Ernst Feßmann

General Fessmann walks down the front

Ernst Feßmann , also Fessmann (born January 6, 1881 in Pfersee , † October 25, 1962 in Pullach ) was a German general of the tank troops in World War II .

Life

family

Feßmann was the son of a factory director. He married Emma Freiin von Feury auf Hilling, with whom Feßmann had two children.

Bavarian Army

Feßmann came after the successful completion of the secondary school on 15 July 1900 as a cadet in the second Chevaulegers Regiment "Taxis" the Bavarian army one. From March 1901 to the beginning of February 1902 he was commanded at the Munich War School and was subsequently promoted to lieutenant . From 1905 Feßmann acted as regimental adjutant and was assigned to the equitation institute from October 1908 to September 1910. From 1911 to 1914 he graduated from the War Academy , which made him qualify for the higher adjutantage. This was followed by his promotion to Rittmeister and his transfer as adjutant to the 2nd Cavalry Brigade .

When the First World War broke out , Feßmann was transferred to the General Command of the I. Reserve Corps , where he took on the role of Second Adjutant. After a serious riding accident, which he suffered on October 2, 1914, Feßmann was transferred to his homeland until the beginning of November 1914 and did not resume his service in the General Command until November 9, 1914. In this he remained until the beginning of December 1916. During his service there Feßmann acted briefly in May 1916 as leader of the III. Battalion in Reserve Infantry Regiment 1 . From December 3, 1916 to January 1917 he acted as quartermaster of the Vincy group, where he was transferred to officers in special positions in the general staff service from December 14, 1916, while remaining in this position. In the following period from January 20 to March 25, 1917 Feßmann served as Quartermaster in the XIV. Reserve Corps and then until May 1917 had the status of General Staff Officer z. b. V. at the Army High Command 6 . Following this he served until June 12, 1917 in the General Staff of III. Army Corps and then until June 20, 1918 in the General Staff of the I. Reserve Corps, in which he was already deployed when the war broke out. From June 21 to July 10, 1917 Feßmann was employed in the Quartiermeister subsidiary I Lavardes. The following day, July 11, 1917, he was transferred to the General Staff of Army Department A (Reserve), where Feßmann remained until November 12, 1918. The day before the war had come to an end, in which, in addition to the Iron Cross II and I Class, he was also awarded the Order of Merit IV Class with Swords.

Weimar Republic

On November 13, 1918 Feßmann was transferred to the Army Department of the Ministry of Military Affairs , where he initially acted as a consultant until the end of September 1919 and from April 1919 as a liaison officer to the Augsburg group. On October 1, 1919, he was accepted into the provisional Reichswehr and was transferred as an adjutant to Reichswehr Group Command 4, which was subordinate to the Reichswehr Ministry and only performed military tasks. On April 10, 1920 Feßmann was transferred to the 1st Cavalry Division , in which he remained as an adjutant until the end of September of the same year. Then he served until the beginning of March 1921 in the staff of military district command VII, based in Munich. After serving as a staff officer in the staff of the 7th (Bavarian) Motor Vehicle Department, which lasted from March 5, 1921 to July 8, 1922, Feßmann came to the Reichswehr Ministry in Berlin on July 9, 1922 and was there until the end of January 1924 as Speaker active.

In February 1924 he was transferred back to the 7th (Bavarian) Motor Vehicle Department, where he was appointed commander on March 1, 1924. Feßmann held this position until June 20, 1926. The day after, he was assigned to the 17th (Bavarian) Cavalry Regiment , in which he served until the end of March 1930. Feßmann was then transferred to the staff of the 5th Division , from where he was assigned to the 14th Cavalry Regiment for a few days . As early as April 9, 1930, Feßmann was appointed welfare officer at the Schleswig branch command, whose duties he fulfilled until the end of September of the same year. In the next twelve months Feßmann served in the 2nd (Prussian) Artillery Regiment , where he was employed in the motor vehicle staff. On November 1, 1931, he was transferred to the 4th Driving Department in Dresden , where he was in command of the local motor vehicle staff until the end of July 1934. On August 1, 1934 Feßmann was appointed commander of the 1st combat vehicle brigade (motor vehicle staff).

Wehrmacht

On October 15, 1935 Feßmann was appointed commander of the 3rd Panzer Division . On September 30, 1937, he was adopted into retirement. Lieutenant General Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg took command of the division .

Feßmann was made available to the army just one day later, but was only used in the course of the general mobilization on August 26, 1939 when he was appointed commander of the 267th Infantry Division .

After the outbreak of World War II, the division was entrusted with security tasks on the border with France . In the western campaign in the spring of 1940 Feßmann led the division via Belgium to Avalon and then lay with it as an occupying power on the Channel coast until May 1941 . The division was then relocated to the east, where it was used in the area of Army Group Center after the Barbarossa operation began. However, Feßmann gave up command of the division to Major General Friedrich-Karl von Wachter on June 16, 1941 and joined the Führer Reserve . In this on May 31, 1942 Feßmann's mobilization regulations and at the end of April 1943 the provision were revoked. On April 30, 1943 Feßmann resigned from military service.

After the war Feßmann was from June 5 to September 30, 1945 in Soviet captivity .

literature

• Dermot Bradley (Ed.): The Generals of the Army 1921-1945. The military careers of the generals, as well as the doctors, veterinarians, intendants, judges and ministerial officials with the rank of general. Volume 3: Dahlmann-Fitzlaff. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1994, ISBN 3-7648-2424-7 , pp. 452-454.
• Othmar Hackl : The Bavarian War Academy (1867-1914). CH Beck´sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-406-10490-8 , p. 435.

Web links

Commons : Ernst Feßmann  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Walther Nehring : The history of the German tank weapon 1916-1945. Propylaeen Verlag 1969, p. 82. Outline can be viewed at google.books
2. ↑ Othmar Hackl: The Bavarian War Academy (1867-1914). CH Beck´sche publishing house bookstore. Munich 1989. ISBN 3-406-10490-8 . P. 435.
3. ↑ Reichswehr Ministry (Ed.): Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1924, p. 135.
4. ↑ Files of the Reich Chancellery. Weimar Republic - The Müller Cabinet I / Volume 1 / Documents / No. 90 The Bavarian State Department of the Reich Central Office for Homeland Service to the Reich Defense Ministry. Munich. May 10, 1920. pp. 217-220.
5. ↑ Torsten Diedrich: Paulus. The Stalingrad trauma. Schöningh Verlag 2008, ISBN 978-3506764034 , p. 110. Outline can be viewed at google.books