Date of birth:

September 28th, 1914 (Büdingen/Oberhesse, Germany)

Date of death:

December 24th, 1988 (Koblenz/Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany)

Nationality:

German (1933-1945, Third Reich)

Hermann Kremer was born September 28th, 1914 in Büdingen, Oberhessen, Germany. In 1936 he was drafted into the Wehrmacht and posted to 9.Batterie / Artillerie-Regiment 9 in Gießen. In 1938 he signed up voluntarily and was posted to 5.Batterie / Artillerie-Regiment 9 in Siegen in the rank of Batterieoffizier. Along with this unit he was stationed at the Westwall and took part in the battles in the West in May and June 1940. October 5th, 1940, the whole unit was incorporated in Artillerie-Regiment 129 and took part in the battles at the Eastern Front. He was transferred to the Stab Artillerie-Regiment 129, acting as Stabsbatteriechef and in 1944 he was promoted to Kommandeur III.Abteilung/Artillerie-Regiment 129. This unit was disbanded on February 8th, 1945 and Kremer’s unit was made directly subordinate to Corps Command as Korps-Artillerie Abteilung I./129. Shortly thereafter, the unit was incorporated in the 1. Infanterie-Division as III.Abteilung / Artillerie-Regiment 1.
In 1945, Kremer was made a Soviet prisoner of war and sentenced to 10 years of forced labor for a hungerstrike. He remained in a penal camp near Marinsk in Siberia (Gulag Archipelago) until May 1950.

Promotions:
April 20th, 1939: Leutnant der Reserve;
February 1st: Oberleutnant der Reserve;
February 1st 1943: Hauptmann der Reserve;
September 1st 1944: Major der Reserve.

Career:
1936: conscript 9. / Artillerie-Regiment 9, Gießen;
1938: 5. / Artillerie-Regiment 9, Siegen;
1939: Batterieoffizier 5. / Artillerie-Regiment 9;
October 15th, 1940: Batterieoffizier 5. / Artillerie-Regiment 129;
1942: Stabsbatteriechef Stab Artillerie-Regiment 129;
1943: Batteriechef Stab / Artillerie-Regiment 129;
1944: Kommandeur II. / Artillerie-Regiment 129;
February 8th 1945: Kommandeur Korps-Artillerie Abteilung I./129;
1945: Kommandeur III. / Artillerie-Regiment 1.

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Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Leutnant der Reserve (2nd Lieutenant of Reserves)

Unit:

Batterieoffizier 5. / Artillerie-Regiment 9 / 9.Infanterie-Division / XXXXI.Armeekorps / 7.Armee / Heeresgruppe C

Awarded on:

October 24th, 1940

The 5.Batterie / Artillerie-Regiment 9, was formally transferred to the 129.Infanterie-Division on October 5th, 1940, to be incorporated in the Artillerie-Regiment 129. The decoration however was awarded for an action while the 5.Batterie was still part of the 9.Infanterie-Division.

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Leutnant der Reserve (2nd Lieutenant of Reserves)

Unit:

Batterieoffizier 5. / Artillerie-Regiment 129 / 129.Infanterie-Division / XXVII.Armeekorps / 9.Armee / Heeresgruppe Mitte

Awarded on:

November 16th, 1941

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Oberleutnant der Reserve (1st Lieutenant of Reserves)

Unit:

Stabsbatteriechef Stab / Artillerie-Regiment 129 / 129.Infanterie-Division / XXXI.Armeekorps / 9.Armee / Heeresgruppe Mitte

Awarded on:

October 4th, 1942

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Hauptmann der Reserve (Captain of Reserves)

Unit:

4. / Artillerie-Regiment 129 / 129.Infanterie-Division

Awarded on:

October 8th, 1943

According to his own words, the DKiG was awarded on 10th October 1943.

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Major der Reserve

Unit:

Kommandeur II. / Artillerie-Regiment 129 / 129.Infanterie-Division / XXXXI.Armeekorps / 2.Armee / Heeresgruppe Mitte

Awarded on:

October 31st, 1944

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Major der Reserve

Unit:

Kommandeur II. / Artillerie-Regiment 129 / 129.Infanterie-Division / VI.Armeekorps

Awarded on:

March 23rd, 1945

At the time of the actual awarding, the Artillerie-Regiment 129 was already disbanded and Kremer's unit was placed directly under the Armeekorps as I./129. The unit was subsequently placed with the 1.Infanterie-Division as III. / Artillerie-Regiment 1.

• Photo 1: Willi Schumacher
• Photo: Willi Schumacher collection
  
• - Letter from Dr. Hermann Kremer, Koblenz, August 20th, 1988
  - Die Ordensträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht (CD), VMD-Verlag GmbH, Osnabrück, 2002
  - Fellgiebel W.P., Elite of the Third Reich, The recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939-1945: A Reference, Helion & Company Limited, Solihull, 2003, ISBN 1-874622-46-9
  - Patzwall K., Scherzer V., Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941-1945, Geschichte und Inhaber Band II, Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt, 2001, ISBN 3-931533-45-X
  - Scheibert, H., Die Träger des Deutschen Kreuzes in Gold (Das Heer), Podzun-Pallas Verlag, Friedberg, Germany, 1983
  - Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945
  - http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de