Johannes Poeppel

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Poeppel (left) with Helmut Schmidt in the Federal Chancellery, 1981

Johannes Poeppel (born July 20, 1921 in Schivelbein ; † September 29, 2007 ) was a lieutenant general in the army of the Bundeswehr and most recently from 1979 to 1981 inspector of the army .

Military career

From 1931 to 1939 Poeppel attended high school in Berlin and on December 1, 1939, joined the Pomeranian Artillery Regiment 32 as an officer candidate , to which he belonged throughout the Second World War . After serving as battery chief for a long time , he was captain and regiment adjutant at the end of the war . He escaped from being a Soviet prisoner of war in 1945 by fleeing.

From 1947 to 1949 he completed his studies at the "Pedagogical Academy Celle " ( Adolf-Reichwein-Hochschule Celle ), interrupted by a semester at the University of Manchester. In 1949 he got a job as a teacher in Wriedel in the Uelzen district . After passing the second teaching degree with distinction, he worked as an assistant for practical pedagogy at the Osnabrück University of Education from 1952 to 1954 .

After the Bundeswehr was founded in 1955, Poeppel applied for a takeover and was reactivated as captain in the same year. 1958-1961 he participated in the Staff College in Hamburg at the general staff training part and was then staff officer at the First Corps in Münster under the command of Lieutenant General Heinz Trettner . Afterwards he was personal adjutant to the inspectors general Friedrich Foertsch and Trettner until 1964 . After this assignment he became commander of the artillery regiment 3 ( division troops of the 3rd Panzer Division ) belonging to field artillery battalion 31 in Lüneburg . In 1967 he served with Lieutenant General Josef Moll and Albert Schnez as a planning officer in the command staff of the Army in the Federal Ministry of Defense in Bonn .

From January 1, 1970 to March 31, 1973 Poeppel again took over a troop command, this time the Panzer Grenadier Brigade 1 in Hildesheim , where he was also appointed Brigadier General in 1971 . Finally, from May 1, 1973 to March 31, 1978, he led the jokingly "Eismeer Division", because it was stationed in the northernmost position, 6th Panzer Grenadier Division in Neumünster . In this employment he was appointed major general.

Farewell visit by Poeppel (r.) To Federal President Karl Carstens in September 1981

On April 1, 1978 Poeppel returned to Bonn and was appointed as the successor to Lieutenant General Rüdiger von Reichert - and promoted to this rank - as Deputy Inspector General of the Bundeswehr , General Harald Wust . Exactly one year later, on April 1, 1979, he replaced the then Inspector of the Army Lieutenant General Horst Hildebrandt . During Poeppel's tenure as inspector of the army, among other things, the regrouping of the army formations fell into smaller, more flexible and more easily manageable combat formations. He advocated the maintenance of the military concept of forward defense several times and warned against austerity measures at the expense of the quality of the army. He also spoke out resolutely for an improvement in the training of NCOs.

On October 1, 1981, Poeppel retired. His successor as inspector of the army was the previous commanding general of the II Corps in Ulm , Lieutenant General Meinhard Glanz .

Private

Poeppel had been married since 1947. His wife Edelgard comes from a neighboring Poeppels estate in Western Pomerania. Son Burkhart was also an officer in the German Armed Forces until the end of May 2008, while his daughter Susanne studied at the PH in Bonn .

Hans Poeppel was an active athlete. He sailed and played tennis . He was particularly interested in modern history.

Honors

  • 1979: Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
  • 1981: Great Cross of Merit with Star of the Federal Republic of Germany

literature

Web links

Commons : Johannes Poeppel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ see division troops 3rd Panzer Division in the structure of the field army (Bundeswehr, Army Structure 4)
personal data
SURNAME Poeppel, Johannes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German military, lieutenant general of the army of the Bundeswehr and inspector of the army
DATE OF BIRTH July 20, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH Schivelbein
DATE OF DEATH September 29, 2007