Günther von Manteuffel

Günther von Manteuffel (around 1914)

Joachim Kurt Günther Ewald von Manteuffel (born October 4, 1891 in Weimar , † February 19, 1962 in Bad Salzuflen ) was a German major general in World War II .

Life

Günther was the son of the insurance officer Franz Ewald Konstantin von Manteuffel (1855-1940) and his wife Anna Therese, née Martini (1872-1911). Manteuffel first attended grammar schools in Weimar and Saalfeld before joining the Guard Grenadier Regiment No. 5 of the Prussian Army in Spandau in 1911 as a flag junior . After attending the Engers War School , he was promoted to lieutenant on August 18, 1913 .

First World War

In the First World War Manteuffel could excel. In the Battle of Namur from August 21 to 24, 1914, he undertook a risky patrol to behind enemy lines, for which he was awarded the Iron Cross, 2nd class. On October 18, 1914, he led a company as the youngest officer of the 3rd Guard Division while retreating at the Battle of Ivangorod . At the end of November 1914, after his breakthrough from the Lowitsch pocket near the Polish town of Brzeziny , under Lieutenant General Karl Litzmann , he was awarded the Iron Cross First Class for his bravery and good leadership of his company. Manteuffel later received the Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern .

Interwar years

After the end of the war, Manteuffel was accepted into the Reichswehr in 1920. Initially as an orderly officer at Military District Command III , he was dismissed at the end of the year due to the reduction in the army. Two years later, the lieutenant joined the 4th (Prussian) cavalry regiment . On December 1, 1924, he was promoted to first lieutenant . In 1926 he was transferred to the 2nd squadron of the regiment in Perleberg . In 1928 he began his service in the Potsdam regimental staff of the Reiter Regiment. On April 1, 1929, he was promoted to Rittmeister , and at the same time he took over the 1st Squadron as chief .

In 1935 the Reichswehr formed into the Wehrmacht and Manteuffel was given a position with the staff of the motor vehicle department in Potsdam. There he was appointed major on August 1, 1935 , and later, in the same year, commander of the 3 motorbike battalion in Bad Freienwalde (Oder) within the 3rd Panzer Division . In 1938 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel .

Second World War

When the Second World War broke out , Manteuffel took part in the attack on Poland . On December 1, 1939, he took over command of the 3rd Rifle Regiment in the western campaign , which was set up on October 15, 1935 at the Altengrabow military training area , in Wehrkreis XI (Hanover) . In the course of this, he was promoted to colonel in 1940 . Further commands followed: in 1942 in the Rifle Replacement Regiment 83 and in 1943 in the 19th Panzer Grenadier Brigade (known as the Colonel von Manteuffel strike group ), before he was awarded the German Cross in Gold that same year . With this award he took over the leadership of the 1st ski hunter brigade until May 1944 . At the beginning of the war year 1944 he took over the leadership of the later 16th Panzer Grenadier Division , which was set up in June 1943 and was formed from the 16th Infantry Division . In 1944 he was appointed commander of the Aalborg defense area , later commander of the Jutland defense area (North Jutland division). For his achievements he was promoted to major general in the same year.

Manteuffel was taken prisoner of war in May 1945 , from which he was released in 1947.

family

Manteuffel married Minna-Luise von Zelewski-Hackebeck (1895-1959) on May 23, 1920 in Potsdam. After the death of his first wife, he married Edith Müller (* 1921) in Bad Salzuflen on January 30, 1960. Both marriages remained childless.

literature

• Georg Schmidt : The von Manteuffel family. Polzin and Arnhausen tribe of the Pomeranian family. Berlin 1915.
• Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr .: The Panzer Legions. A Guide to the German Army Tank Divisions of World War II and Their Commanders. 2006, p. 198. online .
• Mitcham, Samuel W., Jr. (2007). German Order of Battle. Volume Two: 291st - 999th Infantry Divisions, Named Infantry Divisions, and Special Divisions in WWII. PA; United States of America: Stackpole Books. P. 237, ISBN 978-0-8117-3437-0 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Genealogical handbook of noble houses . A 12, volume 55 of the complete series, CA Starke Verlag , Limburg (Lahn) 1973, p. 228.
2. ↑ Reichswehr Ministry (Ed.): Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1924, p. 178.