Werner Kienitz

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Werner Kienitz (born June 3, 1885 in Kallies , Dramburg district , † December 31, 1959 in Hamburg ) was a German infantry general in World War II .

Life

Kienitz occurred on 11 March 1904 as a cadet in the Infantry Regiment "General-Field Marshal Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia" (8 Brandenburg) no. 64 in Prenzlau and became on 18 October 1904 Ensign appointed. On August 18, 1905, he was promoted to lieutenant and as such, Kienitz was deployed as a regimental adjutant from October 1, 1912. In this function he was promoted to lieutenant on February 18, 1913 .

With the outbreak of World War I and mobilization , the regiment was deployed on the Western Front . Kienitz took over a company of his regular regiment there on December 24, 1914 , while at the same time being promoted to captain . From December 1, 1915 to January 26, 1917 he was with the General Staff of the Army High Command 9 . He was then transferred to the General Staff of the 21st Reserve Division , where he was to remain after the end of the war until they were returned to their homeland and demobilized there .

Kienitz acted as military district commissioner from April 22, 1919 and was accepted into the Reichswehr . There he was company commander in the Reichswehr Battalion Berlin , in the Reichswehr Jäger Battalion 3 and in the Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 5 . In the same function, he was employed in the 9th (Prussian) Infantry Regiment from January 1, 1921 to April 30, 1922 , before joining the staff of Artillery Leader III. On February 1, 1924, Kienitz was transferred to the staff of Infantry Leader VI and promoted to major on February 1, 1925 . From October 1, 1926 to June 30, 1929, he served with the staff of the 4th Division in Dresden . On July 1, 1929, Kienitz took over the III. Battalion of the 18th Infantry Regiment in Bückeburg . Shortly afterwards, on October 1, 1929, Kienitz became a lieutenant colonel . With simultaneous promotion to colonel on March 1, 1932, he was appointed commander of the 15th Infantry Regiment in Kassel . Kienitz was then used from October 1, 1934 as commander of the Stuttgart border protection section, in this function major general on March 1, 1935 and as such from October 15, 1935 commander of the 24th Infantry Division in Chemnitz . Here on April 1, 1937, he was promoted to lieutenant general .

Address by the commanding General Werner Kienitz at a recruit swearing in on Heldenplatz on December 9, 1938

Just one year later, on April 1, 1938, Kienitz became General of the Infantry and first Commanding General of the XVII. Army Corps . In this function he was also the commander of Military District XVII (Vienna) until August 26, 1939 .

With the beginning of World War II, Kienitz led the army corps, first during the attack on Poland , then from May 1940 in the west against France and from June 22, 1941 in the war against the Soviet Union . In this position he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on August 31, 1941 . On January 22, 1942, Kienitz was relieved of his post and was transferred to the Führerreserve until April 30, 1942 . He then acted as the commanding general of the deputy II Army Corps and commander in the military district II. Kienitz was added to the Fuehrer's reserve on February 1, 1945 and received no further use until the end of the war. Nevertheless, on April 22, 1945, he still received the German Cross in Silver. With the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht , he was taken prisoner by the Allies on May 8, 1945 , from which he was released in 1947.

Awards

literature

  • Dermot Bradley : 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. 451-452.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearer 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. 440.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Reichswehr Ministry (Ed.): Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1924, p. 142.
personal data
SURNAME Kienitz, Werner
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German infantry general in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH June 3, 1885
PLACE OF BIRTH Kallies , Dramburg district
DATE OF DEATH December 31, 1959
Place of death Hamburg