Hans von Sommerfeld

Hans von Sommerfeld (born January 7, 1888 in Magdeburg , † January 10, 1961 in Rheine ) was a German lieutenant general in the Wehrmacht .

origin

Hans von Sommerfeld comes from a Prussian officer family: his great-grandfather August was a Prussian major general and his grandfather Konstantin (1815–1866) fell as a lieutenant colonel in the battle of Königgrätz . His parents were Major General Kurt von Sommerfeld (1846-1905) and his wife Wilhelmine Anna Therese von Staff (born November 20, 1850).

Life

After visiting the cadet institute , Sommerfeld was employed as an ensign in the infantry regiment "Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia" (2nd Magdeburgisches) No. 27 of the Prussian Army in Halberstadt. Father and grandfather had already served in this regiment. Lieutenant since 1906 , Sommerfeld was commanded for one year in Magdeburg Pioneer Battalion No. 4 in 1912 . At the beginning of the First World War he took part in the conquest of Liège , was wounded and awarded the Iron Cross, 2nd class. His recovery and the Emperor's birthday in 1915 to lieutenant promoted, he became the leader of the MG - Company appointed. Sommerfeld received the Iron Cross First Class and was promoted to captain on June 27, 1916 . In July and September 1916 he was wounded again. Again on the western front , Sommerfeld was used as a battalion commander and in the summer of 1918 was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords, the Military Merit Cross III. Class awarded with war decoration and the wound badge in silver.

After the war, Sommerfeld was accepted into the provisional Reichswehr . He served in the Great General Staff , in the High Command of the Border Guard South in Breslau and in the Voluntary State Hunters Corps . From 1921 he was company commander of the 1st company in the 12th Infantry Regiment . He was transferred to the Reichswehr Ministry at the beginning of 1928 , where he was promoted to major on February 1, 1930 . Four years later, promoted to lieutenant colonel and reassigned to the 12th Infantry Regiment, he was appointed commander of the 2nd battalion in Quedlinburg .

With the armament of the Wehrmacht , he took over the newly established 33rd Infantry Regiment in Dessau . Colonel since November 1, 1935 , he moved into the Sudeten crisis with the regiment in October 1938 . From April 1939 he was in command of Army Service 9, which first became Border Guard Section Command 9 and then became the 526th Infantry Division . Sommerfeld took over on October 1, 1939, as major general and commander. In November 1940, the 306th Infantry Division was subordinated to him, which was used as an occupation force in the 15th Army in Belgium from April 1941 . He received the iron cross braces and was promoted to lieutenant general on September 1, 1941. In November 1942 he took over Division No. 452 . From 1945 to 1947 he was a US prisoner of war . He died three days after his 73rd birthday.

literature

• Zwölfer-Bund, Kameradschafter former 12s – 467s – 27s, bulletin no. 134 (2018), pp. 13–14.
• Gothaisches genealogisches Taschenbuch der Briefadeligen houses, 1907, first year, p.732

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.vongoetze.com/egf/abfrage.pl?aktion=person_haben&person_id=14625&sprache=da
2. ↑ http://www.vongoetze.com/egf/abfrage.pl?aktion=person_haben&person_id=14627&sprache=da