Georg Ritter von Hengl

Georg Ritter von Hengl
Birth name	Georg Hengl
Birth date	21 October 1897
Place of birth	Lailing near Wallersdorf, Lower Bavaria, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire
Death date	19 March 1952 (aged 54)
Place of death	Sonthofen, Bavaria, West Germany
Resting place	Friedhof Sonthofen, Field P/A/22
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Royal Bavarian Army Imperial German Army Freikorps (Einwohnerwehr) Police SS-Verfügungstruppe Heer
Years of service	1914–1918 1919–1921 1921–1934 1934–1935 1935–1945
Rank	General der Gebirgstruppe
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Iron Cross Hausorden von Hohenzollern Militär-Max-Joseph-Orden German Cross in Gold Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Relations	∞ 1921 Maria Schin

Georg Hengl, with effect from 1918 Ritter von Hengl (21 October 1897 – 19 March 1952), was a German officer of the Bavarian Army, the Imperial German Army in World War I, the Einwohnerwehr, the Police, the and the Wehrmacht, finally General der Gebirgstruppe, commander of the XIX Mountain Corps and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in WWII. He was also a member and teacher/trainer of the Deutscher Skiverband (DSV).

Life

Hannover CL.IIIa of the Fliegerabteilung (Artillerie) 295 (b) at the Western Front (France) with Hans Baur as pilot and Georg Hengl as observer and, because of his higher rank, Kommandant.

Polizei-Leutnant Ritter von Hengl

Ritter von Hengl in the uniform of the SS and the Wehrmacht

Generaloberst Eduard Dietl between General der Gebirgstruppe Ferdinand Schörner (left) and Generalleutnant Georg Ritter von Hengl at the Eismeerfront; Ritter von Hengl gave the eulogy at Dietl's funeral after his death on 23 June 1944.

Ritter von Hengl with his German Shepherd Dog and his son, who served under his command as a company commander

General der Gebirgstruppe Ritter von Hengl

Grave, together with his wife (d. 1981) and his son Georg (d. 2008)

