Walther Kittel

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Walther Kittel (born March 20, 1887 in Metz , Reichsland Alsace-Lorraine , † November 11, 1971 in Wiesbaden ) was a German general staff doctor of the Wehrmacht in World War II .

Life

The son of the postal accountant Ignaz Franz Kittel joined the Prussian army in 1905 to become a military doctor. Kittel went through the Kaiser Wilhelms Academy for military medical education in Berlin together with Gottfried Benn and remained friends with him for many years. In 1906 he became a member of the Pépinière-Corps Suevo-Borussia. In 1912 he was promoted to Dr. med. PhD. Until 1914 he worked as a senior military physician at the Georg-August University in Göttingen . During the First World War he was promoted to medical officer and for his work was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross , the Knight's Cross of the Franz Joseph Order and the Cross of Honor II. Class of Honor for Services to the Red Cross with War Decoration.

After the war, Kittel initially worked for a medical company and continued his military career with the Reichswehr after the Treaty of Versailles . On April 1, 1931, he was promoted to senior physician general and appointed chief of staff of the Army Medical Inspection. On January 1, 1934, he was promoted to senior physician . Taken into the Wehrmacht , he was promoted to general physician on January 1, 1937 and, after the start of the Second World War, to general staff physician on October 1, 1940 . In this role he was able to enable his old friend Gottfried Benn to move to Berlin, where he offered him a position as a military medical doctor. Sick in the 1st Army , Kittel was transferred to the 12th Army on December 22, 1940 and to the 6th Army on June 19, 1942 . On August 18, 1942 he was appointed a full member of the Scientific Senate of the Army Medical Services. From mid-February 1943 Kittel was Army Group Doctor for Army Group South and in this capacity received the German Cross in Silver. In April 1944 he was with the Army Group South Ukraine and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross with Swords on June 4, 1944 . He was assigned to Army Group A from September 1944 to January 1945 and Army Group Middle from January to May 1945. On the day of the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht , on May 8, 1945, he was taken prisoner of war from which he was released in 1947.

From 1963 to 1967 Kittel was a member of the Scientific Council for Health Matters at the Federal Ministry of Defense . He died at the age of 84.

Publications

  • Medical officer at the group doctor. 2: About the penetration of psychopaths into the Reichsheer. In: Publications in the field of military medical services. Issue 1, Berlin 1927, pp. 3–28.

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 Verlag, Bissendorf 2002, ISBN 3-7648-2582-0 , pp. 486-487.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wätzold: Master list of the Kaiser Wilhelms Academy for military medical education. Springer-Verlag, Berlin 1910, No. 2805.
  2. ↑ Kösener Corpslisten 1960, 61/372.
  3. ↑ Dissertation (WorldCat)
  4. ↑ a b Reichswehr Ministry (Ed.): Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres. Mittler & Sohn Verlag, Berlin 1932, p. 100.
  5. ↑ Holger Hof: Gottfried Benn - the man without memory: A biography. Klett-Cotta Verlag, Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 9783608102154 .
personal data
SURNAME Kittel, Walther
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German general staff doctor in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH March 20, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH Metz
DATE OF DEATH November 11, 1971
Place of death Wiesbaden