Richard Ruoff

Richard Ruoff
Birth name	Karl Richard Ruoff
Birth date	18 August 1883(1883-08-18)
Place of birth	Meßbach near Dörzbach, Oberamt Künzelsau, Kingdom of Württemberg, German Empire
Death date	20 March 1967 (aged 83)
Place of death	Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany
Resting place	Bergfriedhof Tübingen
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Army of Württemberg Imperial German Army Reichswehr Heer
Years of service	1903–1943
Rank	Generaloberst
Commands held	V Army Corps 4th Panzer Army 17th Army
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Iron Cross Friedrich Order Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Relations	∞ 1915 Martha Fuchs

Karl Richard Ruoff (18 August 1883 – 30 March 1967) was a German officer of the Army of Württemberg, the Imperial German Army, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally Generaloberst and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in World War II. At the end of the war he lived in the area of Lake Constance and later moved back to Tübingen.

Life

Marriage (1915) and children

Villa Zarges

The Führer during a meeting with officers in March 1943. Above the map from the left: Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein, Generaloberst Richard Ruoff, Adolf Hitler, General der Infanterie Kurt Zeitzler and Generalfeldmarschall Ewald von Kleist.

Promotions

Portrait

Gravesite

Ruoff attended Latin school in Mergentheim, Gymnasium in Heilbronn and humanistic Gymnasium in Tübingen up to Abitur. On 15 April 1903, he joined the 10. Württembergisches Infanterie-Regiments Nr. 180 in Tübingen. On 1 October 1910, he was appointed adjutant of the 1st Battalion. On 25 February 1913, he was appointed adjutant of the regiment. On 23 September 1914, during WWI, he was lightly wounded. On 30 December 1914, he was appointed company leader. On 14/15 March 1915, he was appointed adjutant of the 51st Reserve Infantry Brigade. From 25 December 1917 to January 1918, he was commanded as deputy Ia to the staff of the 26th Reserve Division.

On 20 January 1919, during demobilization, he was appointed leader of the 3rd Battalion/10. Württembergische Infanterie-Regiments Nr. 180. From April 1919 he was part of the Tübingen organizational staff and possibly a member of the Freikorps Württembergische Freiwilligen-Abteilung Haas. On 1 August 1919, he was appointed adjutant in the demobilization staff of General Command XIII. Army Corps. He was thus accepted into the provisional Reichswehr. At the same time, he was also adjutant of the Reichswehr Brigade 13 in Stuttgart. He was initially deployed to the staff of Military District Command V. On 1 January 1922, he was transferred to the General Staff of the 5th Division. On 1 October 1923, he was appointed commander of the 11th Company/Infanterie-Regiment 14 in Konstanz.

