Friedrich Alfred Ubelhack

Friedrich Ubelhack

Friedrich Alfred Übelhack (born October 6, 1907 in Munich ; † November 2, 1979 ) was a German officer. During the Second World War he was a general staff officer of German armies in northern Finland and Norway . In the post-war period he also made a career in the newly established Bundeswehr . He ended his military career in 1968 with the rank of lieutenant general as commander of the Territorial Defense Command .

Military career

Übelhack was the son of a civil servant and, after graduating from high school in Munich, joined the Reichswehr as a flag junior in 1928 . He became a member of the mountain troops of the Reichswehr in Bavaria and was promoted to lieutenant in 1931 .

Second World War

As a captain in the 1st Mountain Division , Übelhack took part in the attack on Poland that started World War II. Soon afterwards he was trained for general staff service at the Dresden War Academy and then accepted into the staff of General Field Marshal Günther von Kluge . With the 4th Army under von Kluge, he was involved in the conquest of France (" Fall Rot ") and then on the Eastern Front , until he became First General Staff Officer (Ia) of the XXXV on December 10, 1941 . (Mountain) Army Corps in Northern Finland. As 1st General Staff Officer (Ia) he was then assigned to the 163rd Division and later to the 20th (Mountain) Army under Colonel General Lothar Rendulic .

After Finland left the Second World War (1944), Übelhack planned the “Birch” and “Northern Lights” retreats from Northern Finland (Lapland) and Northern Norway , using the scorched earth tactic , which caused great damage to these areas. On October 21, 1944, among other things, the Kolosjoki settlement and the local nickel works were completely destroyed and in Petsamo "the necessary destruction was carried out". In the “cleared area”, all accommodation and transport facilities, roads, bridges, ships and port facilities were destroyed or mined, and many cities, including Hammerfest , were partially destroyed. In the Brown Book , Übelhack is included in the "clique of former general staff who were planners of death and the 'scorched earth'" as early as the Second World War.

On January 1, 1945, Übelhack was promoted to Colonel i. G. promoted and appointed 1st General Staff Officer of the Wehrmacht Commander-in-Chief in Norway. His duties also included fighting the Norwegian resistance militarily. He came into British captivity.

post war period

After returning from England, Übelhack was a representative for sweeteners and rose to head of field sales in this branch. On May 1, 1956, Übelhack joined the newly established Bundeswehr as a colonel in 1955, and was soon assigned to Military District Command VI in Munich and, in 1958, as Brigadier General, its commander. From October 1959 to March 31, 1964 he was - promoted to major general - commander of the 4th Panzer Grenadier Division in Regensburg . On April 1, 1964, Übelhack became Lieutenant General and the new commander of the Territorial Defense Command in the Federal Republic of Germany, succeeding Lieutenant General Joachim Schwatlo-Gesterding . The units of this command were not integrated into the NATO command structure. On March 31, 1968, Lieutenant General Friedrich Übelhack retired. On May 28, 1968, Übelhack was awarded the Great Cross of Merit with Star of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany .

Web links

• Article Übelhack, Friedrich. Scorched Earth from Norway ( Memento from November 20, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). In: Brown Book . War and Nazi criminals in the Federal Republic and West Berlin. State - Economy - Administration - Army - Justice - Science . 3rd edition, State Publishing House of the German Democratic Republic, Berlin 1968.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} See article From a human point of view: Orders “TerRes” ( Memento from July 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ). In: Hamburger Abendblatt No. 99 of April 28, 1964, p. 1.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Friedrich Übelhack , Internationales Biographisches Archiv 28/1968 of July 1, 1968, in the Munzinger Archive ( beginning of the article freely available)
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} article Übelhack, Friedrich. Scorched Earth from Norway ( Memento from November 20, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). In: Brown Book . War and Nazi criminals in the Federal Republic and West Berlin. State - Economy - Administration - Army - Justice - Science . 3rd edition, State Publishing House of the German Democratic Republic, Berlin 1968.
4. ↑ Agenda item 1. Personal details of the 9th cabinet meeting on Wednesday, January 15, 1958. In: Hartmut Weber (Ed.): The Cabinet Protocols of the Federal Government . Volume 11: 1958. Oldenbourg, Munich 2002, ISBN 978-3-486-56566-9 .