Fritz Kühlwein

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Signature of Fritz Kühlwein as commander of the 133 Infantry Regiment, June 1941

Friedrich "Fritz" Karl Kühlwein (born November 29, 1892 in Hatten , Alsace , † September 25, 1972 in Nuremberg ) was a German officer , most recently lieutenant general in World War II .

Military career

On July 17, 1912, Kühlwein joined the Prussian army as a flag junior . On August 18, 1912, he was promoted to lieutenant in the 97th Infantry Regiment. His patent was later dated February 21, 1912. He served as an officer in the First World War . During the First World War, he was awarded other medals besides the two Iron Crosses. After the end of the war the Reichswehr took over him and he was used in various units. On August 1, 1936, he was promoted to  lieutenant colonel. On October 15, 1935 he was appointed commander of the 2nd Battalion of Infantry Regiment 55 of the 15th Infantry Division . His promotion to colonel took place on April 1, 1939.

At the beginning of World War II he was still in command of the 2nd Battalion of the 55th Infantry Regiment, now with the 17th Infantry Division . On January 10, 1940, he was assigned commander of the 73rd Infantry Replacement Regiment, a training unit of the Division 173 replacement army . On October 25, 1940, he was given command of the 133rd Infantry Regiment of the 45th Infantry Division . With the regiment he took part in the attack on the Soviet Union . Until the beginning of 1944 he was deployed on the Eastern Front. Kühlwein was from February 27, 1942; he took over command from Fritz Schlieper ; Commander of the 45th Infantry Division until April 29, 1943. While in command of this division he was appointed major general on April 1, 1942 and lieutenant general on January 1, 1943. From April 10 to October 20, 1944, he led the " Brandenburg " armored infantry division . From December 29, 1944 to January 1, 1945 he was commander of the 401st replacement division (in some sources he is incorrectly listed as commander of a 406 division ) and from the beginning of March 1945 commander of the 149th field training division, which is currently being established .

From May 1945 to October 1946 he was in British captivity in the Staumühle internment camp .

After his release he worked as a sales representative, lived briefly in Würzburg and from 1947 to 1951 in Brackwede . From 1951 until his retirement in 1956 he lived in Bielefeld and then in Nuremberg until his death.

Assessments

In an assessment by a superior on January 8, 1943, u. a. "maybe a bit pedantic sometimes". An assessment of August 10, 1943 noted "no longer fully up to scratch" and denied him "full suitability to command a front division in the east". The historian Christian Hartmann described it as very difficult on a human level, almost whimsical. He accused him of wrong decisions and saw in him an extremely conservative and authoritarian leadership style. Hartmann attributed the fact that the team soldiers of the 45th Infantry Division, in contrast to the officers, hardly received any medals, despite participating in the toughest battles, attributed Hartmann to Kühlwein and Fritz Schlieper to another commander who thought similarly.

family

The son of Lieutenant Karl Kühlwein died on October 11, 1941 as an officer of the 29th Infantry Division at the Battle of Moscow .

Awards (selection)

Works

  • Memorandum for the Unterführer , ES Mittler, Berlin, 1932
  • Field service ABC for the shooter , ES Mittler , Berlin, 1932
  • The group in action (unit group) , continuation of Field Service ABC for the shooter, ES Mittler, Berlin, 1932
  • Unterführer ABC , ES Mittler, Berlin, 1934
  • together with Konrad von Alberti : Riflemen and Company in Action , ES Mittler, Berlin, 1934
  • Combat tactics of the reinforced battalion , ES Mittler, Berlin, 1938
  • together with Konrad von Alberti: Unterführer-Merkbuch for the Rifle and Machine Gun Company , ES Mittler, Berlin, 1939
  • Die Gruppe im Gefecht (The New Group) , continuation of Field Service ABC for the Rifleman, ES Mittler, Berlin, 1940
  • In: 56th annual report of the Historical Association for the County of Ravensberg, Bielefeld 1950/51: The fighting in and around Bielefeld in March and April 1945 . Pp. 269-318.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Christian Hartmann: Wehrmacht in the Eastern War: Front and Military Hinterland 1941/42 . ( limited preview on Google Book Search ).
  2. ^ A b Samuel W. Mitcham: German Order of Battle: 1st-290th Infantry divisions in World War II . Stackpole Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8117-3416-5 , pp. 91 ( google.de [accessed on April 22, 2019]).
  3. ^ Samuel W. Mitcham: German Order of Battle: 291st-999th Infantry divisions, named infantry divisions, and special divisions in World War II . Stackpole Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8117-3437-0 , pp. 100 ( google.de [accessed on April 22, 2019]).
  4. ↑ Wolfgang Keilig: The Generals of the Army 1939-1945 . Podzun-Pallas-Verlag, Friedberg 1983. p. 190
  5. ↑ Federal Archives ( Memento of the original from January 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bundesarchiv.de
  6. ^ Samuel W. Mitcham: German Order of Battle: 1st-290th Infantry divisions in World War II . Stackpole Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8117-3416-5 , pp. 196 ( google.de [accessed April 22, 2019]).
  7. ↑ a b Christian Hartmann: Wehrmacht in the Eastern War. Front and military hinterland 1941/42 . R. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 2009, p. 236.
personal data
SURNAME Kühlwein, Fritz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kühlwein, Friedrich Karl (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer, most recently lieutenant general
DATE OF BIRTH November 29, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Hatten , Alsace
DATE OF DEATH September 25, 1972
Place of death Nuremberg