Chronology

• 1 October 1925 in the General Staff of Infantry Leader V (Stuttgart)
• 1 January 1927 in the staff of the 5th Division (Stuttgart)
• 1 October 1931 Commander of the 3rd Battalion/Infantry Regiment 13 (Ulm)
• 1 October 1933 Commander of the 13th Infantry Regiment (Ludwigsburg)
• 1 October 1934 Chief of Staff of Military District Command V (Stuttgart)
• 15 October 1935 Chief of the General Staff of the V Army Corps (Stuttgart)
• 6 October 1936 Chief of the General Staff of Group Command 3 (Dresden)
• 25 March 1938 with effect from 1 April 1938 Chief of the General Staff of Army Group 5 (Vienna)
• 1 May 1939 Commanding General of the V Army Corps and Commander in Military District V (Stuttgart)
  • He took command on 4 May 1939. At the same time, he also became commander of Military District V until mobilization. On 23 May 1939, he was approved for Whitsun leave to Vienna from 25 May 1939 to 31 May 1939. On 24 June 1939, he was granted special leave from 26 June 1939 to 7 July 1939 to carry out the move to Villa Zarges. On 24 July 1939, he was approved for convalescent leave from 28 July 1939 to 19 August 1939. This vacation should be interrupted two or three times to visit the military training areas. When the Second World War broke out, Ruoff initially moved with his corps to the West Wall. During the Western Campaign, his corps forced crossings over the Meuse and advanced south via the Aisne section.
  • During Operation Barbarossa, Ruoff and his corps advanced into central Russia via Suwalki. He was awarded the Knight's Circle of the Iron Cross in June 1941. On 18 September 1941, his son Gerhard Ruoff, a lieutenant and member of the 9th company of the 119th Infantry Regiment (mot.), was shot in the head with an infantry bullet in Makejewka, 20 kilometers east of Piryatin. His fallen son was buried at the schoolhouse on the eastern edge of Makejewka. In the area of ​​Army Group Center, General Ruofff and his V Army Corps advanced from the northwest to the Moscow ring road in the fall of 1941.
• 12 January 1942 Commander-in-Chief of the 4th Panzer Army [until 19 April 1942, then leave]
• 15 May 1942 Commander-in-Chief of the 17th Army [took over command on 2 June 1942]
  • He led the army from the Don bridgeheads to attack the Caucasus at the end of July 1942. On 9 August 1942, he and his army took the city of Krasnodar and the port of Yeysk on the east coast of the Sea of ​​Asov. The official appointment as Commander-in-Chief of the 17th Army was announced on 27 August 1942 with effect from 15 May 1942. In September 1942, he and his army advanced to the Taman Peninsula. However, the further offensive towards Tuapse came to a halt.
  • 21 March 1943 simultaneously assigned to the deputy leadership of Army Group A
  • 15 April 1943 40-year service celebration
  • On 15 May 1943, a five-week furlough was approved from 20 May 1943. General of Artillery Maximilian de Angelis was appointed as his representative.
• 20 May 1943 on leave [handover of the 17th Army to General de Angelis]
  • On 25 June 1943, Ruoff officially relinquished his command and was transferred to the OKH leadership reserve. He was assigned to Military District V.
• 25 June 1943 Leader Reserve OKH (V)
  • On 18 August 1943, his 60th birthday was publicly acknowledged.
  • On 19 September 1943, he received the following assessment from Field Marshal Ewald von Kleist, Commander-in-Chief of Army Group A: "After recovering his health in October 1943, he is suitable to be Commander-in-Chief of an army, although initially not in hot spots." However, he was not recalled to front duty. At the end of the war he was not taken prisoner of war.

Family

Karl Richard Ruoff was a son of the Württemberg chief bailiff and domain tenant Karl Friedrich "Fritz" Christian Ruoff and his wife Maria Anna Barbara, née Thomm. In 1926, father Fritz Ruoff leased the Derneburg-Astenbeck estate near Bad Salzdetfurth from Friedrich Graf zu Münster, Freiherr von Grothaus (1891–1942).

Marriage

On 4 September 1915 in Stuttgart, Protestant Major Ruoff married his fiancée Klara Mart(h)a Fuchs (30 January 1889 – 10 April 1984), daughter of merchant Otto Fuchs and his wife Helene Auguste Amalie, née Reimann. They had four children:

• Elfriede Maria Amalie (b. 30 March 1919 in Tübingen)
• Gerhard Kurt Rudolf Richard (b. 4 January 1921 in Stuttgart; ⚔ 18 September 1941 at the Eastern Front), 2nd Lieutenant of the Wehrmacht
• Irmgard Tony Hedwig (b. 4 August 1922 in Stuttgart)
• Arnold Fritz Richard (b. 26 June 1930 in Stuttgart)

Villa Zarges (Stuttgart)

The villa in the Stuttgart Richard-Wagner-Straße 39 was built in 1921/1922 by the architect Albert Eitel. The original client (1915) was the Pforzheim manufacturer Georg Wilhelm Fühner. Apparently, Fühner died shortly before completion. The villa, which has a usable area of ​​1000 square meters and is surrounded by a 4000 square meter plot, was bought in 1923 by the former German consul in Manaus (Brazil), banker and merchant Emil Albert Zarges (1871–1935). In 1934, the Wehrmacht acquired the real estate and appointed residenz for General of the Infantry Hermann Geyer, commanding general of the 5th Army Corps (V. Armee-Korps) in Stuttgart. Geyer retired on 30 April 1939, Ruoff became his successor on 1 May 1939, a short time later he moved into the villa. On 20 April 1945, the villa was occupied by the US Army.

