Heinrich von Lüttwitz

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz (born December 6, 1896 in Krumpach ; † October 9, 1969 in Neuburg an der Donau ) was a German officer , most recently a general of the tank troops in World War II . He comes from the old Silesian noble family Lüttwitz .

Life

From Lüttwitz occurred after the outbreak of the First World War on August 10, 1914 as a cadet in the Regiment of Lancers "Emperor Alexander III. von Russland ”(West Prussian) No. 1 . On October 29, 1914 he was promoted to ensign and on December 1, 1914 to lieutenant . As such, von Lüttwitz continued to serve as platoon leader on the Eastern Front in the fight against the Russian Army even after his transfer to the Reserve Dragoon Regiment No. 3 .

After the war, one joined by Lüttwitz first volunteer corps and was with this in border patrol East before joining the Reichswehr was acquired and in the 8th (Prussian) Reiter Regiment came. Here he remained in various functions until September 30, 1936. First he was employed in the 1st Squadron in Militsch , then from 1929 in the regimental staff in Oels and from April 1931 as chief of the 4th Squadron in Namslau . On October 1, 1935, von Lüttwitz returned to the regimental staff. While he was part of the regiment, he was promoted to first lieutenant on April 1, 1925 , Rittmeister on February 1, 1931, and major on January 1, 1936 . On October 1, 1936, he took over the I. Division of Cavalry Regiment 4 in Allenstein , from which later u. a. Reconnaissance Division 1 was established.

Von Lüttwitz was promoted to lieutenant colonel on March 1, 1939 , and was given command of the reconnaissance department on August 27, 1939, which he led until he was wounded on September 2 when he attacked Poland at the beginning of World War II. After a stay in the hospital, he was transferred to the Führer Reserve on September 11, 1939 and, after his recovery, on July 1, 1940, he was appointed commander of the 59th Rifle Battalion. Lüttwitz then took over the 1st Battalion of the 11th Rifle Regiment on September 4, 1940 and was appointed commander of the 101 Rifle Regiment on October 16, 1940. After the beginning of the war against the Soviet Union , he took on the same function on June 28, 1941, the 59th Rifle Regiment. On October 1, 1941 von Lüttwitz was promoted to colonel . He gave up the regiment a year later to take over the 20th Rifle Brigade. He kept command even after it was renamed the 20th Panzer Grenadier Brigade. From November 1, 1942 to May 4, 1943 von Lüttwitz acted as commander of the 20th Panzer Division on the Eastern Front in the area of Army Group Center and was promoted to major general on December 1, 1942 . He then came to the High Command of the Wehrmacht and worked here as chief of the special staff until January 31, 1944. As Lieutenant General (since June 4, 1943), Lüttwitz took over the 2nd Panzer Division , with which he was deployed on the invasion front after the Allied landing in Normandy. After he had given up command again on September 4, 1944, he was entrusted with the management of the XXXXVII. Panzer Corps and appointed him commanding general of the corps on November 9, 1944 while simultaneously being promoted to General of the Panzer Troops . During the Ardennes offensive (from December 16, 1944) he took part with his association in the battle for Bastogne and the siege of Bastogne .

The association was renamed on April 6, 1945 during the Battle of the Ruhr Basin in Lüttwitz Army Department . There von Lüttwitz was taken prisoner by the US on April 16, 1945 , from which he was released on July 1, 1947.

Awards

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Appendix to the book , BASTOGNE - The First Eight Days
  2. ↑ a b Ranking list of the German Imperial Army. Ed .: Reichswehr Ministry , Mittler & Sohn Verlag, Berlin 1930, p. 155
  3. ↑ a b Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearer 1939–1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , p. 519.
personal data
SURNAME Lüttwitz, Heinrich von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lüttwitz, Heinrich Freiherr von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer and general of the tank force in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH December 6, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH Krumpach
DATE OF DEATH October 9, 1969
Place of death Neuburg on the Danube