Erich Clößner

Erich Clößner
Birth name	Philipp Carl Albert Reinhard Erich Clößner
Birth date	17 September 1888(1888-09-17)
Place of birth	Gießen, Grand Duchy of Hesse, German Empire
Death date	28 March 1976 (aged 87)
Place of death	Konstanz, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Prussian Army Imperial German Army Reichswehr Heer
Years of service	1907–1945
Rank	General of the Infantry
Commands held	25th Panzergrenadier Division LIII. Army Corps IX. Army Corps 2nd Panzer Army
Battles/wars	World War I World War II Anschluss Sudetenland Battle of France Operation Barbarossa Battle of Kiev (1941) Battle of Moscow
Awards	Iron Cross German Cross in Gold Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Relations	∞ 1915 Irene von Gottberg

Philipp Karl Albert Reinhard Erich Clößner (17 September 1888 – 28 March 1976) was a German officer of the Prussian Army, the Imperial German Army, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally General of the Infantry and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in WWII.

Life

From left (first row): Colonel Otto Schmidt-Hartung (Commander Infanterie-Regiment 35), Lieutenant General Erich Clößner (Commander 25. Infanterie-Division), SS-Sturmbannführer Kurt Meyer (Commander SS-Aufklärungs-Abteilung "LSSAH") and SS-Obersturmführer Hermann Weiser (Commander 2nd Company/SS-Aufklärungs-Abteilung "LSSAH"), Eastern Front, 1941

In the small Hessian town of Braunfels (Lahn-Dill district), known since the early 13th century, in the St. Georgen district south of Braunfels Castle, lies a cemetery with its late Romanesque church, which served as the mother church for Braunfels until 1583. Many members of the Clößner family found their final resting place there.

Erich attended elementary school in Gießen from Easter 1894 to Easter 1897, then Gymnasium in Offenbach am Main until Easter 1899 and Gymnasium in Gießen until Easter 1900. He then attended cadet school in Oranienstein until Easter 1903 and then the Royal Prussian Main Cadet Institute (Hauptkadettenanstalt in Groß-Lichterfelde) near Berlin until February 1907. On 14 March 1907, he joined the Prussian Army as a commissioned officer having graduated from the Main Cadet Institute at the top of his class. He served with the 8th Company/9. Rheinisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 160 in Bonn. His older brother Hermann was serving in the 8. Rheinisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 70 at the time.