• Easter 1914 Abitur (Humanistisches Gymnasium zu Neuburg an der Donau)
  • subsequently registered as student of political sciences (studiosus rerum politicarum/stud. rer. pol.)
• War Volunteer in the Königlich Bayerisches 11. Infanterie-Regiment „von der Tann“ (04 Aug 1914-20 Sep 1914)
• Transferred into the 9th Bavarian Reserve-Infantry-Regiment (20 Sep 1914-20 Oct 1914)
• In the Field with the 9th Bavarian Reserve-Infantry-Regiment (20 Oct 1914-04 Nov 1914)
• Wounded, in Hospital (04 Nov 1914-05 Mar 1915)
• Transferred to the II. Replacement-Battalion of the 21st Bavarian Reserve-Infantry-Regiment (05 Mar 1915-14 Jul 1915)
• Appointed Reserve-Officer-Aspirant (08 May 1915)
• Transferred to Recruitment-Depot I of the 2nd Bavarian Jäger-Battalion (14 Jul 1915-27 Sep 1915)
• Platoon-Leader in the 22nd Bavarian Infantry-Regiment (27 Sep 1915-06 May 1916)
• Wounded, in Hospital (06 May 1916-18 Jul 1916)
• Transferred to the II. Replacement-Battalion of the 22nd Bavarian Infantry-Regiment (18 Jul 1916-15 Aug 1916)
• Transferred to the I. Replacement-Battalion of the 22nd Bavarian Infantry-Regiment (15 Aug 1916-19 Oct 1916)
• Transferred to the 4th Bavarian Replacement-MG-Company, Hammelburg (19 Oct 1916-08 Feb 1917)
• Platoon-Leader in the 5th Bavarian Landwehr-Infantry-Regiment (08 Feb 1917-14 May 1917)
• Temporary Company-Leader in the 5th Bavarian Landwehr-Infantry-Regiment (14 May 1917-07 Jul 1917)
• Company-Leader in the 5th Bavarian Landwehr-Infantry-Regiment (07 Jul 1917-03 Feb 1918)
• Active-Officer (16 Feb 1918)
• Observer-Training with the 1st Bavarian Flying-Replacement-Battalion (03 Feb 1918-20 Feb 1918)
• Transferred to the Flying-Observer-School (20 Feb 1918-14 Apr 1918)
• Transferred to the Exercise-Flying-Battalion Grafenwöhr (14 Apr 1918-14 May 1918)
• Transferred to Army-Flight-Park 7 (14 May 1918-02 Jun 1918)
• Detached to Flying-Battalion A 295 (02 Jun 1918-23 Jun 1918)
• Transferred as Observer into Flying-Battalion A 295 (23 Jun 1918-28 Mar 1919)
  • as an observer officer, in addition to 115 successfully carried out artillery zeroings, he, manning the machine gun, achieved, together with his pilot, 8 aerial victories (Luftsiege) in the period from July to October 1918. His pilot in the two-seater was Vizefeldwebel Johann „Hans“ Peter Baur, who would become Flugkapitän of the Lufthansa and the personal pilot of Adolf Hitler. Hans Baur wrote in his book Mit Mächtigen zwischen Himmel und Erde (Coburg 1993):
    • “I remember one dogfight particularly well. On 17 July 1918, we were suddenly attacked by fifteen enemy machines while we were zeroing in on the sector of the front in front of Reims and Epernay. However, this unequal fight seemed too daring to us, and we first fled by flying through the clouds. The machines then turned off again and we continued our zeroing in. A short time later, six Spads, French fighter planes, turned up. We became involved in fierce dogfights. The machine guns barked, it was a murderous spectacle. My observer and I were able to shoot down four machines. It was a success that has practically never happened before. The remaining two enemy fighters fled, thinking they were dealing with the devil. [...] On the return march [after a crash landing] we met hundreds of [French] prisoners who had picked up their wounded and were carrying them in canvas tents. We still had about twenty kilometers to walk before we found a telephone from which we could call our squadron. It immediately had us picked up in a car. We looked pretty bad with blood all over our uniforms and faces. The pity of our comrades was all the greater since two crews had already died heroic deaths that day. I only stayed in the infirmary for a few days, then it started all over again. We flew two or three times a day. The flights usually lasted three and a half to four hours. Essentially, we made inquiries about infantry positions, identified artillery positions, which were then attacked by our artillery, accompanied from the plane. My observer, Lieutenant von Hengl, did an extraordinary job. As a result, in addition to the operational orders, which were generous in any case, our department leader repeatedly gave him an additional assignment that another comrade could not carry out. He successfully completed these assignments many times, so that the department commander regarded us as a specially selected crew.

