Günther Krappe

Günther Krappe (* 13. April 1893 in shields in Pomerania , Pomerania , † 31 December 1981 in Altena , North Rhine-Westphalia ) was a German officer , last lieutenant general in World War II .

Life

Günther Krappe joined the Fusilier Regiment 34 on September 25, 1912 as a flag junior. In March of the following year he was promoted to lieutenant with patent. During the First World War he was mainly used as a platoon and company commander. He was promoted to first lieutenant in May 1917. After the war was over in the Reichswehr , he was assigned to the 4th Infantry Regiment. Here he worked from January 1922 as adjutant of the 2nd battalion. He was promoted to captain in December 1925 and served as company commander in the following year. On October 1, 1930 he became 1 c-officer with the staff of the 2nd Division and in the following period occupied further budget positions in the 15 cavalry regiment and then in the artillery regiment. In this position he was promoted to major in April 1934 and in 1935 as commander of the III. Battalion in the 59th Infantry Regiment. In the rank of lieutenant colonel he changed in October as commander of the III. Battalion in the 73rd Infantry Regiment, where he was promoted to colonel in early 1939 . At the time of the German attack on Poland, he was in command of Supplementary Regiment I at the Danzig location.

As a military attaché

Shortly before the start of the war, Günther Krappe had been selected to serve as a military attaché. Due to the war, however, there was no mandatory preparation and familiarization period, because he was briefly deployed as a military attaché in Budapest on October 1, 1939 . Here he replaced Theodor Wrede (1888–1973) from his post. Chargé d'affaires of the German embassy in Hungary at that time was Otto von Erdmannsdorff (1888–1978). Krappe performed this area of responsibility until April 1941. After a short handover time with his successor as military attaché Colonel Rudolf Toussaint (1891–1986), he moved to Spain . In Madrid he started his service on October 1, 1941, replacing Colonel Bruns. His superior at the German embassy in Spain was Eberhard von Stohrer (1883–1953). At his side worked here as naval attaché, Captain Kurt Meyer-Döhner (* 1899) and as air attaché, Colonel von Bülow. The task of the deployed military attachés consisted primarily of maintaining Spain's role in the Anti-Comintern Pact , which it had joined in 1939. Germany's efforts to draw Spain into the war as an active partner shaped the actions of the German legation in Madrid. In the current state of war from 1941, the territory of Spain played an important role for Germany on the one hand for the observation and control of the strategic movements of the British and US armed forces as well as their war transports towards the western front, but also in the Mediterranean area. On the other hand, Spain was an important supplier for Germany of the urgently needed war raw materials, but also for weapons and various war equipment. Therefore, the military attachés with their contacts in military circles and their undercover groups had to ensure that information about logistical movements of larger military units of the war opponents was available to the OKW "Foreign Heere-West" in good time. At the military transshipment points and production facilities for weapons, equipment and raw materials, they worked with the Spanish secret service to ensure that disruptions, sabotage and espionage activities were largely prevented. But they also organized their own espionage and sabotage campaigns against Great Britain, the USA and France, for example when supplying war material or human resources to these countries. This also included cracking down on anti-German Spanish groups. Because time and again there were tendencies in Spanish economic and military circles to turn to the USA or Great Britain from certain pragmatic points of view or to carry out anti-German disruptive actions. Compared to the other military attachés, Krappe's period of service in Spain was relatively short. It was only a year. In November he was promoted to major general and shortly thereafter transferred to the OKH leader reserve. His successor, Colonel Otzen, took over the business of military attaché in Madrid in December 1941.

In troop service

On January 18, 1943, Günther Krappe was assigned to the division leader course at the Panzer Troop School in Wünsdorf. After graduation he was then commissioned from February 12, 1943 with the leadership of the 61st Infantry Division and was its commander from May 1st. During this time he was promoted to lieutenant general in October 1943, and in December he moved to the Führerreserve at the Army High Command. As part of the company Sonnenwende (1945) he was briefly commanding general of the X. SS Army Corps from February 1945 and was taken prisoner by the Soviets on March 6. He was then released from captivity on March 1, 1949.

Günther Krappe died on December 31, 1981 in Altena, in the Westphalia area.

