Hans Kloebe

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Hans Kloebe with "Pour le Mérite" and a large " Medal Buckle "

Hans Kloebe (born February 13, 1870 in Syros , Greece ; † November 21, 1958 in Bad Pyrmont ) was a German lieutenant general .

Life

Kloebe lived in his parents' house on the island of Syros in Greece until he was 12 years old. Then he went to school at German grammar schools. In November 1890 he joined as a cadet in the 8th Rhenish Infantry Regiment. 70 of the Prussian army in Saarbrucken one. There he was promoted to second lieutenant on August 22, 1891 and served as adjutant of the 1st Battalion for five years from October 1894 . After being promoted to first lieutenant, Kloebe was a regimental adjutant from October 1, 1902 to February 12, 1906. This was followed by the promotion to captain, a position as adjutant of the Metz governorate . On September 10, 1910, Kloebe returned to service and became company commander in the 3rd Lorraine Infantry Regiment No. 135 . With his promotion to major , he rose to the regimental staff on October 1, 1913.

When the First World War broke out on August 2, 1914, the 3rd Lorraine Infantry Regiment No. 135 formed the Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 98. Kloebe was then appointed commander of the 2nd Battalion in Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 98, which he led in the heavy fighting for Fort Vaux near Verdun until March 1916. In April 1916 he took over as commander of the Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 6. By cabinet order of December 11, 1916, Kloebe was then appointed commander of the Infantry Regiment "von Boyen" (5th East Prussian) No. 41 , which he up to End of war led. The Kloebe tunnel , built near Fort Vaux in 1916 , was named after him.

Kloebe and his regiment had proven themselves in the defensive battles during the spring battle near Arras , especially on April 26-27 and May 3, 1917, which were held as major days of combat by the Supreme Army Command . After receiving both classes of the Iron Cross , he was therefore awarded the Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords. On November 30, 1917, the Battle of Cambrai began , in which Kloebe again showed himself to be a "cold-blooded and prudent leader". So he and his regiment conquered the height 100 west of the Bourlon forest and held it against strong British attacks. For this outstanding act, Kloebe was proposed to be awarded the order Pour le Mérite . He finally received the highest award for bravery in Prussia on January 20, 1918.

Memorial in memory of the accident of March 31, 1925 in Veltheim

In April 1919 Kloebe joined the Lettow-Vorbeck Freikorps and later the 5th Marine Regiment of the Loewenfeld Marine Brigade . He was involved with the volunteers entrusted to him in Upper Silesia and Wroclaw in the Eastern Border Guard and for the restoration of public order. In 1920 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and Kloebe was transferred to the provisional Reichswehr on October 1, 1920 on the staff of the newly established 9th Infantry Regiment . On March 23, 1921, the Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic was founded. Kloebe received the patent as a colonel , was appointed city ​​commander of Berlin on April 1, 1921 and was also the commander of the Berlin Guard Regiment . On December 1, 1922, Kloebe was appointed commander of the 18th Infantry Regiment in Paderborn . During a military exercise by the regiment on March 31, 1925, 81 people, including a civilian, were killed in the Veltheim ferry accident on the Weser . A memorial in Veltheim still commemorates the tragic event.

A commission of inquiry exonerated the regimental leadership regarding the responsibility of this catastrophe. As regimental commander Kloebe assumed the political responsibility and was awarded the character as a Major General retires.

After his departure, Kloebe worked from 1928 to 1936 as the leader of the Westphalia State Association in the German Officers' Association . Subsequently, until the end of September 1938, he was leader of the Münster group of the Soldiers' Union in Military District VI. In the meantime Kloebe had been made available to the army of the Wehrmacht on July 27, 1938, but without giving him an active command. On the occasion of the Tannenberg Day , Kloebe was given the character of Lieutenant General on August 27, 1939. After the beginning of the Second World War he acted from November 15, 1939 to June 30, 1943 as the leader of the Gaukriegerverband Mitte, based in Hanover. On April 30, 1943, his ZV position was canceled.

family

Kloebe was married to Adelheid Korn. From this marriage the three daughters Sigrid (* December 16, 1896), Ingeborg (* October 13, 1902) and Margot (* January 11, 1904) emerged.

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. Volume 6: Hochbaum – Klutmann. Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf 2002, ISBN 3-7648-2582-0 , pp. 536-537.
  • Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Christian Zweig: The knights of the order Pour le Mérite of the First World War. Volume 2: HO. Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf 2003, ISBN 3-7648-2516-2 , pp. 223-225.
  • Hanns Möller: History of the knights of the order "pour le mérite" in the world war. Volume 1: A-L. Bernard & Graefe publishing house, Berlin 1935, pp. 583-585.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jürgen Kraus : Handbook of the units and troops of the German army 1914-1918. Part VI: Infantry. Volume 2: Reserve and Landwehr Infantry. Verlag Militaria, Vienna 2012, ISBN 978-3-902526-52-6 , p. 112.
  2. ↑ Mundt: The 18th Infantry Regiment from 1921 to 1932. Detmold 1932, pp. 103-107.
  3. ↑ Gedbas.genealogy.net/person/show accessed on July 18, 2016
personal data
SURNAME Kloebe, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German lieutenant general
DATE OF BIRTH February 13, 1870
PLACE OF BIRTH Syros , Greece
DATE OF DEATH November 21, 1958
Place of death Bad Pyrmont