Edel-Heinrich Zachariae von Lingenthal

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Edel-Heinrich Zachariae von Lingenthal
Edel-Heinrich Zachariae-Lingenthal.jpg
Birth date 19 April 1916
Place of birth Hanover, Province of Hanover, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date 30 March 1998 (aged 81)
Place of death Bad Honnef, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Place of burial Friedhof Aegidienberg (Bad Honnef)
Allegiance  National Socialist Germany
 West Germany
Service/branch War Ensign of Germany (1921–1933).png Reichswehr
Balkenkreuz.jpg Heer
Bundeswehr cross.png Bundeswehr
Years of service 1934–1945
1956–1975
Rank Major i. G. (Wehrmacht)
Brigadegeneral (Bundeswehr)
Unit Panzer-Regiment 15
Commands held 2nd Battalion/Panzer-Regiment 15
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Iron Cross
German Cross in Gold
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Relations ∞ 1944 Gisela von Manstein

Edel-Heinrich Theodor Wolfhart Zachariae,[1] since 1930 Zachariae-Lingenthal, since 1937 Zachariae von Lingenthal (19 April 1916 – 30 March 1998), was a German officer candidate of the Reichswehr as well as officer of the Wehrmacht and the Bundeswehr but also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during WWII. Post-war, he and his wife were documented just as Edel(-Heinrich) and Gisela Lingenthal. The new name change took place on 23 December 1949 by decision of the Detmold regional council (Regierungspräsidium).

Life

Gisela Lingenthal (2013).jpg

After school and Abitur, Zachariae-Lingenthal joined the Reichswehr in 1934. At the end of 1937, the young 2nd Lieutenant was transferred to the Panzer-Regiment 15 in Sagan. The regiment was equipped with Panzer I (Panzerkampfwagen I) and II (Panzerkampfwagen II). Subordinated to the 5. Panzer-Division, the regiment was not called upon for the liberation of the Sudetenland in October 1938, but then for the occupation of the rest of Czechoslovakia (Rest-Tschechoslowakei) in March 1939. Zachariae-Lingenthal, orderly officer of the 1st Battalion of his regiment under Colonel Johannes Streich, took part in the Poland Campaign. The regiment was now equipped with Panzerkampfwagen 38 (t) or Sd. Kfz. 140.

At the beginning of the Western Campaign, the regiment was still part of the 5th Panzer Division and advanced through southern Belgium to Flanders. From there the second phase of the campaign continued along the Channel coast, with the regiment taking the naval port of Brest. Ordered back to garrison after the Battle of French, the regiment belonged to the newly created 11th Panzer Division from 4 September 1940. During Operation Barbarossa, the regiment formed the leading group of the 1st Panzer Army. The regiment advanced on Uman via Zhitomir, took part in the Battle of Kiev and attacked Moscow head-on from October 1941.

In the summer of 1942, near Voronezh, the regiment was involved in heavy offensive and defensive battles, which brought the regiment to the Kharkov area by February 1943. After another refreshment in June 1943 in the Ukraine, the 1st Battalion moved to Military District XIII on 10 February 1943 for retraining on the Panzer V. The 1st Battalion did not return to the regiment until 31 October 1943. At this time the regiment was near Belgorod and Poltava. In October 1943 the regiment was near Kremenchug and from December 1943 near Cherkassy.

Zachariae-Lingenthal would become company, later battalion commander. As captain (Hauptmann) and commander of the II. Battalion, he would receive the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross to recognise extreme battlefield bravery. On 1 November 1943, he was promoted to Major. After several wounds and a period of rehabilitation, he received general staff training, his rank was now classified Major im Generalstab (Major in General Staff). In January 1945, he was Ib (Second General Staff Officer and Quartermaster/Chief Supply Officer) of the Panzer Grenadier Division “Kurmark” (Panzergrenadier-Division „Kurmark“) under Colonel / Major General Willy Langkeit. At the end of March 1945, the now badly damaged division was removed from the front and then replenished with parts of other units.

The division continued its deployment to the front in mid-April. It was trapped alongside other Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS units of the 9th Army (Army Group “Weichsel”) southeast of Berlin in the Halbe pocket. The last armored troops broke out of the pocket with heavy losses between 25 and 28 April 1945, on the orders of General of Infantry Theodor Busse, who had previously rejected an offer of surrender. On 28 April 1945, the breakout group was led by the Panzer Grenadier Division “Kurmark” and the heavy SS Panzer Battalion 502, supported by artillery and launchers. The northern thrust wedge, which had the task of shielding the breakout to the north, was led by the Panther Battalion “Brandenburg”/Panzer Grenadier Division “Kurmark” and parts of the division as well as remnants of the SS Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion 10.