Awards

Iron Cross (1914) 2nd and 1st class
Clasp for the Iron Cross, 2nd and 1st class
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on April 11, 1944

literature

Dermot Bradley: Die Generale des Heeres 1921-1945, Volume 4: Fleck-Gyldenfeldt, Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1996, ISBN 3-7648-2488-3 , p. 412f.
Hans Hildebrand, Formation history and staffing of the German armed forces 1915–1945, Volume 1, Biblio Verlag Osnabrück 2000,
Manfred Kehring, The re-establishment of the German military attaché service after the First World War (1919–1933), Harald Boldt Verlag, Boppard am Rhein 1966
Wolfgang Keilig: Ranking list of the German army 1944/1945, Podzun-Verlag 1955
Ottomar Krug, German Generals 1918–1945, Federal Archives Freiburg, signature MSG 109/10854
Jörg Ruhl, Spain during World War II: German-Spanish relations from the Barbarossa company to the surrender, Hoffmann and Campe Verlag, Hamburg 1975
Leo Stern, German Imperialism and the Second World War, Rütten & Loenig Verlag Berlin, 1962, p. 60
Lists of persons, biographical representations and interrogation protocols about German actors of the NSDAP, the Foreign Office, the SD, the Abwehr and commercial enterprises who were active in Spain from 1935 to 1945; in: https://archive.org/stream/THEFACTUALLISTOFNAZISPROTECTEDBYSPAIN/

Individual evidence

^ Dermot Bradley: Die Generale des Heeres 1921–1945, Volume 4: Fleck-Gyldenfeldt, Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1996, ISBN 3-7648-2488-3 , p. 412f.
^ Manfred Kehring, The re-establishment of the German military attaché service after the First World War (1919–1933), Harald Boldt Verlag, Boppard am Rhein 1966, p. 228f.
↑ Jörg Ruhl, Spain in World War II: German-Spanish Relations from the Barbarossa Company to the Capitulation, Hoffmann and Campe Verlag, Hamburg 1975
↑ Lists of persons, biographical representations and interrogation protocols on German actors of the NSDAP, the Foreign Office, the SD, the Abwehr and commercial enterprises who were active in Spain from 1935 to 1945; in: https://archive.org/stream/THEFACTUALLISTOFNAZISPROTECTEDBYSPAIN/
^ Manfred Kehring, The re-establishment of the German military attaché service after the First World War (1919–1933), Harald Boldt Verlag, Boppard am Rhein 1966
↑ Leo Stern: The German Imperialism and the Second World War , Rütten & Loenig, 1962, p. 60 ( limited preview on Google Book Search ).
↑ 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 .
↑ Walther-Peer Fellgiebel : The bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939-1945 - The holder of the highest award of the Second World War of all parts of the Wehrmacht . Dörfler Verlag, Eggolsheim 2004, ISBN 3-7909-0284-5 , p. 272 .

personal data
SURNAME	Krappe, Günther
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German officer, most recently lieutenant general in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH	April 13, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH	Shields near Dramburg , Western Pomerania
DATE OF DEATH	December 31, 1981
Place of death	Altena , North Rhine-Westphalia

[1] Dermot Bradley: Die Generale des Heeres 1921–1945, Volume 4: Fleck-Gyldenfeldt, Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1996, ISBN 3-7648-2488-3 , p. 412f.

[2] Manfred Kehring, The re-establishment of the German military attaché service after the First World War (1919–1933), Harald Boldt Verlag, Boppard am Rhein 1966, p. 228f.

[3] Jörg Ruhl, Spain in World War II: German-Spanish Relations from the Barbarossa Company to the Capitulation, Hoffmann and Campe Verlag, Hamburg 1975

[4] Lists of persons, biographical representations and interrogation protocols on German actors of the NSDAP, the Foreign Office, the SD, the Abwehr and commercial enterprises who were active in Spain from 1935 to 1945; in: https://archive.org/stream/THEFACTUALLISTOFNAZISPROTECTEDBYSPAIN/

[5] Manfred Kehring, The re-establishment of the German military attaché service after the First World War (1919–1933), Harald Boldt Verlag, Boppard am Rhein 1966

[6] Leo Stern: The German Imperialism and the Second World War , Rütten & Loenig, 1962, p. 60 ( limited preview on Google Book Search ).

[7] 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 .

[8] Walther-Peer Fellgiebel : The bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939-1945 - The holder of the highest award of the Second World War of all parts of the Wehrmacht . Dörfler Verlag, Eggolsheim 2004, ISBN 3-7909-0284-5 , p. 272 .