Curt Liebmann

Curt Liebmann
Birth date	29 January 1881(1881-01-29)
Place of birth	Coburg, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, German Empire
Death date	2 July 1960 (aged 79)
Place of death	Holzminden, Lower Saxony, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Prussian Army Imperial German Army Freikorps Reichswehr Heer
Years of service	1899–1914 1914–1918 1919 1919–1935 1935–1939
Rank	General der Infanterie
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Iron Cross House Order of Hohenzollern

Curt Liebmann (sometimes Kurt; 29 January 1881 – 2 July 1960) was a German officer of the Prussian Army, the Imperial German Army, the Freikorps, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally General der Infanterie (General of the Infantry) in World War II.

Military career (chronology)

General Liebmann (back turned) reporting to Adolf Hitler, also listening are Werner von Fritsch and Werner von Blomberg (de)

• 1892–1899 Cadet Corps
  • Liebmann, the son of Generalmajor Konrad Liebmann (1846–1917), graduated from the Selekta class at the Royal Prussian Main Cadet Institute (Preußische Hauptkadettenanstalt Groß-Lichterfelde) on 20 March 1899 as a Leutnant, same class as Paul Hausser (de), later SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer und Generaloberst der Waffen-SS
• Leutnant in the 2. Nassauisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 88, Mainz (20 Mar 1899-18 Aug 1901)
• Transferred into the Großherzoglich Mecklenburgisches Füsilier-Regiment Nr. 90 "Kaiser Wilhelm" (18 Aug 1901-01 Jul 1903)
• Adjutant of I. Battalion of the 90th Fusilier-Regiment (01 Jul 1903-22 Mar 1910)
• Detached to the War Academy (01 Oct 1906-00 Jul 1909)
• Detached to the Great General Staff (Großer Generalstab) in Berlin (22 Mar/1 Apr 1910-22 Mar 1912)
  • Commanded for one year, which was extended to another year on 1 April 1911
• Hauptmann i. G. in the Great General Staff (22 Mar 1912-01 Jul 1913)
• Transferred into the General-Staff of the Government of Fortress Graudenz (01 Jul 1913-1914)
• General-Staff-Officer of Division von Unger (1914-25 Oct 1914)
  • The 69th Infantry Brigade from the fortress at Graudenz (supplemental troops) and the 70th Landwehr Infantry Brigade temporarily grouped as Division von Unger with the 8th Army during the Second Battle of Tannenberg
• In the General-Staff of XXV. Reserve-Corps (25 Oct 1914-1915)
• In the General-Staff of the 41st Infantry-Division (1915-1915)
• In the General-Staff of Army High Command 11 / 11th Army (1915-1915)
• In the General-Staff of Staging-Inspection of the 11th Army (1915-1916)
• In the General-Staff of the 302nd Infantry-Division (1916-1916)
• In the General-Staff of General-Command 62 (1916-1917)
• Commander of the 9th Jäger-Battalion (1917-01 Apr 1918)
• In the General-Staff of Army High Command 11 (01 Apr 1918-25 Dec 1918)
• In the General-Staff of the XVII. Army-Corps, Danzig (25 Dec 1918-01 Aug 1919)
  • In 1919, the corps served with the Grenzschutz Ost (“Border Guard East”) in West Prussia.

Reichswehr and Wehrmacht

• Transferred into the Reichswehr Ministry or RWM (01 Aug 1919-01 Apr 1922)
• Commander of II. Battalion of the 1st (Prussian) Infantry-Regiment, Tilsit (01 Apr 1922-01 Sep 1924)
• Director of the Statistical Department (T3), Troop Office, RWM (01 Sep 1924-01 Mar 1928)
• Commander of the 5th Infantry-Regiment, Stettin (01 Mar 1928-01 Mar 1930)
• Chief of the General Staff of Group-Command 2, Kassel (01 Mar 1930-01 Dec 1931)
• Commander of the 5th Division & Commander in Military-District V, Stuttgart (01 Dec 1931-01 Aug 1934)
• Transferred back to the RWM for preparation for a new important use (01 Aug 1934-01 Oct 1935)
• Commander of the reformed Wehrmacht War Academy Berlin (01 Oct 1935-30 Apr 1939)
• Retired (30 Apr 1939)
• Placed at Disposal (z. V. = zur Verfügung [at disposal]) of the Heer (25 Aug 1939)

WWII

• Commander-in-Chief of the 5th Army (25 Aug/1 Sep 1939-13 Oct 1939)
• Commander-in-Chief of Border-Section-Command Centre (13 Oct 1939-30 Oct/4 Nov 1939); succeeded by Walter von Reichenau
  • At the same time acting Commander-in-Chief East (21 Oct 1939-21 Oct 1939)
    • Liebmann took over as Oberbefehlshaber Ost in Lodz when Gerd von Rundstedt left, two days later the new Commander-in-Chief Johannes Blaskowitz arrived.
• Führer-Reserve OKH (30 Oct/4 Nov 1939-8 May 1945)
• In British captivity (21 Jun 1945-16 Apr 1947)

Promotions

Prussian Army

• 20 March 1899 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
• 19 August 1909 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
• 22 March 1912 Hauptmann i. G. (Captain in General Staff)
• 28 December 1916 Major i. G. (Major in General Staff)

Reichswehr

• 1 June 1921 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
• 1 February 1926 Oberst (Colonel)
• 1 October 1929 Generalmajor (Major General)
• 1 October 1931 Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General)

Wehrmacht

• 1 April 1935 General der Infanterie (General of the Infantry)

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
• Saxe-Ernestine House Order, Knights Cross 1st Class with Swords (HSEH3a⚔/HSH3a⚔/EH3a⚔) on 24 June 1915
• Hanseatic Cross of Hamburg (HH)
• Friedrich Order, Knight 1st Class with Swords (WF3a⚔)
• Military Merit Cross (Austria-Hungary), 3rd Class with the War Decoration (ÖM3K)
• Bulgarian Order of Bravery, 4th Class, 1st Grade (BT4a)
• Ottoman/Turkish Gallipoli Star (Eiserner Halbmond; TH)
• House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross with Swords (HOH3⚔)
• Prussian Long Service Cross for 25 years (Königlich Preußisches Dienstauszeichnungskreuz)
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th to 1st Class
• Hungarian Order of Merit, Grand Cross