Gerd Niepold

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Gerd Niepold (born May 25, 1913 in Stargard , Pomerania , † October 25, 2007 ) was a German officer in the Wehrmacht and Bundeswehr .

Career

Career in the Third Reich

Niepold was born in Stargard in West Pomerania in 1913 . He graduated from high school and became a flagjunker in the 11th (Saxon) Infantry Regiment in Leipzig . In this unit he held several functions as an intelligence platoon leader, battalion adjutant and company commander. When war broke out in 1939, Niepold was an orderly officer in the staff of the IV Army Corps, which had its headquarters in Dresden (Military District IV). His further career included several posts as General Staff Officer such as Adjutant at Oberquartiermeister I in the OKH and First General Staff Officer of the Pomeranian 12th Infantry Division and the XXXXVII. Panzer Corps. He took part in campaigns in Poland , France and Russia . Niepold later saw the failure of the Wehrmacht in the German-Soviet war , especially in the war winter of 1941/42, as mainly due to Hitler's rigid stance and his " dictatorial leadership style ". Due to this fact, the implementation of the order tactics (leading by order) and a flexible interpretation of instructions were no longer possible. It was " a criminal lack of mental agility in the top management with regard to future developments ." At the end of the war, Niepold was Lieutenant Colonel i. G. and teaching officer at the War Academy. In 1945 he was taken prisoner by the US.

Career in the Bundeswehr

After the Second World War, Niepold turned to a civilian profession. In Osnabrück he worked as a carpenter and continued his education at state building schools in Oldenburg and Mainz . In 1950 he received the engineering exam for civil engineering and was construction manager in a Frankfurt architectural office. Not until 1956 did Niepold return to military service after the formation of the Bundeswehr. He successfully completed a course at the management academy in Bad Ems and was appointed head of staff. Niepold succeeded Major General Werner Haag and commanded the 6th Panzer Grenadier Division in Neumünster from September 1, 1965 to September 30, 1968. He was then transferred to Koblenz . In 1969 he took as the commanding general of Koblenzer III. Corps (October 1, 1968 to September 30, 1972) took part in the corps combat exercise "Großer Rösselsprung" between Fulda and Paderborn in Central Germany . Lieutenant General Gerd Niepold as Commander-in-Chief of III. Corps got into the media when it turned down applications from conscripts to start studying early. Defense Minister Gerhard Schröder (CDU) had decreed in 1969 that prospective students could be given early leave two months before their release date.

Honors

Publications

  • Lieutenant General a. D. Gerd Niepold: Leadership of Army Group Middle from June to August 1944, in: Mars. Yearbook for Defense Policy and Military Affairs 2 (1996), pp. 456–469.
  • Gerd Niepold: Tank operations summer 44 - "Doppelkopf" and "Caesar", ES Mittler & Sohn GmbH Herford, 1987, ISBN 3-8132-0259-3

Web links

Notes and individual references

  1. ^ Obituary in FAZ No. 260 of November 8, 2007, p. 38 without specifying the place of death
  2. ↑ Ia
  3. ↑ drawn up on June 21, 1942
  4. ↑ Michael Salewski and Guntram Schulze-Wegener von Steiner: War year 1944. In the big and in the small (historical messages - supplements), Steiner (Franz), December 1995, ISBN 978-3-515-06674-7 , p. 9
  5. ↑ DER SPIEGEL No. 40/1968 of September 30, 1968, personal details Gerd Niepold, Reinhold Rehs, Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Richard Stücklen, Frederik IX., Francine Gottfried
  6. ↑ DER SPIEGEL 38/1969, Bundeswehr / Maneuver: Reiches Praise from September 15, 1969
  7. ↑ DER SPIEGEL 20/1970, Bundeswehr / Niepold: Karge Quote from May 11, 1970
personal data
SURNAME Niepold, Gerd
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer in the Wehrmacht and Bundeswehr
DATE OF BIRTH May 25, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Stargard in Pomerania
DATE OF DEATH October 25, 2007