Rudolf Kaempfe

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Rudolf Kaempfe (born April 10, 1883 in Moscow , † December 23, 1962 in Stuttgart ) was a German officer , most recently general of the artillery in World War II .

Life

Fights occurred on 26 February 1902 as a cadet in the Field Artillery Regiment "General Feldzeugmeister" (1st Brandenburg) no. 3 of the Prussian army one. There he was promoted to lieutenant on August 18, 1903 and sent to the Jüterbog field artillery shooting school for further training . From 1908 he acted as adjutant of the 2nd department.

Kaempfe also held this position when the First World War broke out . After the mobilization , he was first used with the regiment in neutral Belgium during the conquest of Liège , took part in the further fighting on the Western Front and in the autumn of 1915 in the campaign against Serbia . In the meantime, Kaempfe had been promoted to captain on November 8, 1914 . From 1916 onwards, Kaempfe was active in various general staffs. First in the General Staff of III. and later at the IX. Army Corps . Most recently, he served as first general staff officer on the staff of the 195th Infantry Division on the Western Front.

After the end of the war and demobilization , Kaempfe was a battalion commander in a Freikorps in the Eastern Border Guard and was accepted into the transitional army of the Reichswehr on October 1, 1920 . At first he was employed as a battery chief in Artillery Regiment 3 and then from 1924 he worked for the staff of the 4th division of the regiment in Potsdam . on May 1, 1925, he was promoted to major and as such, Kaempfe was transferred to the General Staff of Group Command 2 in Kassel shortly afterwards . He stayed here until January 31, 1927 and then came to the Ministry of Defense in Berlin to inspect the traffic troops (In 6) . On February 1, 1929, Kaempfe returned to service and became commander of the III. Division of the 2nd (Prussian) Artillery Regiment in Itzehoe and promoted to lieutenant colonel in this position on February 1, 1930 . He was released from this post on March 31, 1932 and appointed commandant of Glatz and Schweidnitz . After three years as a colonel, he was appointed artillery commander 8 and on November 1, 1935, he was promoted to major general . On April 1, 1937, Kaempfe was appointed commander of the 31st Infantry Division , which he commanded from the beginning of World War II until April 30, 1941. Then he led the higher command z. b. V. XXXV during the attack on the Soviet Union . With the renaming of his staff, Kaempfe became the commanding general of the XXXV on January 20, 1942 . Army Corps and was placed at the disposal of the Army High Command on September 30, 1942.

On July 21, 1944 he was arrested by the Gestapo . After the end of the war, Kaempfe was held in Soviet captivity from May 9, 1945 to September 30, 1949 .

Awards

literature

  • Dermot Bradley (Ed.): The Generals of the Army 1921–1945. The military careers of the generals, as well as the doctors, veterinarians, intendants, judges and ministerial officials with the rank of general. Volume 6: Hochbaum – Klutmann. Biblio Publishing House. Bissendorf 2002. ISBN 3-7648-2582-0 . Pp. 336-337.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Ranking list of the German Imperial Army. Ed .: Reichswehr Ministry . Mittler & Sohn publishing house . Berlin 1924. p. 139.
personal data
SURNAME Kaempfe, Rudolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer, most recently general of the artillery in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH April 10, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Moscow
DATE OF DEATH December 23, 1962
Place of death Stuttgart