4th Panzer Grenadier Division (Bundeswehr)

4th Panzer Grenadier Division - 4th PzGrenDiv - XX
Association badge
active	July 1956 to March 31, 1994
Country	Germany
Armed forces	armed forces
Armed forces	army
Type	Panzergrenadier Division
last seat of the staff	Regensburg ( Nibelungen Barracks )
Last division leadership
Division commander	Major General Jürgen Reichardt

The 4th Panzer Grenadier Division was a division of the Army of the German Armed Forces with headquarters last in Regensburg . Most of the division's troops were stationed in eastern Bavaria in the administrative districts of Upper Palatinate , Lower Bavaria and Upper Franconia . In the Army Structure New Army for New Tasks (1996–2000) the division merged with the 1st Airborne Division to form Command Air Mobile Forces / 4th Division and thus de facto ceased to exist as an independent division. The successor association was the nucleus of the later Special Operations Division .

Association badge

The association badge corresponds to the coat of arms of the Bavarian administrative district of Upper Palatinate , in which the division's associations and units were mainly deployed. Heraldically, the coat of arms is split by a rising and curled red tip, inside two diagonally crossed silver keys; in front in black a left-turning, red armored and red crowned golden lion, behind the Bavarian diamonds.

The golden lion and the white and blue diamonds refer to the Wittelsbach rule in the Upper Palatinate since the Middle Ages. The Palatinate lion and the Bavarian diamonds have been found in the seal image of the Upper Palatinate landscape since the 16th century. The diagonally crossed silver keys in the red field represent the former imperial city of Regensburg. The keys, an attribute of St. Peter, originally referred to the patron of the Regensburg Cathedral. The tinging white-red corresponds to the colors of the empire (for the city of Regensburg) as well as the former Hochstift Regensburg .

The headquarters of the 4th Panzer Grenadier Division and other units directly subordinate to the division command were stationed in Regensburg. The division's association badge (led by the staff, headquarters company and the units of the division troops) was edged with a silver cord with black thread woven into it.

After the dissolution of the 4th Panzer Grenadier Division, the association badge "survived" in the coat of arms of Panzer Brigade 12 . Since this brigade was the 3rd brigade of a division (here 4th PzGrenDiv), the brigade association badge is outlined in yellow.

See also : List of Association Badges of the Bundeswehr

history

The division was initially set up in Munich in 1956 ( Army Structure I ) under the designation 4th Grenadier Division from Federal Border Guard troops of the Federal Border Guard Command South . The division was initially subordinate to the II Corps in Ulm . The divisional headquarters were relocated to Regensburg on September 15th. Initially, the division was subordinate to the staff and headquarters company, combat group A 4 ( Amberg ), combat group B 4 ( Coburg , later Ellwangen ), telecommunications battalion 4 (Regensburg), grenadier battalion 4 ( Deggendorf ), grenadier battalion 14 ( Hof / Stadtsteinach ) , Grenadier Battalion 24 (Coburg, later Ellwangen ), Grenadier Battalion 34 (Coburg, later Wildflecken ), Panzer Battalion 4 ( Weiden , later: Amberg), Pioneer Battalion 4 ( Rosenheim ), Air Defense Battalion 4 (Amberg), Artillery Regiment 4 ( Weiden), the light field repair company 4 (Amberg), the Quartiermeisterkompanie 4 ( Murnau ), the Feldjägerkompanie 4 (Regensburg), the music corps VI (Munich). In 1958, Combat Group C4 was also set up. Since 1958 the association has been integrated into the structures of NATO . In 1959 the 4th Grenadier Division was renamed the 4th Panzer Grenadier Division. In 1959 the combat groups were reclassified into brigades. The Panzergrenadierbrigade 10 in Weiden, the Panzergrenadierbrigade 11 in Bogen (formerly Combat Group B 4), the Panzer Brigade 12 (Amberg) (formerly Combat Group A4) and the Panzer Brigade 30 were created . Panzerbrigade 30 moved to the newly established 10th Panzer Grenadier Division as early as 1959 . In 1970 the division was renamed and reclassified as the 4th Jägerdivision. The subordinate tank grenadier brigades were also reclassified into Jägerbrigades. In Army Structure 4 (from 1980) the division was renamed and reclassified as the 4th Panzer Grenadier Division. You were then subject to the following associations and units:

• Panzergrenadierbrigade 10 (Weiden)
• Panzergrenadierbrigade 11 (bow)
• Panzerbrigade 12 (Amberg)
• Artillery Regiment 4 (Regensburg)
  • Field Artillery Battalion 41
  • Missile Artillery Battalion 42 ( Hemau )
  • Observation Battalion 43 (Amberg)
  • Accompanying battery 4 (Hemau)
• Air Defense Regiment 4 (Regensburg)
• Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion 4 ( Roding )
• Engineer Battalion 4 (bow)
• Telecommunications Battalion 4 (Regensburg)
• Repair Battalion 4 (Regensburg)
• Supply Battalion 4 (Regensburg)
• Medical Battalion 4 (Regensburg)
• Field replacement battalions 41 to 45 (not active)
• Jägerbataillon 46 (not active) (Hemau)
• Jägerbataillon 47 (not active) ( Neunburg )
• Security Battalion 48 (not active) (Amberg)
• Army Aviation Squadron 4 ( Feldkirchen )
• Army Music Corps 4 (Regensburg).

In 1994 the 4th Panzer Grenadier Division merged with the 1st Airborne Division to form Command Air Mobile Forces / 4th Division, the name of which was reminiscent of the 4th Division for reasons of tradition. In fact, the division ceased to exist. In 2001 this successor association was also dissolved and reclassified into the Special Operations Division .

Commanders

No.	Surname	Commander of	Commander up
14th	Major General Jürgen Reichardt	October 1, 1989	March 31, 1994
13	Major General Kurt Barthel	April 1, 1985	September 30, 1989
12	Major General Wolfgang Odendahl	October 1, 1982	March 31, 1985
11	Major General Gerhard Wachter	April 1, 1980	September 30, 1982
10	Major General Gert Kohlmann	1st October 1974	March 31, 1980
9	Major General Rüdiger von Reichert	January 1971	September 30, 1974
8th	Brigadier General Joachim-Frithjof Lindner	1st October 1970	January 1971
7th	Major General Helmut Schönefeld	1st October 1968	September 30, 1970
6th	Major General Hellmut Grashey	April 1, 1966	September 30, 1968
5	Major General Johannes Härtel	April 1, 1964	March 31, 1966
4th	Major General Friedrich Alfred Ubelhack	October 1959	March 31, 1964
3	Major General Hellmuth Laegeler	May 1957	October 1959
2	Major General Kurt Spitzer	September 1956	April 1957
1	Brigadier General Hans Höffner	July 1956	August 1956

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Heraldic description according to archive link ( Memento from December 13, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ Summarized according to archive link ( Memento from December 13, 2008 in the Internet Archive )

Coordinates: 49 ° 0 ′ 21 ″  N , 12 ° 6 ′ 51 ″  E