• 15 April 1907 Sworn-in
• 1 October 1911 to 10 September 1914 Adjutant of the II. Battalion and court officer
• 10 September 1914 Wounded
• 9 November 1914 Received permission to marry
• 25 April 1915 Transferred to the Replacement Battalion/9. Rheinisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 160
• 28 July 1915 Return to the field to the 9. Rheinisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 160 and appointed company commander
• 5 February 1916 Appointed 2nd adjutant of the 29th Reserve Infantry Brigade
• 30 June 1916 Transferred to the 15th Infantry Division and appointed orderly officer
• 9 July 1916 Commanded to the Division "Dumrath" and appointed 1st adjutant
• 3 September 1916 Commanded to the Division "H" and appointed orderly officer
• 20 September 1916 Commanded to the Army Group "Kronprinz von Bayern" under Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria and appointed orderly officer
• 1 November 1916 Officially transferred to the Army Group "Kronprinz von Bayern" as 3rd adjutant
  • From 30 April 1917 to 3 May 1917, he received outpatient treatment for a boil in his right ear canal and inflammation of both eardrums.
• 13 May 1917 Transferred to a general staff position of the 25th Landwehr Division, remaining in his previous uniform
• 24 November 1917 Transferred to a general staff position of the XVIII. Reserve Corps, remaining in his previous uniform
• 28 March 1918 Transferred to the General Staff of the Army
• 2 August 1918 Transferred to the general staff of Stage Command 28
• 4 October 1918 Assigned to the XXV. Reserve-Korps
• 3 April 1919 Transferred to the 9. Rheinisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 160 and assigned "for special use" to the II. Armee-Korps in Stettin
• 18 May 1919 Transferred to the General Staff of the Army, but still assigned to the II. Armee-Korps
• 1 October 1919 Transferred to the general staff of Military District Command II, later renamed 2nd Division
• 6 October 1919 Newly sworn-in
• 1924 to 1933 Service with the 5th (Prussian) Infantry Regiment, the 2nd (Prussian) Motor Vehicle Department (training and acquisition of military driver's licenses), the staff of Group Command 1, the staff of the Infantry Commander VI
• 20 February with effect from 1 March 1933 Appointed commandant of Neustettin
• 1 April 1934 Appointed commander of the 14. (Badisches) Infanterie-Regiment in Konstanz
  • 1 October 1934 renamed Infanterie-Regiment Konstanz
  • 15 October 1935 renamed Infanterie-Regiment 14
• 2 August 1934 Newly sworn-in
• 12 to 25 March 1938 Operation "Anschluss"
• 24 May with effect from 1 June 1938 Appointed inspector of the Military Replacement Inspection Innsbruck
• 15 October 1939 Appointed commander of the 25. Infanterie-Division
  • He first led the division into battle during the Western Campaign. He remained commander even during the division's conversion to the 25th Infantry Division (motorized). At the beginning of the Eastern Campaign, he led his division into southern Russia.
    • The following wartime excerpt describes why Clößner was awarded the Knight’s Cross: “Over the course of 5 to 7 June 1940, Lieutenant General Clößner led his troops forwards over the Oise-Aisne Kanal, and afterwards stormed the Chemin des Dames and the Laffaux heights with his men.” The following press excerpt from October 1940 further details these actions as follows: “Between 5 and 10 June 1940, Lieutenant General decisively contributed to the breakthrough victory of the corps as well as the subsequent pursuit battles along the Aisne Canal and Marne river through the masterful leadership of his division. During the assault across the Marne river, his division served as the pacemaker for the young neighbouring divisions against the desperately defending enemy. In doing so, he brought about a military accomplishment of unusually high merit.”
• 25 January 1942 Delegated with the leadership of the LIII. Armee-Korps succeeding Walther Fischer von Weikersthal
• 1 April 1942 Officially appointed commanding general of the LIII. Armee-Korps
  • 25 April 1943 simultaneously took over the deputy leadership of the 2nd Panzer Army for Rudolf Schmidt, who had been relieved of his duties on 10 April 1943 (officially "on leave"). Walter Model took over command in August 1943 for a few days until Lothar Rendulic (de) arrived as the new commander-in-chief.

On 15 October 1943, he was appointed Commanding General of the IX. Army Corps, succeeding General of Infantry Hans Schmidt. This corps was deployed in the central sector of the Eastern Front. On 3 December 1943, he relinquished command to Lieutenant General Rolf Wuthmann and was transferred back to the Führerreserve (Officer Reserve) of the OKH (Army High Command), with his duties again being administered by Military District XVIII. On 5 January 1944, he was seconded to Army Group F as a general for special duties (General z. b. V.). On 10 May 1944, he returned to the Führerreserve with Military District XVIII. On 28 June 1944, he was transferred to the Special Staff I of the OKH. On 4 December 1944, he was again transferred to the Führerreserve of the OKH, with his duties once more being administered by Military District XVIII. On 21 December 1944, he was granted six weeks' leave. On 1 January 1945, he was transferred to the Reich Ministry of Propaganda under Joseph Goebbels as a general for special duties (General z. b. V.). On 30 March 1945, he contracted acute laryngitis. His incapacity for service was recorded as lasting four weeks on 2 April 1945. Consequently, on 5 April 1945, he was again transferred to the Führerreserve (Officer Reserve) of the OKH (Army High Command). With the surrender of the Wehrmacht, he became an Allied prisoner of war. He was released in 1947 and returned to his home in Konstanz.

