Defense district I (Koenigsberg)

The military districts of the German Empire after the "Anschluss" of Austria

Map of the military district I, 1943

The Military District I (Königsberg) was a military administrative unit during the time of the Weimar Republic and later the National Socialist German Reich . It existed from 1919 to 1945. He was responsible for the military security of the province of East Prussia as well as the recruitment and training of soldiers for the army of the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht in this area.

There were military replacement inspections, which were assigned to military district I, in Königsberg and Allenstein .

The area of the military district I formed the Luftgau I.

Commander

The commanders of military district I and division commanders of the 1st division until October 1934 were the generals :

Ludwig von Estorff (1919–1920)
Johannes von Dassel (from March 1920 to May 1920 as deputy, then until 1924 as commander)
Wilhelm Heye (1924–1926)
Friedrich von Esebeck (1926–1929)
Werner von Blomberg (1929–1933)
Walther von Brauchitsch (1933–1938), last commander of the 1st division
Georg von Küchler (1938–1939), first commander of the 1st Infantry Division
Oskar von Hindenburg (1939), from January 1941 to December 1944 commander of the prisoner-of-war camp in the military district
Alfred von Vollard-Bockelberg (1939–1940)
Wilhelm Ulex (1940–1941), former commander of the military district XI
Peter Weyer (1941–1943), former commander of military district X
Albert Wodrig (1943–1944)
Otto Lasch (1944–1945)

Military District Command I

From 1919 the staff was in the commandant building at Hinterroßgarten 43, which was sold in 1928 for 76,000 RM . The military district administration office I was in Wilhelmstrasse 1-2, Königsberg. In 1931 the headquarters of the military district command and the 1st Division moved into new buildings at Cranzer Allee 36/40.

Wehrkreis-Waffenmeisterei

The armory was on Rothensteiner Strasse, Koenigsberg. It was subordinate to the Army Equipment Office and employed up to 700 craftsmen and workers.

Parish priest, also parish priest I.

in the Weimar Republic was the parish priest; one for each of the seven military districts; subordinate to the field provost , field bishop from 1934. In 1933 the number rose to 15. The military district pastors, referred to as "ev. or cath. Wehrkreispfarrer ”, were subordinate to the staff of the military district command as clerks for army chaplaincy matters.

The position as pastor in military district I was particularly preferred throughout the empire, as the sermons were held in the coronation church of the Prussian kings .

Catholic parish priest

After the First World War , Franz Rarkowski was a Catholic division and military district pastor from the beginning of 1920 to the end of September 1927.

In 1932 Stanislaus Estevant (1882-1956) , who later became the chief naval dean , was appointed. Anton Poschmann (1894–1970) then held this position until he was forced to retire in 1933 .

Protestant military district pastor

Albert Otto was from 1921 to 1926 , later from 1940 to 1943 supervisory pastor with the military commander in Belgium-Northern France and then until 1944 in the same position with the commander- in -chief West , pastor of the military district I. From 1926 until 1933 it was Ludwig Müller (later Reich bishop of the German Evangelicals Church (DEK) and leader of the German Christians ). Walter Trepte then held this position until 1939. This was followed by colonel and later dean of the Wehrmacht, Stefan Gmeiner (1895–1952), who had received several awards in both world wars, and was represented by Ewald Hage in 1944 due to injury.

State police and security services

Corresponding police authorities and SD offices were assigned to the military district . There was a state police control center / criminal police control center in Koenigsberg, a state police station / criminal police station in Allenstein, Tilsit and Zichenau - Schröttersburg and other state police branch offices.

Higher SS and Police Leader ( HSSPf ) North-East, Military District I, were:

Wilhelm Redieß : from June 1938 to June 1940
Jakob Sporrenberg : from June 1940 to May 1941
Hans-Adolf Prützmann : May / June 1941

From December 1941 until his leave of absence in December 1944, George Ebrecht was deputy.