Between wars

• Transferred to Volkswehr-Flying-Battalion Schmalschägl (28 Mar 1919-19 Apr 1919)
  • subordinated to the Freikorps „von Epp“
• Wounded in the fighting at Dachau against the Communists of the Bavarian Soviet Republic, in Hospital (19 Apr 1919-08 Jul 1919)
• Transferred to Flying-Squadron 121 (08 Jul 1919-01 Oct 1919)
• Transferred Processing-Office 1 Schleißheim (01 Oct 1919-15 Oct 1919)
• Transferred to Territorial-Defence Bavaria (Einwohnerwehr Bayern) (15 Oct 1919)
• With the Staff of Territorial-Defence Bavaria, Staff of Oberstleutnant Kriebel (15 Oct 1919-01 Mar 1921)
• Transferred to Police Service (01 Mar 1921)
• Unit-Officer with the State-Police Augsburg (01 Mar 1921-15 Jul 1921)
• Course-Director with the State-Police Augsburg (15 Jul 1921-14 Oct 1922)
• Sports-Officer with the Command of the State-Police Augsburg (14 Oct 1922-06 Oct 1924)
• Leader of Watch-Command Niederschönenfeld (06 Oct 1924-27 Jan 1925)
• Ski-Instructor of the State-Police Bavaria (27 Jan 1925-09 May 1930)
• Detached as Instructor of the Selection-Courses for the Olympics at Munich (09 May 1930-01 Oct 1930)
• Transferred to the Protection-Police Munich, Personnel-Advisor with Section-Command II, Munich (01 Oct 1930-01 Jun 1932)
• Leader of the 4th Police-Unit of Protection-Police Munich (MG Company) (01 Jun 1932-01 Oct 1933)
• Leader of the 4th Unit of the State-Police Munich (01 Oct 1933-07 Jul 1934)
• Transferred into the SS-VT (01 Jul 1934)
• Commander of 13th [IG]/Political Alarm Unit
• Commander of SS-Standarte 2 „Deutschland“ (07 Jul 1934-15 Oct 1935)
• Transferred into Army Service (15 Oct 1935)
• Commander of 4th (MG) Company of the 100th Mountain-Infantry-Regiment (15 Oct 1935-06 Oct 1936)
• Commander of III. Battalion of the 99th Mountain-Infantry-Regiment & Mountain-Leader (06 Oct 1936-10 May 1939)
• Special Leave (Round Trip of Africa) (10 May 1939-10 Aug 1939)

WWII

• Commander of III. Battalion of the 99th Mountain-Infantry-Regiment & Mountain-Leader (10 Aug 1939-24 Feb 1940)
• Commander of the 137th Mountain-Infantry-Regiment (24 Feb 1940-02 Mar 1942); Operation Weserübung
  • Here follows an excerpt describing Hengl’s Knight’s Cross action: “On the 29 June 1941, the Gebirgs-Korps Norway began its attack against the Russian border positions from the area east of Petsamo. During this operation the successful breakthrough against the heavily occupied (and defended to the last man) bunker line commanded by Oberstleutnant von Hengl was of extraordinary importance for the further successful attack of the whole Gebirgskorps.”
• Delegated with the Leadership of the 2nd Mountain-Division (02 Mar 1942-20 Apr 1942)
• Commander of the 2nd Mountain-Division (20 Apr 1942-23 Oct 1943)
  • In the 20th Mountain Army, he was to form a leadership troika together with Eduard Dietl and Ferdinand Schörner
• Delegated with the Leadership of XIX. Mountain-Corps (23 Oct 1943-01 Jan 1944)
• Commanding General of XIX. Mountain-Corps (01 Jan 1944-21 Apr 1944)
• Detached to ther Personnel Office, OKH (21 Apr 1944-05 May 1944)
• Chief of the NS-Guidance-Staff in OKH (15 May 1944-25 Jan 1945)
  • Chef des NS-Führungsstabes (Heer) im Oberkommando des Heeres as successor of Ferdinand Schörner
• Delegated to take command of LIX. Army-Corps but was taken ill & command did not become effective (25 Jan 1945-08 May 1945)
  • On 7 May 1945, the Kampfgruppe Hengl delivered the final bloody battles against the invading US troops in the mountain region "Wilder Kaiser"
• In Captivity (8 May 1945-1947)
• Released (1947)

Post-war

After the war, Hengl wrote in the foreword to the book "General Dietl – Das Leben eines Soldaten" (1951) by Gerda Luise Dietl and Oberst a. D. Kurt Herrmann:

"Narvik and Dietl were well known among the entire population. (...) May this book keep the memory of Generaloberst Dietl alive among the German people and especially among young people! He was among the best."

Death

After having survived the war and captivity, General der Gebirgstruppe a. D. Georg Ritter von Hengl died on a ski tour in the Allgäu Alps near Sonthofen on 19 March 1952 at the age of only 54.

