Ernst Krämer

Ernst Krämer
Birth name	Ernst Friedrich Krämer
Birth date	23 January 1909
Place of birth	Oberhausen, Rhine Province, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	9 June 1996 (aged 87)
Place of death	Waldbrunn (Westerwald), Hesse, Federal Republic of Germany
Allegiance	Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany West Germany
Service/branch	Reichswehr Heer Bundeswehr
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel (W) Colonel (BW)
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	German Cross in Silver Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross Order of Merit of the FRG
Relations	∞ 1936 Marie Agnes Dorothea Herms

Ernst Friedrich Krämer (1909–1996) was a German weapons officer (Waffenoffizier; W) of the Wehrmacht and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross as well as Colonel of the new Bundeswehr (BW) in post-war Germany.

Life

Generalkommando XXXXVII. Panzer-Korps, May 1941

Krämer joined the Reichswehr at the end of the 1920s and was later trained as a weapon chemist. He was already a 2nd Lieutenant (W) in February 1936, when he married. In 1937, he was 1st Lieutenant (W) with rank seniority (RDA) from 1 March 1934 and chairman (Vorstand) of the army ammunition facility (Heeres-Munitionsanstalt; H. Ma. or Muna) in Lehre. In January 1939, he is listed as Captain (W) with rank seniority (RDA) from 1 April 1938 still serving in Lehre (Lower Saxony).

WWII

During WWII, he was promoted to Major and appointed head (Leiter) of the Heeresmunitionsanstalt Jüterbog. It can be assumed that he was temporarily sent to the Eastern Front in order to be able to experience the testing, transport and distribution of ammunition first hand and to introduce improvements. This would explain why he received the Eastern Front Medal and the War Merit Cross (1939) with swords.

He seems to have served with the W.u.G. (weapons and equipment) department (Abteilung Ib) of the Generalkommando (motorisiert) XXXXVII. Armee-Korps (renamed XXXXVII. Panzer-Korps at the latest in May 1941) from 16 December 1940 to 1 July 1942 and with the Army Field Equipment Department in the Army High Command (OKH/Fz In/Referat IV) from 1 November 1942 to 30 June 1943, returning to Jüterbog on 1 July 1943.

In 1945, now Lieutenant Colonel (W), still with the Heeresmunitionsanstalt Jüterbog, he received the German Cross in Silver, because he and Major Dorrong from the OHK/Fz In/Abteilung 3 in August 1944 made a decisive contribution to the further conduct of the war by diluting the explosives with rock salt instead of ammonium nitrate (saltpetre), and later the Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross with swords. On 20 April 1945, Krämer and his men left Jüterbog heading westwards in order to avoid capture by the Red Army.

Post-WWII

It is not known, when he became a POW and how long. He joined the Bundeswehr (barracks in Andernach) in 1955. He served at the army school in Cologne (or predecessor organization), then as a regimental commander in Diez an der Lahn and finally in Bad Neuenahr. He retired at the end of the 1960s with the rank of colonel (Oberst).

Family

Descent

Ernst Friedrich Krämer was born 1909 in Oberhausen as son of Fahrmeister Eduard Krämer. Driving master is a German job title within the fire department but also for masters of horse-drawn carriages.

Marriage

On 8 February 1936 in Berlin-Spandau, 2nd Lieutenant Krämer married his fiancée Marie Agnes Dorothea Herms (b. 25 July 1914 in Spandau near Berlin; d. 1979 in Limburg an der Lahn). They had four children: two sons (b. 1938 in Braunschweig and 14 December 1942 in Jüterbog) and a daughter (b. spring 1941 in Jüterbog) as well as a further daughter Barbara (b. 18 April 1945).

Awards and decorations

• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th Class
• War Merit Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class with Swords
  • 2nd Class on 24 December 1940
  • 1st Class on 30 January 1942
• Winter Battle in the East 1941–42 Medal on 1 July 1942
• German Cross in Silver on 6 January 1945 as Major (W) and Head of the Heeresmunitionsanstalt Jüterbog
• Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross with Swords on 2 February 1945 as Lieutenant Colonel (W) and Head of the Heeresmunitionsanstalt Jüterbog
• Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Cross of Merit 1st Class in 1967

Gallery

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  Marriage entry at the registry office (Standesamt) I

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  Marriage entry at the registry office (Standesamt) II

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  From left to right: Lieutenant Colonel (W) Krämer, Lieutenant General Paul Danhauser (Heeresfeldzeugmeister) and 1st Lieutenant (W) Egon August Aghta in February 1945.