The southern thrust wedge was formed by the heavy SS Panzer Battalion 502 with a launcher battery, an armored personnel carrier company and the Grenadier Regiment of the Panzer Grenadier Division “Kurmark”. These were followed by the division staff of the “Kurmark”, staff of the XI. SS Panzer Corps, 9th Army Staff and units of the V. SS Mountain Corps, V. Armee-Korps. The rear guard was formed by corps units of the XI. SS Panzer Corps and remnants of the Panzerjagd Battalion 32. Remnants of the “Kurmark” Panzer Grenadier Division managed to break out to Jerichow on the Elbe, where they surrendered to US troops on 5 May 1945.

After years as a POW and his return to the family, Edel-Heinrich Zachariae von Lingenthal joined the new Bundeswehr in 1956. On 1 April 1971, he was promoted to Brigadier General retired on 30 June 1975.

Family

Edel-Heinrich was the son of Paul Zachariae (b. 29 December 1878 at Gut Großkmehlen) and his wife (∞ 1914) Martha, née Franke (b. 8 June 1888 in Spießingshol). His father served 1914 as a Captain (promoted 1 October 1913) with the 4. Hannoversches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 164 in Hameln. He was well decorated in WWI and later served some years with the Reichswehr, becoming Major on 1 September 1921 with the 9. (Preußisches) Infanterie-Regiment where he was appointed commander of the (4th) Training Battalion in Wünsdorf. He was reactivated in WWII and served with the Luftwaffe as a Lieutenant Colonel with the Luftgau Command XI (Hannover / Hamburg). Edel-Heinrich had one brother:

  • Lienhard (b. 31 July 1922 in Hameln), German 2nd Lieutenant of the Wehrmacht, ⚔ on 7 July 1942 3 km off the road from Voronezh

Edel-Heinrich's great-great-grandfather was Prof. Dr. jur. Carl Salomo Zachariae[2] (1769–1843) who had become a Grand Ducal Privy Councilor of Baden during his time at the University of Heidelberg. He had been lord of the manor (Gut Lingental) since 1818. On 17 November 1842, the Grand Duke of Baden in Karlsruhe elevated him to hereditary nobility, however, with the exception that this only applies to the respective first-born son.

Edel-Heinrich's great-grandfather was Prof. Dr. jur. Karl Eduard Zachariae von Lingenthal (1812–1894), 1842 to 1845 Professor of Law at the University of Heidelberg, 1869 to 1876 Director of the Upper Lusatian Railway and the connecting railway from Cottbus to Großenhain, since 1845 lord of the manor (Gut Großkmehlen). His grandfather was the politician 1st Lieutenant (ret.) Karl Georg Konstantin Zachariae von Lingenthal (1842–1907), lord of the manor of the estate Großkmehlen (sold in 1903), then of the estate Kleinkmehlen.

Edel-Heinrich's uncle was Lieutenant Colonel Karl August Eduard Zachariae von Lingenthal (1876–1923), 1914 Captain and company commander in the 8. Lothringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 159, promoted to Major on 25 November 1916,[3] Knight of Honour (Ehrenritter) of the Johanniter-Orden.

His uncle, as the first-born son, was allowed to carry the title Zachariae von Lingenthal, his father was not. Nevertheless, Paul Zachariae officially had the name changed to "Zachariae-Lingenthal" in 1930[4] and submitted an application for recognition of the title of nobility which was approved (Adelsmatrikel) on 19 June 1937 by the department for nobility laws / issues (Abteilung für adelsrechtliche Fragen) in Berlin.[5] Officially, he received the title Zachariae von Lingenthal, but opted to keep the more modest Zachariae-Lingenthal.

Marriage

On 2 March 1944 in Liegnitz, Major Zachariae von Lingenthal married his fiancée Gisela Jutta-Sibylle Amaly Hedwig von Lewinski genannt von Manstein (1921–2013), daughter of Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Lewinski genannt von Manstein. Among their children are the prominent politicians Rainer (b. 1945) and Michael Lingenthal (b. 1948).

Awards and decorations

Gallery

  • Major Paul Zachariae (Reichswehr Rangliste 1924).png
  • Zachariae von Lingenthal I.png
  • Zachariae von Lingenthal II.png

References

  1. ↑ According to Bradley et al. in Die Generale und Admirale der Bundeswehr 1955–1997, his full name is "Edel-Heinrich Theodor Wolfhart Zachariae von Lingenthal".
  2. ↑ Educated in Meißen (Holy Roman Empire) at the state school there, studied in Leipzig and Wittenberg since 1787, private lecturer in 1795, associate professor there in 1797 and full professor in 1802, appointed to Heidelberg in 1807, where he died on 27 March 1843.
  3. ↑ Dienstalters-Liste der Offiziere der Königlich Preußischen Armee und des XIII. (Königlich Württembergischen) Armeekorps, 1918, p. 24
  4. ↑ Clemens Range: Kriegsgedient. Die Generale und Admirale der Bundeswehr, Translimes Media, Müllheim 2013
  5. ↑ Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Adeligen Häuser, Teil B, 1942, pp. 579 f.
  6. ↑ Zachariae-Lingenthal, Edel Heinrich
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