Maximilian Wengler

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Maximilian Wengler (1942)
Today's memorial stone in the area of ​​the former "Wengler Nose"

Paul Moritz Maximilian Wengler (born January 14, 1890 in Roßwein , † April 25, 1945 near Pillau-Neutief ) was a German major general in the reserve in World War II . In the interwar period he was an insurance director .

Life

Maximilian was one of four children of Max Wengler and Bertha Emilie, née Kruspe.

Wengler joined the 9th Royal Saxon Infantry Regiment No. 133 in Zwickau on November 28, 1909 and was promoted to lieutenant on August 15, 1910 . With the outbreak of the First World War and the mobilization, he moved with his regiment in association with the 40th Division (4th Royal Saxon) via Belgium in France . During the Battle of the Marne , he was able to prove himself despite being injured in his leg at Somme-Py and Vitry-le-François . For his services Wengler was awarded on October 15, 1914 by the Saxon King Friedrich August III. entrusted with the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of St. Henry .

After the end of the war and the demobilization of his regiment, Wengler retired from military service on February 25, 1919 as a characterized captain .

In the interwar years, Wengler worked as a branch director of Allianz insurance in Essen .

In the course of the general mobilization in August 1939 Wengler was reactivated as a captain of the reserve for the army (Wehrmacht) and assigned to the 40th Infantry Regiment in Augsburg , where he was used as a company commander . As part of the 27th Infantry Division he took part with this regiment at the beginning of the Second World War in the Polish campaign and in the spring of 1940 in the western campaign. After the end of the French campaign, he was promoted to battalion commander within his regiment, which remained there as an occupation force until November 1940 . After the 27th Infantry Division was dissolved, Wengler's regiment was assigned to the 227th Infantry Division . This division was on the coast of Normandy until about September 1941 for coastal protection. During this period Wengler moved as battalion commander to the 366 Infantry Regiment , which advanced to Leningrad with the 227th Infantry Division in the area of Army Group North and was involved in the beginning of the Leningrad blockade .

The 366 Infantry Regiment, led by Lieutenant Colonel Wengler since the summer of 1942, played a key role in the defense of the German positions in front of Leningrad. What is unusual is that Wengler's name itself appears in contemporary Soviet reports and that he has been described as a tough opponent. When the Red Army broke through the German lines on August 19, 1942 during the First Ladoga Battle , Wengler and his regiment managed to assert themselves in a base north of the incursion near Gaitolowo. Although the unit was temporarily encircled, the Soviets failed to widen their incursion. This was an important prerequisite for the success of a German counterattack that led to the encirclement of the Red Army units. In the following months, too, this front bow remained on the maps as the “Wengler nose”. Wengler himself was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his part in these battles on October 6, 1942 . Later, as a colonel , he received the oak leaves (404th award) on February 22, 1944 and the swords (123rd award) on January 21, 1945 , which made him one of the 148 most decorated soldiers in the Wehrmacht .

On October 15, 1942, his regiment was renamed the Grenadier Regiment 366 , whose commander Wengler remained. After the withdrawal in January / February 1944 Wengler led a careful defense on the Narva , which led to high losses on the part of the Red Army. In recognition of this achievement, Wengler was appointed commander of the 227th Infantry Division on May 11, 1944. In the Wehrmacht Wengler was mentioned for the defensive behavior of his division at Liepna on August 3, 1944 by name.

Under pressure from the Soviet offensives, the division was part of the 18th Army , later the 16th Army, initially in the Pleskau area and then gradually pushed towards Courland via Livonia . From February 1945 Wengler's division was under the Vistula Army Group . On March 27, 1945 Wengler was promoted to Major General the Elder. R. (with RDA from October 1, 1944) appointed commander of the 83rd Infantry Division and successor to Lieutenant General Wilhelm Heun . This was astonishing as there were only 15 reserve officers in the Wehrmacht who achieved the rank of general. During the fighting for Pillau, Wengler was killed during an air raid by the detonation of an aerial bomb on April 25, 1945. His successor was Colonel Hellmuth Raatz , who surrendered to the Red Army a day later, on April 26, 1945.

literature

  • Erwin Dickhoff: Essen heads: who was what? , Bacht, Essen 1985, also in: German Biographical Archive, III, 982, 17 ( online )
  • Wolfgang Keilig: The Generals of the Army 1939–1945 . Podzun-Pallas-Verlag, Friedberg 1983, ISBN 3-7909-0202-0 , p. 242.
  • Gerhard von Seemen: The knight's cross bearers 1939 to 1945 , Bad Nauheim 1955.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Josef Folttmann, Hanns Möller-Witten : sacrifice of the generals: the losses of the generals and admirals and the other officers and officials in the same rank in World War II , Berlin, 1957, p. 36
  2. ↑ John R. Angolia, Roger James Bender: On the field of honor: A history of the Knight's Cross bearers , Volume 2, 1979, p. 335.
  3. ↑ The Royal Saxon Military St. Heinrichs-Orden 1736-1918, A Ehrenblatt of the Saxon Army , Wilhelm and Bertha von Baensch-Stiftung, Dresden 1937, p. 698.
  4. ^ Reinhard Stumpf: The Wehrmacht Elite , 1982, p. 71
  5. ↑ Robert Forczyk : Leningrad 1941-44: The Epic Siege , p. 15
  6. ↑ Hartwig Pohlman: Wolchow: 900 days battle for Leningrad , p. 66
  7. ↑ Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearers 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. 778.
  8. ↑ Robert Forczyk: Leningrad 1941-44: The Epic Siege , p. 15
  9. ↑ The Wehrmacht High Command announces ... The German Wehrmacht Report, Volume 3 1944–1945 , Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1982, ISBN 3-7648-1282-6 , p. 188.
  10. ^ Reinhard Stumpf: The Wehrmacht Elite , 1982, p. 64
personal data
SURNAME Wengler, Maximilian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wengler, Maximilian Paul Moritz (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Major General of the Reserve in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH January 14, 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH Horse wine
DATE OF DEATH April 25, 1945
Place of death Pillau-Neutief