Famous pepole

Heinrich Graf zu Dohna-Schlobitten : from 1939 chief of staff and resistance fighter
Hans Otto Erdmann : 1944 1st general staff officer of the military district and resistance fighter
Siegfried Hoffheinz : served as a medical officer in the military district
Erich Koch : Reich Defense Commissioner of the military district
Anton Kuhn (1901–1980): 1939 deputy parish priest, later dean of the armed forces
Heinrich Graf von Lehndorff-Steinort : “Liaison officer” of the “ Company Walküre ” to the military district and resistance fighter
Otto von Oelhafen : from January 1940 to October 1940 inspector of the Ordnungspolizei (ITE) in the military district
Curt Pohlmeyer : from April 1939 to January 1940 Inspector and Commander of the Ordnungspolizei in the military district
Theodor Rehberg (1881–1952): as senior medical advisor tuberculosis specialist advisor to the military district, later in the military district IX
Walter von Reichenau : from 1930 chief of staff
Friedrich Stahl : 1943 personnel officer in the military district
Wilhelm-Hunold von Stockhausen : 1944 successor to Oskar von Hindenburg as commander of the prisoner-of-war camps of the military district

literature

Robert Albinus: Königsberg Lexicon . Wurzburg 2002
Burkhart Müller-Hillebrand : The Army 1933-1945. Mittler & Sohn, Frankfurt am Main.
Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and the Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945. Biblio-Verlag, Bissendorf.

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b Heinz Boberach , Rolf Thommes, Hermann Weiß , Werner Röder, Christoph Weisz: Offices, Abbreviations, Actions of the Nazi State: Handbook for the Use of Sources of the National Socialist Era. Office titles, ranks and administrative divisions, abbreviations and non-military cover names . Walter de Gruyter, 2012, ISBN 978-3-11-095167-7 , p. 86 ( google.de [accessed January 8, 2020]).
↑ Luftflottenkommando 1. Accessed January 8, 2020 .
↑ Germany Reich Ministry of Finance: Reich Budget Plan . 1928, p. 9 ( google.de [accessed on January 8, 2020]).
↑ Handbook of Public Life: State, Politics, Economy, Transport, Church, Press .... KF Koehler [etc.] 192, 1931, p. 151 ( google.de [accessed on January 8, 2020]).
↑ Handbook of the German Protestant Churches 1918 to 1949: Organs - Offices - Associations - People. Volume 1: Supraregional institutions . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2010, ISBN 978-3-647-55784-7 , p. 450 ( google.de [accessed January 12, 2020]).
↑ The archive; Reference book for politics, economics, culture . 1935, p. 228 ( google.de [accessed January 12, 2020]).
↑ Thomas Martin Schneider: Reich Bishop Ludwig Müller: an investigation into life, work and personality . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1993, ISBN 978-3-525-55719-8 , pp. 75 ( google.de [accessed January 10, 2020]).
^ Dermot Bradley, Heinz-Peter Würzenthal, Hansgeorg Model: The generals and admirals of the Bundeswehr 1955-1999: the military careers . Biblio Verlag, 1996, ISBN 978-3-7648-1700-8 , pp. 133 ( google.de [accessed on January 12, 2020]).
^ Germany Reichsrat: Minutes of the full sessions of the Reichsrat . C. Heymanns Verlag, S. 126 ( google.de [accessed January 12, 2020]).
↑ Handbook of the German Protestant Churches 1918 to 1949: Organs - Offices - Associations - People. Volume 1: Supraregional institutions . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2010, ISBN 978-3-647-55784-7 , p. 456 ( google.de [accessed January 10, 2020]).
↑ Handbook of the German Protestant Churches 1918 to 1949: Organs - Offices - Associations - People. Volume 1: Supraregional institutions . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2010, ISBN 978-3-647-55784-7 , p. 451 ( google.de [accessed on January 8, 2020]).
↑ Dagmar Pöpping : War Pastor on the Eastern Front: Evangelical and Catholic Wehrmacht Pastoral Care in the War of Extermination 1941–1945 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2016, ISBN 978-3-647-55788-5 , p. 190 ( google.de [accessed January 10, 2020]).

↑ Heinz Boberach, Rolf Thommes, Hermann Weiß, Werner Röder, Christoph Weisz: offices, abbreviations, actions of the Nazi state: manual for the use of sources of the National Socialist era. Office titles, ranks and administrative divisions, abbreviations and non-military cover names . Walter de Gruyter, 2012, ISBN 978-3-11-095167-7 , p. 93 ( google.de [accessed on January 8, 2020]).