The US military governor General Lucius D. Clay had occupied the over twice as large castle-like Villa Reitzenstein (Richard-Wagner-Straße 15) before it became the permanent headquarters of the Württemberg State Ministry in 1948. He then transferred his headquarters to Villa Zarges which eventually received the name Haus Clay. When the last American general, black demoted three-star general William E. "Kip" Ward, commander of United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), moved out in 2011, the state of Baden-Württemberg acquired the building from the Federal German Real Estate Administration.

The German mansion that traditionally has been home to the senior military leader in Stuttgart has been returned to the German government, and a new home on base will soon be under construction. After lengthy negotiations with German authorities, the U.S. military officially returned the Clay House to the German government on July 24 [2012], according to Installation Management Command-Europe. In exchange, a new home will be constructed for Stuttgart’s senior leader on Kelley Barracks, home to the headquarters of Africa Command. “As part of the deal worked out with the host nation, they will provide $2.1 million in construction funding,” said Dan Thompson, IMCOM-E spokesman. There are no costs to the U.S. associated with the construction of the home, he said. Over the years, the Clay House turned into something of a money pit for the Army, which in 2007 spent $1 million to renovate the interior of the mansion, according to IMCOM-E. Within the past two years, the Army sought an additional $1.4 million for more renovations, but later withdrew that request. Expenditures on the mansion, nestled in the hills above Stuttgart, prompted some lawmakers to demand a review of all costs associated with the housing of general and flag officers in Stuttgart. The last resident of Clay House was disgraced AFRICOM commander Gen. William E. Ward. During his tenure as leader of AFRICOM, Ward opened the doors of the Clay House to the military and German community during annual Christmas parties. A recent report by the inspector general accused Ward of misusing his position, wasting government funds and excessive spending on those parties as well as wasting government money on a booklet about the house he lived in. [...] The current AFRICOM commander, Gen. Carter F. Ham, never moved into Clay House upon assuming command in March 2011. Instead, he lives in a modest home on Kelley Barracks, where, by 2015, construction on the new home for the senior leader in Stuttgart is expected to be completed.

Promotions

• 15.4.1903 Fahnenjunker (Officer Candidate)
• 14.11.1903 Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
• 18.8.1904 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant) with Patent from 19.8.1903
• 18.8.1912 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
• 28.11.1914 Hauptmann (Captain)
  • 1.2.1922 received Rank Seniority (RDA) from 28.11.1914

Reichswehr

• 1.7.1926 Major
• 1.2.1931 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
• 1.7.1933 Oberst (Colonel)

Wehrmacht

• 1.4.1936 Generalmajor (Major General)
• 1.3.1938 Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General)
• 1.5.1939 General der Infanterie (General of the Infantry)
• 8.4.1942 Generaloberst with Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1.4.1942

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 16 September 1914
  • 1st Class on 1 April 1915
• Württemberg Military Merit Order, Knight’s Cross (WMV3/WM3)
• Friedrich Order, Knight 1st Class with Swords (WF3a⚔) on 20 February 1917
• Wound Badge (1918) in Black
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th to 1st Class (25-year Service Cross)
  • Special Class with Oak Leaves in April 1943 for 40 years of service
• Anschluss Medal (Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 13. März 1938)
• Sudetenland Medal with the Prague Castle Bar
• Repetition Clasp 1939 to the Iron Cross 1914, 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 20 May 1940
  • 1st Class on 21 May 1940
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 30 June 1941 as General of the Infantry and Commander of the V. Armee-Korps
  • He was submitted to Oak Leaves on 29 April 1942, but this was rejected.
• Slovakian War Victory Cross (Slowakisches Kriegssiegerkreuz), 1st Class with Star
• Winter Battle in the East 1941–42 Medal on 12 August 1942
• Kuban Shield (Kubanschild)
• Order of Michael the Brave, 3rd Class on 5 February 1943
  • other sources state 3rd Class in 1941 and 2nd Class (neck order) in 1943
• Order of the Star of Romania, Grand Cross with Swords in February 1943
• Order of the Crown of Romania, Grand Officer with Star and Swords on 10 May 1943 (other sources state Grand Cross)

Gallery

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•