Family

Erich was the son of Colonel Hermann Clößner (23 May 1854 – 16 April 1919) and his wife Margot, née Schwartze (d. 23 April 1899 in Offenbach am Main). His older brother was Lieutenant Colonel Hermann Clößner (1886–1950), his nephew 2nd Lieutenant Wolfgang Clößner (b. 24 June 1921 in Niedel-Weitel) was ⚔ on 27 November 1943 near Tomakowka.

Marriage

On 2 February 1915 in Detmold, 1st Lieutenant Clößner married his fiancée Irene Gabriele Franziska von Gottberg (b. 27 March 1894 in Charlottenburg; d. 4 February 1992), daughter of Colonel Lorenz Peter Franz von Gottberg (b. 5 January 1862 in Frankfurt an der Oder) who was ⚔ on 17 August 1918 as commander of the 96th Reserve Infantry Brigade in Vitry an der Scarpe (Vitry-en-Artois). They would have one son:

• Horst-Rupprecht (b. 14 October 1917)

Promotions

• 14 March 1907 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant) without Patent
  • 15 June 1907 received Patent from 14 June 1907
• 18 December 1914 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
• 5 October 1916 Hauptmann (Captain)
  • 1 February 1922 received Reichswehr Rank Seniority (RDA) from 5 October 1916 (16)
• 1 December 1929 Major with RDA from 1 February 1928 (5a)
• 1 April 1932 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) with RDA from 1 April 1932 (3)
• 1 June 1934 Oberst (Colonel) with RDA from 1 June 1934 (6)
• 30 September 1937 Generalmajor (Major General) with effect and RDA from 1 October 1937 (5)
• 30 September 1939 Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) with effect and RDA from 1 October 1939 (4)
• 16 March 1942 General der Infanterie (General of the Infantry) with effect and RDA from 1 January 1942 (2)

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 9 September 1914
  • 1st Class on 16 September 1915
• Hessian Bravery Medal (Hessische Tapferkeitsmedaille; HT) on 5 April 1915
• Bavarian Military Merit Order, 4th Class with Swords (BMV4⚔/BM4⚔) on 29 April 1917
• Gallipoli Star (Eiserner Halbmond; TH) on 5 September 1917
• Military Merit Cross (Austria-Hungary), 3rd Class with the War Decoration (ÖM3K) on 14 April 1918
• Hamburg Hanseatic Cross (HH) on 17 April 1918
• Wound Badge (1918) in Black on 30 May 1918
• Lippe-Detmold War Merit Cross (Lippisches Kriegsverdienstkreuz; LK) on 17 September 1918
• Princely Lippe War Cross of Honor for heroic deeds (Fürstlich Lippisches Kriegsehrenkreuz für heldenmütige Tat; LKEKr/LE) on 5 November 1918
• Princely House Order of Hohenzollern, Commander's Cross of Honour (HEK2a) on 30 August 1934
  • Colonel Clößner, at the time commander of the 14. (Badisches) Infanterie-Regiment in Konstanz, was awarded the Princely House Order by Friedrich Viktor Fürst von Hohenzollern (1891–1965) in Sigmaringen. Clößner was a guest at the birthday gala banquet for the Fürst at Sigmaringen Castle on this day. Fürst von Hohenzollern had close ties to Constance and the 14th (Baden) Infantry Regiment. The regiment's 5th Company was the bearer of tradition of the Royal Prussian Füsilier-Regiment "Fürst Karl-Anton von Hohenzollern" (Hohenzollernsches) Nr. 40.
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords on 19 February 1935
• Cross of Merit of the Finnish Protection Corps (Civil Guard) on 24 September 1936
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th to 1st Class on 3 October 1936
• Anschluss Medal
• Sudetenland Medal with the “Prague Castle” clasp
• Repetition Clasp 1939 to the Iron Cross 1914, 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 20 May 1940
  • 1st Class on 6 June 1940
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 September 1940 as Lieutenant General and Commander of 25. Infanterie-Division
• German Cross in Gold on 15 July 1942 as General of the Infantry and Commanding General of the LIII. Armeekorps
• Winter Battle in the East 1941–42 Medal on 20 July 1942

Gallery

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Sources

• German Federal Archives: BArch PERS 6/110 and PERS 6/299515