38th SS Grenadier Division "Nibelungen"

38th SS Grenadier Division "Nibelungen"
active	March to May 1945
Country	German Empire
Armed forces	Armed SS
Branch of service	Mountaineer
Type	Grenadier Division

The 38th SS Grenadier Division "Nibelungen" was set up on March 27, 1945 in the SS Junker School Bad Tölz . It essentially consisted of members of the Junker School and remnants of the 6th SS Mountain Division "North" , the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division "Prinz Eugen" and the 30th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (Belarusian No. . 1) . There were also two battalions of customs border patrols , the Reichsführer SS escort battalion and a Hitler Youth division . The division surrendered to American troops in the foothills of the Alps in early May 1945.

Lineup

On March 25, 1945, Adolf Hitler started the so-called Ost- or Visigoth-Movement , d. H. the mobilization of all units of the reserve army, especially the weapons schools, triggered. The 1,000 officer candidates of the SS Junker School Bad Tölz and the teaching staff were to form the leadership corps of the SS Junkerschule division under the command of the school, SS Obersturmbannführer Richard Schulze , which in the Freiburg - Feldberg - Todtnau area with members of the 1928 class in the Adolf -Hitler schools in Sonthofen and Iglau , the RAD unit in Jagstzell and two replacement battalions of the Wehrmacht , a total of around 8,000 men.

In fact, the division only reached the strength of a brigade with about 5,000 men. Divisional units, such as pioneer, intelligence and medical companies, only reached strength. According to the field post overview, only one SS brigade "Nibelungen" was led, only the schematic war structure on April 12, 1945 mentions the 38th SS Grenadier Division "Nibelungen".

On April 16, 1945, SS Panzerjäger Department 6 of SS Mountain Division North was reorganized as SS Panzerjäger Department 38 and incorporated into the division. The SS Artillery Training Regiment in Beneschau set up the SS Artillery Regiment 38.

commitment

On April 17, 1945, the division withdrew in front of the approaching French and American units, first to Titisee-Neustadt , then to Dachau . Since the line-up could not be completed, the units of the division were assigned to the XIII. Subordinated to the SS Army Corps and relocated to the Danube Front, where they arrived on April 21. The next day, American troops captured Neumarkt in the Upper Palatinate and pushed the German divisions back onto the Danube, where they formed bridgeheads. Here the 38th SS Division was reinforced by a light artillery division of the 26th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (Hungarian No. 2) "Hungaria". Until April 28, the division resisted the advancing Americans before the bulk of the XIII. SS Army Corps moved south towards Landshut , where a new defense front was formed along the Isar . A combat group made up of members of the French SS Grenadier Training and Replacement Battalion joined the division in Moosburg .

At the beginning of May the division withdrew via Wasserburg and Lake Chiemsee towards Traunstein, only to surrender to American troops on May 8, 1945 in Reit im Winkl .

structure

(intended)

• SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment 95 (I. – III.)
• SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment 96 (I.–IV.)
• SS Artillery Regiment 38 (I., II., 5th and 6th)
  • SS tank destroyer division 38
  • SS pioneer division 38
  • SS Flak Department 38
  • SS News Department 38
  • SS Training and Replacement Department 38
  • SS Police Battalion Siegling
  • SS Economic Battalion 38

(The division no longer received any field post numbers .)

Commanders

• 1st - 15th March 1945: SS standard leader Hans Kempin
• 6-9 April 1945: SS-Obersturmbannführer Richard Schulze (later: Schulze-Kossens)
• 9-15 April 1945: SS Brigade Leader Heinz Lammerding
• April 1945: SS Brigade Leader Carl von Oberkamp
• April to May 8, 1945: SS-Standartenführer Martin Friedrich Stange

Known relatives

The actor Hardy Krüger , who became an Adolf Hitler student at the age of 13 , served in this division from March 1945 until his desertion .

literature

• Rolf Michaelis : The Grenadier Divisions of the Waffen SS. Part 3. Michaelis-Verlag, Erlangen 1995, pp. 200-216, ISBN 3-930849-05-4 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Kannapin, Norbert: The German field post overview (3 vol.), Complete list of field post numbers