Cord von Hobe

Cord von Hobe
Colonel von Hobe in May 1945
Birth name	Cord Dietrich Bertram Josef von Hobe
Birth date	20 March 1909
Place of birth	Estate Ohrfeld near Niesgrau, Kreis Flensburg, Province of Schleswig-Holstein, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	6 October 1991 (aged 82)
Place of death	Niesgrau, Schleswig-Holstein, Federal Republic of Germany
Resting place	Waldesch Village Cemetery
Allegiance	Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany West Germany
Service/branch	Reichswehr Heer Bundeswehr
Years of service	1927–45 1956–68
Rank	Generalmajor (Wehrmacht) Generalleutnant (Bundeswehr)
Commands held	79. Volksgrenadier-Division Panzer-Brigade "von Hobe" 11th Panzergrenadier Division (Bundeswehr)
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of France Operation Barbarossa Defence of the Reich (Reichsverteidigung)
Awards	Iron Cross Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Relations	∞ 1934 Ruth Halder
Other work	Farmer, politician, author

Cord Dietrich Bertram Josef von Hobe (20 March 1909 – 6 October 1991) was a German officer of the Reichswehr, the Wehrmacht and the Bundeswehr, finally Lieutenant General and Commander of the Allied Land Forces Schleswig-Holstein and Jutland (COMLANDJUT) as well as recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during WWII.

Life

After graduating from the humanistic Gymnasium in Ettal, Upper Bavaria with Abitur in March 1927, he joined the 6th Artillery Regiment in Hanover, soon becoming an officer candidate. From 1928 to 1930, he attended the Infantry and Artillery School and served as a battery officer, departmental, and regimental adjutant in Münster, Celle, Hanover, and Koblenz. He attended the Berlin War Academy from 3 November 1938 to August 1939.

During the Second World War he first served as artillery general staff officer (e.g. with Arko 108 and with the Inspection of the Artillery), then in division staffs (23rd Infantry Division) and as an Id (responsible for training) in the staff of the 4th Army in the West and on the Eastern Front. In 1942, he served as First General Staff Officer in the Division Großdeutschland. In 1943, he was Chief of Operations (Ia) in the General Staff of the 161st Infantry Division. From 1 November 1943 to 25 July 1944, he was a tactics instructor at the War Academy in Hirschberg. On 20 November 1944, he was transferred to the infantry as commander of the 226th Grenadier Regiment and later led various divisional combat groups (79th Volksgrenadier Division) on the Western Front.

In 1945, as a colonel and commander of the XIII Panzer Brigade, also known as the von Hobe Panzer Brigade, subordinate to the XIII SS Army Corps under SS-Gruppenführer and Lieutenant General of the Waffen-SS Max Simon, he was briefly taken prisoner by the Americans.

After the war, von Hobe became politically active in the German Conservative Party – German Right Party, for which he stood as a candidate in the 1949 federal election on the Schleswig-Holstein state list. He also served as deputy mayor and chairman or board member of various agricultural and municipal associations. After initially working as a farmer in the community of Mühlenkoppel, von Hobe joined the Bundeswehr on 16 April 1956. He initially became Chief of Staff of the Military Leadership Council. In August 1957, he was appointed Sub-Department Head of FüB III in the Federal Ministry of Defence. Hobe commanded the 11th Panzergrenadier Division from 1 January 1961 to March 1964 as successor to Heinz Gaedcke, subsequently serving as Deputy Commander of the Baltic Approaches (BALTAP), and from 1965 to 1968 as Commander of the Allied Land Forces Schleswig-Holstein and Jutland (COMLANDJUT). He retired effective 31 July 1968.

geb. 20.3.1909 in Ohrfeld/Flensburg; verh. 22.8.1934 mit Ruth Halder; Mili Militärische Ausbildung und Verwendung vor Eintritt in die Bundeswehr: OAAusbildung; Inf./Art.Schule; Abt.Rgt. Adjutant; Kriegsakademie; Kp.Führ.; Ia Arko; zbV GenStOffz.; Ib Div; Id AOK; Ia Div; Hörsaalleiter Kriegsakademie; Führ.Res. OKH; Rgt.Kdr.; stellv. Gen.St.Chef; Führ.Kampfgruppe; Div.Führ.; Bundeswehr: 16.4.1956 - 31.12.1960 BMVg Fü H Bonn, UAbt.Ltr.; 26.4. - 24.5.1956 TrSch Sonthofen, Lehrgang I (Einw.); 17.11. - 17.12.1960 verschied. Dienststellen, Einw. in künftige Tätigkeit; 1.1.1961 - 31.3.1964 11. Pz.Gren.Div. Oldenburg, Div.Kdr.; 3. - 4.7.1963 STTr III Sonthofen, Teilnehmer am 4. Kurzlehrgang; 4.2.1962 - 7.3.1964 Fluganw.Ausb.Rgt. Uetersen; 1.4.1964 - 30.6.1965 DDO BALTAP Karup, Befehlshaber (AStv) B 8; 16. - 20.11.1964 Special Weapons School, Teilnahme am NATO Sen.Off.Course; 1.7.1965 - 30.6.1968 DtAnt. b. LANDJÜT Rendsburg, Befehlshaber u. DDO

