Battle of the Bulge Kaiserbaracke

This is the location where the spearhead of “Kampfgruppe Hansen” stopped on December 17, 1944, to determine which direction to take. Kampfgruppe Hansen consisted of Rollbahn D and E.

Rollbahn A, B, and C were part of the 12th SS Panzer Division 'Hitlerjugend'. Rollbahn D and E were part of the 1st SS Panzer Division 'Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler'.

This location is now a traffic circle near an industrial park.

This Kampfgruppe was one of four Kampfgruppen that launched the Ardennes Offensive. The other three were Kampfgruppe Peiper, Sandig, and Knittels, named after the commanders of the attack group. These Kampfgruppen all had different starting and ending points, initially heading towards the Meuse River.

Kampfgruppe Knittel, SS-Sturmbannführer Gustav Knittel, commander of Rollbahn A during the offensive.

Kampfgruppe Peiper; SS-Obersturmbannführer Jochen Peiper, commander of Rollbahn B during the offensive.

Kampfgruppe Sandig, SS-Obersturmbannführer Rudolf Sandig, commander of Rollbahn C during the offensive.

Kampfgruppe Hansen; SS-Obersturmbannfüher Max Hansen, commander of Rollbahn D and E during the offensive.

The objective was to reach the Meuse River and from there to the ports of Antwerp. Rollbahn D eventually split into D and E and had as their end points Huy and Ombret-Rausa, both located near the river Meuse.

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Source

• Text: Ed Lewandowski
• Photos: Ed Lewandowski (1, 3, 4), U.S. National Archives / Public domain (2)
• Kampgruppe Peiper, David Cooke & Wayne Evans