforgiving to his enemies, he disliked using violence outside of battle and considered civilians off limits, and consequently despised the brutal SS, who he considered nothing but thugs and bullies. Although he knowingly served the Nazi regime, but was known for being outspoken in his low opinion of the SS, often directly to their faces - behavior which earned him the ire of high-ranking SS members like Jannings.
Von Hecht was an avid hunter. He hunted with his father as a boy, and in adulthood he had also hunted with his father's old friend General von Kleber. His relationship with his father was a good one; he owned an antique shotgun that was a gift from him, and greatly angered when it was stolen.
Because of his passion for hunting, von Hecht treated military operations like games of wills. When Turner survived the massacre of the American demo team, an eager von Hecht saw this as an opportunity to put his hunting and tracking skills to the test. If he had a weakness it was that he could become caught up in the chase and overeager, and consequently impatient over what he saw as the laziness of others.
Von Hecht was not an arrogant man. When bested by his enemy, he gladly accepted defeat at the hands of a worthy foe, and even expressed a deep admiration for how Turner had managed to accomplish his mission and destroy the dam against all odds. When the American offered him his hand, von Hecht took it without hesitation, and cooperated when turned over as a prisoner of war.
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