Family

Cord was the son of farmer, hunter, rider and Captain of the Reserves Bertram Maria Eduard Rudolf von Hobe (1883–1960) and his wife (∞ 23 May 1908) Margaretha Alice, née Clemens (b. 24 June 1885 in Koblenz, Rhine Province). In the same year of his marriage, he took over the Estate Ohrfeld, one of three estates of his father Major Bertram Ludwig Rudolf Maria Andreas Gottlob Freiherr von Hobe, Freiherr von Gelting (1849–1911), cavalry officer, Papal Privy Chamberlain and Magistral Knight of the Sovereign Order of Malta. The title as Freiherr von Gelting was a so-called primogeniture title: only the respective firstborn son received it. Bertram's older brother and Cord's uncle Dr. jur. Siegfried Emil Maria Ludwig Seneca von Hobe (1878–1944) had already received the estate Düttebüll.

Cord had eight siblings, among them (3rd of nine children) artillery officer Colonel of the Reserves Heinrich "Heinz" Siegfried Maria von Hobe (1911–2003), Russian POW until January 1954 as well as author of Morgen wird es besser (1982 and 1989), Jeden Tag etwas Neues. Erinnerungen (1986) and Gelting und seine Kirche (1994).

Marriage

On 22 August 1934, 1st Lieutenant von Hobe married his fiancée Ruth Anna Mathilde Gertrud Halder (b. 7 September 1913 in München), daughter of Generaloberst Franz Halder. They would have nine children, one of the eight sons died early as an infant. Some of the children are known:

• Cord Dietrich Bertram (1935–2023), lord of the manor (Gut Mühlenkoppel)
• Walter (1936–2024), track and field athlete and President of the Lions Club Uelzen from 1999 to 2000
• Gerd Henning Will (9 January 1938 – 21 May 1967)
• Alice Ruth (b. 20 August 1939), pharmacist and international mountaineer
• Franz Joseph (1943–1944)
• Bertram Antonius Franz-Joseph (1945–2023)

Promotions

• 1 April 1927 Kanonier (Artillery Gunner)
• 1 February 1932: Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
• 1 November 1933: Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
• 1 March 1938: Hauptmann (Captain)
• 17 December 1941: Major i. G. with effect from 1 October 1941 and Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1 September 1941
• 20 April 1943: Oberstleutnant i. G. (Lieutenant Colonel in General Staff) with RDA from 1 January 1943
• 2 May 1945: Oberst (Colonel) with effect from 1 May 1945

Bundeswehr

• 16 April 1956: Oberst (Colonel)
• 25 April 1958: Brigadegeneral (Brigadier General) with effect from 1 February 1958
• 20 April 1961: Generalmajor (Major General) with effect from 1 April 1961
• 23 March 1964: Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) with effect from 1 April 1964

Awards and decorations

• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th to 3rd Class
• West Wall Medal (Deutsches Schutzwall-Ehrenzeichen) on 20 March 1940
• Iron Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 28 June 1940
  • 1st Class on 8 September 1942
• War Merit Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class with Swords
  • 1st Class on 25 October 1941
• Winter Battle in the East 1941–42 Medal on 25 October 1942
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 9 May 1945 (Dönitz-Erlaß) as Lieutenant Colonel and leader of the combat group Kampfgruppe XIII. SS-Armeekorps
• Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Knight Commander's Cross (Großes Verdienstkreuz mit Stern, Great Cross of Merit with Star) on 31 July 1968

Gallery

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Writings

• Von der Saar bis zu den Alpen, Diary 1939 to 1945
• Die Kämpfe der 4. Armee im ersten Kriegsjahr gegen die Sowjetunion, 1942
• Georg von Boeselager. Ein Reiterleben, Verlag Sankt Georg, Düsseldorf 1960
• Mit Pferden erlebt – Der General und seine Pferde, Verlag Rolf Gerken, Oldenburg 1965
• Mit Menschen erlebt – Dem Enkel erzählt, Rendsburg 1977