German Veterinarian Who Surrendered Lippizaner Stallions to U.S. Dies at 69

Wolfgang Kroll, a World War II German cavalry veterinarian who surrendered the renowned white Lippizaner stallions to Gen. George Patton rather than to the Soviets, has died. He was 69.

Kroll, who had been suffering from an apparent virus infection, died of heart failure at his El Cajon home Monday.

A one-time staff member at the San Diego Zoo, Kroll retired three years ago as a veterinary program supervisor with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Kroll was born in Germany and was a graduate in veterinary medicine of the University of Hanover. At the end of World War II, he and another veterinarian turned over the Austrian-schooled Lippizaner stallions to Patton.

Some of the horses came to the United States, and some eventually were returned to Austria.

After the war, Kroll traveled through Europe with the Williams Circus. A specialist in equine breeding, he also spent time in the United States working with thoroughbred owners and breeders.

Kroll emigrated to America in the 1960s, becoming a U.S. citizen and accepting the post of San Diego Zoo veterinarian. He joined the Agriculture Department a few years later.

His survivors include daughters Alexandra Ehlert and Daphne Kallweit of Frankfurt, West Germany. Services will be held Saturday at the Neptune Chapel in El Cajon.