Peter von der Groeben

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Peter von der Groeben (born December 19, 1903 in Langheim ; † May 29, 2002 in Kiel ) was a German officer , most recently major general and deputy commander of Allied Command Baltic Approaches (BALTAP).

Life

As the brother of Klaus and Hans , Peter von der Groeben joined the Reichswehr on April 1, 1924 as a flag junior . He served in the 9th (Prussian) cavalry regiment , in which he became regimental adjutant in 1932 . In the same year he came to the General Staff of Group Command 1 in Berlin .

Accepted into the Wehrmacht , he moved into World War II : in 1939 as Ib in Army Group North , in 1941 as Ia in 86th Infantry Division and in 1942 as Ia in Army Group Center . On December 6, 1944, he became the commander of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, which was expanded into the 3rd Cavalry Division in February 1945 . After the surrender he was taken prisoner of war in the US ( Garmisch , Neustadt (Hessen) ), from which he was released at the end of 1947. During his captivity, von der Groeben worked as part of the German department of the United States Army's war history research group , the Operational History (German) Section of the Historical Division, to develop studies on World War II. Before joining the Bundeswehr , he was a farm worker and commercial clerk .

In 1957 he was taken over as brigadier general in the new Bundeswehr and appointed as deputy inspector of the army and chief of the army command staff under Hans Röttiger . From November 1, 1958 to February 6, 1962, he was Major General and Commander of the 6th Panzer Grenadier Division in Neumünster , the largest division of NATO in the event of war . In the courtyard of the Bendler Block he and three other officers remembered the men of the resistance on July 20, 1961 - who had not betrayed him as a confidante. From the end of 1961 he was also Deputy Commander of Allied Command Baltic Approaches (BALTAP), from 1962 temporarily as Lieutenant General . On March 31, 1964, Groeben was retired as one of the last cavalry officers. His successor at LANDJUT was Cord von Hobe .

Promotions

  • 1st September 1926 Ensign
  • August 1, 1927 Oberfähnrich
  • 1st December 1927 lieutenant
  • 1st August 1930 first lieutenant
  • May 1, 1935 Rittmeister
  • October 1, 1940 Major
  • April 1, 1942 Lieutenant Colonel
  • March 1, 1943 Colonel
  • March 1, 1945 Major General
  • November 2, 1956 Brigadier General
  • 1958 Major General
  • 1st February 1962 Lieutenant General (temporary)

After his retirement he was commendator of the Prussian Cooperative of the Order of St. John from 1968 to 1975 . He also used his long retirement to come to terms with the family history.

He was married to Marei, née von Wedel-Piesdorf, with whom he had three daughters and their son Wolfgang von der Groeben .

Awards

literature

  • Friedhelm A. Dölling: The story of the family von der Groeben . Lengerich 2009.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Hussar , IV / 2002
  2. ↑ a b Samuel W. Mitcham: German Order of Battle: 291st-999th Infantry divisions, named infantry divisions, and special divisions in World War II . Stackpole Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8117-3437-0 , pp. 353 ( google.de [accessed on May 5, 2019]).
  3. ↑ Othmar Hackl : General Staff, General Staff Service and General Staff Training in the Reichswehr and Wehrmacht 1919–1945. Studies of German generals and general staff officers in the Historical Division of the US Army in Europe 1946–1961 . Biblio, Osnabrück 1999, ISBN 3-7648-2551-0 , p. 301 ff.
  4. ↑ Address 1961 ( Memento of the original from May 26, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 44 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.20-juli-44.de
  5. ↑ Peter von der Groeben: The Counts and Lords of the Groeben . Bremerhaven 1978.
  6. ↑ Klaus D. Patzwall , Veit Scherzer : The German Cross 1941-1945. History and owner. Volume II. Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt 2001, ISBN 3-931533-45-X , p. 148
personal data
SURNAME Groeben, Peter von der
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer, most recently major general in the Bundeswehr
DATE OF BIRTH December 19, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Langheim
DATE OF DEATH May 29, 2002
Place of death Kiel