Army Group Upper Rhine

The commander Upper Rhine / Army Group Upper Rhine was a major unit of the Army of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War . It only existed in this form from December 2, 1944 to January 29, 1945.

history

After the Allies landed in southern France ( Operation Dragoon ) in August 1944, the French-American 6th Army Group initially pushed German Army Group G back into the Vosges . In November the German 19th Army was bypassed by simultaneous attacks by the 1st French Army in the south and the 7th US Army in the north and has since defended the Alsace bridgehead , while the Allies had reached the Upper Rhine near Mulhouse and Strasbourg . Hitler, who mistrusted his generals, appointed Reichsführer SS and commander of the reserve army Heinrich Himmler as Commander-in-Chief Upper Rhine on December 2, 1944 and hived off the 19th Army from the command structure of Commander-in-Chief West to subordinate it to Himmler. Himmler's task was to prevent any further loss of territory in this area. However, he was unable to cope with this because he lacked any experience in leading military units.

An attempt to retake Strasbourg as part of the Nordwind company , which began on December 31 , failed in mid-January, as did the entire company. After a life-threatening crisis had developed in the course of the Soviet Vistula-Oder operation on the Eastern Front from January 12, 1945, Himmler was commissioned by Hitler to set up the Vistula Army Group , for which purpose Himmler's previous staff was transferred to Poland. Himmler's post was taken on by SS Colonel Group Leader Paul Hausser on January 23 , after the command post had been renamed to Army Group Upper Rhine on January 22 . However, on January 25, Hausser was appointed the new Commander-in-Chief of Army Group G and the Upper Rhine Army Group was dissolved by January 29. The staff of OB Oberrhein was used to reorganize the 11th Army .

Commander in chief

• December 2, 1944 - January 21, 1945 Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler
• January 23, 1945 - January 29, 1945 SS Colonel Group Leader Paul Hausser

Structure of the Army Group

Only inadequately documented at the Federal Archives, only appendices to the war diary of the chief quartermaster and a few written orders from the commander in chief have been preserved.

Web links

• Finding aid for inventory RH 19-XIV in the Federal Archives

Individual evidence

1. ^ Basys 2 - Invenio. Retrieved October 21, 2019 .