^ Kurt Forstreuter, Fritz Gause, Historical Commission for East and West Prussian State Research: Old Prussian Biography . Elwert, 1967, p. 542 ( google.de [accessed January 12, 2020]).

^ Rudolf Vierhaus : German biographical encyclopedia: (DBE) . Walter de Gruyter, 2005, ISBN 978-3-598-25038-5 , p. 246 ( google.de [accessed January 12, 2020]).

[:0-1] A ^b Heinz Boberach , Rolf Thommes, Hermann Weiß , Werner Röder, Christoph Weisz: Offices, Abbreviations, Actions of the Nazi State: Handbook for the Use of Sources of the National Socialist Era. Office titles, ranks and administrative divisions, abbreviations and non-military cover names . Walter de Gruyter, 2012, ISBN 978-3-11-095167-7 , p. 86 ( google.de [accessed January 8, 2020]).

[2] Luftflottenkommando 1. Accessed January 8, 2020 .

[3] Germany Reich Ministry of Finance: Reich Budget Plan . 1928, p. 9 ( google.de [accessed on January 8, 2020]).

[4] Handbook of Public Life: State, Politics, Economy, Transport, Church, Press .... KF Koehler [etc.] 192, 1931, p. 151 ( google.de [accessed on January 8, 2020]).

[5] Handbook of the German Protestant Churches 1918 to 1949: Organs - Offices - Associations - People. Volume 1: Supraregional institutions . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2010, ISBN 978-3-647-55784-7 , p. 450 ( google.de [accessed January 12, 2020]).

[6] The archive; Reference book for politics, economics, culture . 1935, p. 228 ( google.de [accessed January 12, 2020]).

[7] Thomas Martin Schneider: Reich Bishop Ludwig Müller: an investigation into life, work and personality . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1993, ISBN 978-3-525-55719-8 , pp. 75 ( google.de [accessed January 10, 2020]).

[8] Dermot Bradley, Heinz-Peter Würzenthal, Hansgeorg Model: The generals and admirals of the Bundeswehr 1955-1999: the military careers . Biblio Verlag, 1996, ISBN 978-3-7648-1700-8 , pp. 133 ( google.de [accessed on January 12, 2020]).

[9] Germany Reichsrat: Minutes of the full sessions of the Reichsrat . C. Heymanns Verlag, S. 126 ( google.de [accessed January 12, 2020]).

[10] Handbook of the German Protestant Churches 1918 to 1949: Organs - Offices - Associations - People. Volume 1: Supraregional institutions . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2010, ISBN 978-3-647-55784-7 , p. 456 ( google.de [accessed January 10, 2020]).

[11] Handbook of the German Protestant Churches 1918 to 1949: Organs - Offices - Associations - People. Volume 1: Supraregional institutions . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2010, ISBN 978-3-647-55784-7 , p. 451 ( google.de [accessed on January 8, 2020]).

[12] Dagmar Pöpping : War Pastor on the Eastern Front: Evangelical and Catholic Wehrmacht Pastoral Care in the War of Extermination 1941–1945 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2016, ISBN 978-3-647-55788-5 , p. 190 ( google.de [accessed January 10, 2020]).

[13] Heinz Boberach, Rolf Thommes, Hermann Weiß, Werner Röder, Christoph Weisz: offices, abbreviations, actions of the Nazi state: manual for the use of sources of the National Socialist era. Office titles, ranks and administrative divisions, abbreviations and non-military cover names . Walter de Gruyter, 2012, ISBN 978-3-11-095167-7 , p. 93 ( google.de [accessed on January 8, 2020]).

[14] Kurt Forstreuter, Fritz Gause, Historical Commission for East and West Prussian State Research: Old Prussian Biography . Elwert, 1967, p. 542 ( google.de [accessed January 12, 2020]).

[15] Rudolf Vierhaus : German biographical encyclopedia: (DBE) . Walter de Gruyter, 2005, ISBN 978-3-598-25038-5 , p. 246 ( google.de [accessed January 12, 2020]).