Date of birth:

July 15th, 1892 (Augsburg/Bavaria, Germany)

Date of death:

June 21st, 1955 (Bonn/North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany)

Nationality:

German (1933-1945, Third Reich)

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Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Oberst (Colonel)

Unit:

Chef des Generalstabes des XXIII. Armeekorps

Awarded on:

December 24th, 1939

Had already received the Iron Cross 2nd Class on October 21st 1914.

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Oberst (Colonel)

Unit:

Chef des Generalstabes des XXIII. Armeekorps

Awarded on:

May 15th, 1940

Had already received the Iron Cross 1st Class on September 7th 1916.

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Generalmajor (Brigadier)

Unit:

Chef des Generalstabes des XXIII. Armeekorps

Awarded on:

November 22nd, 1940

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Generalmajor (Brigadier)

Unit:

Kommandeur 8.Panzer-Division / LVI. Armee-Korps (mot) / Panzergruppe 4 / Heeresgrupppe Mitte

Awarded on:

July 15th, 1941

Awarded for his leadership of the 8. Panzer-Division during the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa. He directed his Division with great prudence and energy during the breakthrough of the Soviet border positions, the crossing over the Dubissa river and the subsequent pursuit battles up to the Daugava river. Here he and his men captured two large bridges over the river that the Soviets had prepared for demolition, and by doing so a decisive prerequisite for Heeresgruppe Nord’s swift continued advance was established.

357th Award.
Submitted on July 1st 1941.
Preliminary document and decoration on July 16th 1941.

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

General der Panzertruppen (Lieutenant-General of Armoured Forces)

Unit:

Kommandierender General XXIX.Armee-Korps/ 6. Armee / Heeresgruppe Süd

Awarded on:

November 12th, 1943

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

General der Panzertruppe (Lieutenant-general)

Unit:

Kommandierender General XXIX.Armeekorps

Awarded on:

February 18th, 1944

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

• Photo 1: Wilco Vermeer
• Photo: Wilco Vermeer collection, the Netherlands
• - THOMAS, FRANZ & WEGMANN, GÜNTER, Die Eichenlaubträger 1940-1945, Biblio-Verlag, 1997.
  - WEGMANN, GÜNTER, Die Ritterkreuzträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht 1939-1945, Biblio-Verlag, 2004.
  - Die Ordensträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht (CD), VMD-Verlag GmbH, Osnabrück, 2002
  - Kwasny A., Kwasny G., Die Eichenlaubträger 1940-1945 (CD), Deutsches Wehrkundearchiv, Lage-Waddenhausen, 2001
  - Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer, Elite of the Third Reich - The Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939-45: A Reference, Helion & Company Limited, England, 2003
  - Gaul, R., The Battle of the Bulge in Luxembourg – The southern Flank: december 1944-january 1945 – Volume I: the Germans, Schiffer Publishing Ltd., USA, 1995
  - Kursietis, Andris J., The Wehrmacht at War 1939-1945, Aspekt, The Netherlands, 1999
  - Federl, C., Die Ritterkreuzträger der Deutschen Panzerdivisionen 1939-1945, VDM Heinz Nickel, Zweibrücken, Germany, 2000
  - Axis Biographical Research
  - Lexikon-der-Wehrmacht.de