Erich Brandenberger

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Brandenberger (left) with Erich von Manstein in the Soviet Union (June 1941)

Erich Brandenberger (born July 15, 1892 in Augsburg , † June 21, 1955 in Bonn ) was a German officer , most recently a general of the tank troops in World War II .

Life

Brandenberger joined the 6th field artillery regiment "Prince Ferdinand of Bourbon, Duke of Calabria" as a flag junior on August 1, 1911 and was appointed ensign on March 7, 1912 . From October 1912 to September 1913 he was assigned to the military school in Munich and on October 25, 1913 he was promoted to lieutenant .

With the outbreak of the First World War , Brandenberger came to the Western Front and was appointed adjutant in the 2nd Battalion of his regiment on December 28, 1914. From June 1916 to January 1917 he was assigned a special assignment to the General Staff and was promoted to first lieutenant on January 17, 1917 . After his return he was employed as a regimental adjutant. At the end of December 1917 he became battery leader, remained in this position until the end of the war and was then taken over into the Reichswehr .

At the beginning of the Second World War Brandenberger was Chief of Staff of the Eifel border troops, was from September 16 in the same function at the XXIII. Army Corps and promoted to major general on August 1, 1940 . As such, he took over the 8th Panzer Division on February 20, 1941 and became Lieutenant General on August 1, 1942 . In January 1943 he was replaced and briefly transferred to the Führerreserve before he was given the leadership of the XXIX on March 21, 1943 . Army Corps and appointed him commanding general on August 1, 1943 , and promoted to general of the armored forces .

From September 3, 1944 to February 21, 1945 he was the Commander-in-Chief of the 7th Army on the Western Front during the Battle of the Bulge . In the final phase of the Second World War , on January 27, 1945, he gave the order to hold out: “Comrades, the great probation of the people has begun. [...] Be hard and believe! "

He was reassigned to the Führerreserve until March 26, 1945 and then assigned to lead the 19th Army . Brandenberger was taken prisoner by the US on May 6, 1945 , from which he was released in 1948. During his captivity, Brandenberger worked as part of the German department of the United States Army's war history research group , the Operational History (German) Section of the Historical Division, in the preparation of studies on the Second World War.

Awards

literature

  • Dermot Bradley , Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Markus Rövekamp: The Generals of the Army 1921–1945, Volume 2 v. Blanckensee-v. Czettritz and Neuhauß ; Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1993, ISBN 3-7648-2424-7

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Complete quote from Ernst Klee : Das Kulturlexikon zum Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-10-039326-5 , p. 72.
  2. ↑ Othmar Hackl : General Staff, General Staff Service and General Staff Training in the Reichswehr and Wehrmacht 1919–1945. Studies of German generals and general staff officers in the Historical Division of the US Army in Europe 1946–1961 . Biblio, Osnabrück 1999, ISBN 3-7648-2551-0 , p. 206 ff.
  3. ↑ Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearers 1939-1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , p. 238.
personal data
SURNAME Brandenberger, Erich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer and general of the armored forces in the Third Reich
DATE OF BIRTH July 15, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH augsburg
DATE OF DEATH June 21, 1955
Place of death Bonn