Family

Polizei-Leutnant Ritter von Hengl married on 19 April 1921 his fiancée Maria Schin (1899–1981). Their son Georg Hengl (b. 27 April 1922 in Augsburg; d. 28 May 2008) also joined the Gebirgsjäger, the light infantry part of the alpine or mountain troops (Gebirgstruppe). He was promoted to Leutnant on 1 April 1941, to Oberleutnant on 1 May 1943 and finally in Spring 1944 to Hauptmann. Among other awards, he received the Iron Cross (both classes), the Infantry Assault Badge (Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen) in Silver and the German Cross in Gold on 1 May 1945 as commander of the 9. Kompanie/Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 136/2. Gebirgs-Division.

Promotions

Bavarian Army/Imerial German Army

• War Volunteer (4 August 1914)
• Unteroffizier der Reserve/Reserve NCO (24 April 1915)
• Reserve Officer Candidate/Aspirant (8 May 1915)
• Vizefeldwebel der Reserve/Reserve Vice-Sergeant (12 July 1915)
• Leutnant der Reserve (27 March 1918)
• Leutnant (active officer, backdated to 16 February 1918)

Police

• Polizei-Leutnant (1 March 1921)
• Polizei-Oberleutnant (19 December 1923)
• Polizei-Hauptmann/Police Captain (1 June 1931)

SS-VT

• SS-Obersturmbannführer (1 July 1934)

Wehrmacht

• Hauptmann (15 October 1935)
• Major (1 March 1936)
• Oberstleutnant/Lieutenant Colonel (1 April 1939)
• Oberst/Colonel (17 December 1941)
• Generalmajor (1 April 1942)
• Generalleutnant (21 January 1943)
• General der Gebirgstruppe (1 January 1944)

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 8 May 1915
  • 1st Class on 1 August 1917
• Military Merit Order (Bavaria), 4th Class with Swords and Crown
  • 4th Class with Swords on 27 August 1917
  • 4th Class with Swords and Crown in September 1918
• Bavarian Observer's Badge 1914 (Abzeichen für Beobachtungsoffiziere aus Flugzeugen) on 4 June 1918
• Ehrenbecher für den Sieger im Luftkampf for the famous dogfight and first four victories on 17 July 1918
• House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross with Swords (HOH3⚔)
• Wound Badge (Verwundetenabzeichen 1918) in Gold
• Aviator Commemorative Badge (Flieger-Erinnerungsabzeichen)
• Military Order of Max Joseph, Knight's Cross (BMJ3) as Leutnant der Reserve and Observer in the Königlich Bayerische Fliegerabteilung (Artillerie) 295 (b) on 13 March 1922 (postwar) with effect from 29 October 1918 (Militär-Max-Joseph-Orden); now known as Ritter von Hengl
• DRL/Reich Sports Badge (Deutsches Reichssportabzeichen) in Bronze and Silver
  • in Bronze on 3 September 1924
  • in Silver on 5 January 1929 as Polizei-Oberleutnant and Ski-Ausbilder der Bayerischen Polizei
• Police SS Long Service Award (Polizei-Dienstauszeichnung) for 8 years
• Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th to 1st Class
• Heeresbergführer-Abzeichen on 6 October 1936
• Deutsche Olympia-Erinnerungsmedaille on 20 April 1937
• Anschluss Medal (Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 13. März 1938) on 8 November 1938
• Sudetenland Medal (Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938)

WWII

• Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 21 September 1939
  • 1st Class on 29 September 1939
• Winter Battle in the East 1941–42 Medal
• Order of the Cross of Liberty (Finnischer Orden des Freiheitskreuzes), 1st Class with Star and Swords on 13 May 1943
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 25. August 1941 as Oberstleutnant und Kommandeur des Gebirgsjäger-Regiments 137
• German Cross in Gold am 20. Juni 1944 as General der Gebirgstruppe und Kommandierender General XIX. Gebirgs-Korps

Gallery

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