The future war hero was born in Munich on March 30, 1907 to an old noble Bavarian family which already had quite a military tradition. As a young boy his father enrolled him to be a page at the Royal court of the House of Wittelsbach, but with the end of World War I and the abolition of all the monarchies in Germany, the young boy had to look for other options. In 1919, even at the age of 12, he was already a staunch enemy of revolutionary communism and helped tear down a red flag with some other boys from a building in Traunstein. He finished school and first entered the army in 1925. Originally in the infantry, he was able to fulfill his wish and become an officer-cadet in the 18th Cavalry Regiment.
In 1926, as part of an arrangement with the army, he left the cavalry and enrolled at Innsbruck University to study law. He also studied religion and joined a Catholic student organization where he participated in numerous debates on current events and the role of the Catholic Church. To support himself he also worked as a tutor and gained a reputation for his intelligence, dedication and devout Catholic piety. It was his extreme devotion to his faith which, in a rather unintentional compliment, later caused Reich Marshal Hermann Goering, commander of the German Air Force to mockingly call him the "Rosary Paratrooper". After moving for a year to Berlin University he also studied at the Austrian Consular Academy but was forced to leave under threat of arrest by the Gestapo when he and a friend beat up a Nazi student who had insulted the Catholic Church. He re-joined his regiment but Heydte the horse lover was disappointed when the unit converted from a cavalry to an anti-tank formation, so he took a course for General Staff officers in 1939. He was married and when World War II began took command of an anti-tank company. He fought in the Western campaign with the 246th Division where he earned the Iron Cross 1st class.
It was in 1940 that Baron von der Heydte transferred to the new paratrooper (fallschirmjaeger) corps and was moved to the Luftwaffe. After completing his training he saw his first action as a paratrooper in the 1941 invasion of Crete. His conduct in the battle was brilliant and for his skill and bravery he was awarded the Knight's Cross and promoted to Major. Following the invasion of Russia, his unit was moved to the area around Leningrad where he was wounded. After enduring heavy fighting his command was transferred to North Africa with the forces of the legendary Major General Hermann Ramcke. After being placed for the battle of El Alamein Heydte fell ill with dysentery and missed the engagement. Similar circumstances caused him to be absent during the retreat to Tunisia where his unit suffered greatly without his leadership. In 1943 he was assigned to the 2nd Paratroop Division in France, which was later posted to Italy where he participated in the takeover of Italian forces following the removal of Mussolini and Italy's surrender to the Allies.
After flying a reconissance mission Heydte's plane crashed, seriously injuring him. After his recovery he was given a new command which he trained in close combat near Paris. Present for the Normandy invasion, he flew out for a look himself and witnessed the landing at Utah Beach. Heydte and his men saw constant action, always barely managing to survive throughout the 1944 Allied invasion. During a rest in Germany he was given the rank of lieutenant colonel (oberstleutnant) and then was put into action again resisting the Allied airborne invasion of Holland "Operation Market Garden". Following this success he was awarded the oakleaves to the Knight's Cross, becoming the 617th recipient. After a brief stint at a training school Luftwaffe General Student orederd him to form a battle group for the upcoming offensive.
Baron von der Heydte's men seemed to lack everything; there were no proper weapons, supplies or even pilots, but he pushed on. His men had no experience in airborne operations and Heydte had no intelligence on the ground or the enemy he was facing. There was also poor communications working against him, heavy enemy anti-aircraft fire, a strong cross wind and a blizzard on the ground. Injured in the drop, Heydte's men were scattered all over the drop zone and hardly any weapons containers landed where they were supposed to. The Americans had also witnessed the drop and were quickly closing in on his men. After an unsuccesful breakthrough attempt he ordered his men to split up in the hope of reaching German lines. Wounded, exhausted, suffering from exposure and exhaustion, Heydte fell ill and was forced to surrender to American forces at Monshau on Christmas Day, 1944. At the end of the war, he was forced to suffer due to the crimes of many of his fellow officers. Arrested and charged with war crimes he was held in prison until 1947. However, the charges were unsubstantiated fabrications, ridiculous for a man of his reputation and could never be proven.
Following his release, Baron von der Heydte went home and became a law professor at a local university. He also continued to serve in the Bundeswehr (federal German armed forces) where he eventually reached the rank of General of Paratroopers, passing on to many others the skills he had learned in combat. Later he entered politics and continued to serve his country there until his retirement. Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte, the "Rosary Paratrooper" died on July 7, 1994.