Günther Hoffmann-Schoenborn

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Günther Hoffmann-Schoenborn (born May 1, 1905 in Posen , † April 4, 1970 in Bad Kreuznach ) was German major general in the Wehrmacht in World War II .

Military background

Hoffmann joined the Reichswehr on April 1, 1924 and was assigned to the 3rd (Prussian) Artillery Regiment in Frankfurt (Oder) . There he served first in the 10th, later the 8th battery. He passed the Fahnenjunker exam at the beginning of July 1925. On July 15, he was appointed Fahnenjunker Corporal and that of Fahnenjunker NCO on November 1, 1925. From March to the end of September 1926 Hoffmann attended the infantry school . During this time he was promoted to ensign . He then completed the artillery school in Jüterbog from November 1926 to August 1927 . On February 1, 1928, he was promoted to lieutenant . In 1929 a news course followed and on June 1, 1931 he was promoted to first lieutenant . In October 1934 Hoffmann was promoted to chief of the 11th battery in the Fulda artillery regiment. In October of the following year he was assigned to the War Academy in Berlin, which he completed by summer 1937. During this time Hoffmann was promoted to captain on October 1, 1936 . After the war academy he was briefly employed in the General Staff of the 8th Army and then from August 1937 to March 1939 he joined the General Staff of the Army. In April 1939 he was appointed chief of the 2nd battery in the 42nd Artillery Regiment in Minden . On May 13, 1939, Hoffmann adopted the Schoenborn suffix.

Second World War

After the German invasion of Poland , Schoenborn was appointed commander of the 730 heavy artillery division on October 13, 1939, which he commanded until mid-April 1940. He then led the heavy artillery division 777 in the western campaign as commander . On May 31, 1940 he was awarded the Iron Cross  II and on June 29, 1940 the Cross I Class. In mid-August 1940 briefly transferred to the Fuehrer's reserve, Schoenborn retrained in assault guns.

On October 1, 1940, he was appointed commander of the 191 assault artillery division. This emerged from the artillery training regiment in Jüterbog. On December 1, 1940, he was promoted to major . In January 1941 his department was moved to Ploieşti ( Romania ), where it was supposed to protect the oil fields there. In February 1941 his department was renamed Assault Gun Department 191. In March 1941, the assault gun department was in Bulgaria and marched on the Bulgarian-Greek border in the Livunovo area .

During the Balkan campaign , the 191 assault gun division played a key role in the fighting on the Metaxas line , which led to the surrender of the East Macedonia Army on April 9, 1941 . The department of Schoenborn moved forward via Larisa to Thermopylae . On May 14, 1941, Schoenborn was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross as major and commander of the 191 assault gun division ( 5th Mountain Division in the 12th Army ) . In mid-May 1941 the department was removed from its previous assignment and relocated to Olomouc to refresh .

From June 1941, the assault gun division took part in the Eastern campaign, with Schoenborn being seriously wounded on December 2, 1941 off Moscow . On December 31, 1941, Schoenborn was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (49th award). After his recovery he served from March 1942 to the end of March 1943 as commander of the III. Department in the Artillery Training Regiment 29 in Jüterbog. On March 16, 1942, Schoenborn was promoted to major with a new seniority , and on April 1, 1942, promoted to lieutenant colonel. On December 1, 1942, Schoenborn was appointed commander of the Artillery Training Regiment 2. In August 1943 he rose to the command of the assault gun school in Burg near Magdeburg , where on November 1 of the same year he was promoted to colonel . Schoenborn led this until the end of July 1944. Then he rejoined the Führerreserve. In this he attended a division leader course in Hirschberg until the end of August 1944 .

After a short course for officers in the armored forces, Schoenborn was commissioned on September 15, 1944 with the leadership of the 18th Volksgrenadier Division , whose commander he was promoted to major general on December 1, 1944. The division was recruited at the time from the remaining staff of the 18th Air Force Field Division, which had been broken up in France . Their place of installation was Denmark . The division under Schoenborn then took part in the Wacht am Rhein operation. On February 5, he was reassigned to the Führerreserve to be appointed deputy leadership of the 5th Panzer Division on February 19, 1945 . With this he took part in the fighting for East Prussia until he was wounded (through the thigh) on April 10, 1945. On April 15th he was transferred to Copenhagen on a hospital ship . From August to December 1945 he was in a hospital in Hameln . On December 6, 1945 he became a prisoner of war. Schoenborn was then interned in Adelheide from May 13, 1947 to March 5, 1948 .

post war period

After the war Schoenborn went to Detmold , where he worked in the private sector. In 1952, Schoenborn was proposed as the future division commander for the top management of the future Bundeswehr . However, the proposal was not implemented.

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. Part IV, Volume 6: Hochbaum – Klutmann. Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf 2002, ISBN 3-7648-2582-0 .
  • Franz Thomas, Günter Wegmann: The knight's cross bearers of the German Wehrmacht 1939–1945. Part I: Assault Artillery. Biblio-Verlag, 1999, ISBN 3-7648-1447-0 .
  • Hans Ehlert, Christian Greiner, Georg Meyer, Bruno Thoss: Beginnings of West German Security Policy 1945–1956. Volume 3: The NATO Option. Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 1993, ISBN 3-486-51691-4 .
  • Erwin Lenfeld, Franz Thomas: The oak leaves 1940-1945. Weilburg-Verlag, 1982, ISBN 3-900100-07-1 .
  • Wolfgang Keilig : The generals of the army. Podzun-Pallas Verlag, 1983, ISBN 3-7909-0202-0 , p. 147.
  • Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr .: Panzers in Winter: Hitler's Army and the Battle of the Bulge. Praeger Frederick, 2006, ISBN 0-275-97115-5 . Outline google.books .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thomas / Wegmann p. 134.
  2. ↑ a b Bradley p. 69.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Bradley p. 70.
  4. ↑ a b c d Thomas / Wegmann p. 132.
  5. ↑ a b Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearer 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. 399.
  6. ↑ Mitcham p. 169.
  7. ↑ Ehlert / Greiner / Meyer / Thoß p. 1039. Outline google.books
personal data
SURNAME Hoffmann-Schoenborn, Günther
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German major general in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH May 1, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Poses
DATE OF DEATH April 4th 1970
Place of death Bad Kreuznach