Gerhard Feyerabend

Gerhard Feyerabend
Birth date	29 April 1898
Place of birth	Dopsattel Estate near Königsberg, Province of East Prussia, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	6 November 1965 (aged 67)
Place of death	Rottach-Egern, Bavaria, West Germany
Place of burial	Churchyard of the Catholic parish church of St. Laurentius in Rottach-Egern
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Imperial German Army Reichswehr Heer
Years of service	1916–1945
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands held	87th Infantry Division 11th Infantry Division
Battles/wars	World War I World War II Poland Campaign Battle of France Invasion of Yugoslavia Operation Barbarossa Operation Overlord Courland Pocket
Awards	German Cross in Gold Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Relations	∞ 1924 Erna Reschke ∞ Lillian/Lilian, widowed Schmidt von Altenstadt, née Thordsen

Gerhard Fritz Franz Feyerabend (29 April 1898 – 6 November 1965) was a German officer of three armies, finally Lieutenant General of the Wehrmacht, divisional commander and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in World War II.

Life

Gerhard received his first school lessons at the estate of his father, he then attended the Gymnasium in Königsberg from Easter 1906 to Easter 1911. From Easter 1911 to Easter 1914, he attended the cadet school in Köslin and then until Easter 1916 the Royal Prussian Main Cadet Institute (Hauptkadettenanstalt in Groß-Lichterfelde). On 29 March 1916, having been promoted to Officer Cadet, he was transferred to the Replacement Battalion of the 2nd Masurian Field Artillery Regiment No. 82. On 9 April 1916, he was sworn in. On 29 June 1916, after having completed basic training, he was deployed to the active regiment at the war front.

• 20 April to 28 April 1917 Commanded to the Army Gas School in Berlin
• 29 April 1917 Return to the regiment
• 30 October to 31 December 1917 Fallen severely ill; fortress auxiliary military hospital in Königsberg
• 1 January 1918 Return to the regiment
• 30 May 1918 Again ill; field military hospital
• 2 June 1918 Return to the regiment
• 28 June 1918 Still ill (not yet recovered); Field Military Hospital No. 5
• 20 July 1918 Return to the regiment

In the Preliminary Reichswehr, he first served with the Light Artillery Regiment 20, from 17 October 1919 to 12 January 1920, he served as an orderly officer with the Detachment Nehbel (Grenzschutz Ost) in East Prussia. he then returned to the regiment which was renamed to Reichswehr Artillery Regiment 20 on 1 March 1920 and to 1. (Preußisches) Artillerie-Regiment in Königsberg on 15 November 1920 (according to other sources on 1 January 1921). From 15 May to 30 October 1920, he was commanded to the sports training course of the Reichswehr Group Command I in Dresden. From 30 September 1922 to 20 August 1923, he was commanded to the Artillery School Jüterbog. On 1 december 1923, he was transferred to the Training Bataillon/1. (Preußisches) Artillerie-Regiment, on 8 April 1924, he was granted permission to marry. On 1 April 1924, he was transferred to the 8th Battery, on 1 October 1924, he was appointed adjutant of the III. Battalion. On 1 October 1928, he was transferred to the 7th Battery.

• 1 October 1929 Transferred to the staff of the 1st Division
• 1 October 1931 Transferred to the 8th Battery/2. (Preußisches) Artillerie-Regiment and commanded to the Commandant's Office Berlin
• 1 October 1932 Transferred to the staff of the 7th Division but still commanded to the Commandant's Office Berlin
  • 1 April 1933 ordered to wear the uniform of general staff officers
• 1 October 1933 Transferred to the staff of the Artillery Commander I
• 12 April with effect from 1 May 1934 Transferred to the staff of the 1st Division
• 1 October 1935 Transferred to the General Staff of the Military District Command I
• 15 October 1935 Transferred to the General Staff of the I. Army Corps
• 6 October 1936 Commander of the 4th Battery/Artillerie-Regiment 1
• 12 October 1937 1st General Staff Officer and Chief of Operations (Ia) in the General Staff of the 24th Division
• 1 October 1939 Transferred to the staff of the of the General of Artillery at the Commander-in-Chief of the Army (OKH)
• 12 January 1940 Führerreserve (OKH)/Army High Command Leader Reserve
• 5 February 1940 1st General Staff Officer and Chief of Operations (Ia) in the General Staff of the XXXX. Army Corps
• 10 July 1940 Transferred to the Operations Department of the Army General Staff in the Army High Command (OKH)
• 8 October 1940 Tactics instructor and lecture hall head at the General Staff courses of the War Academy in Berlin
• 1 April 1941 1st General Staff Officer and Chief of Operations (Ia) in the General Staff of the 2nd Army
• 3 August 1941 Führerreserve (OKH)/Army High Command Leader Reserve
• 18 August 1941 Commanded the the Army Group South and delegated with conducting the business of the Chief of General Staff of the XXXXIX. Mountain Army Corps
• 19 October 1941 Delegated with conducting the business of the Chief of General Staff of the XXVII. Army Corps
• 15 December 1941 Appointed Chief of General Staff of the XXVII. Army Corps
• 15 July 1943 Führerreserve (OKH)/Army High Command Leader Reserve
• 1 August 1943 Appointed Chief of General Staff of the 1st Army
• 10 September 1944 Führerreserve (OKH)/Army High Command Leader Reserve
• 19 September 1944 Delegated with the deputy leadership of the 87th Infantry Division for Mauritz Freiherr von Strachwitz who had fallen ill
  • in November 1944, Kurt Johannes Hähling took over the regiment until Freiherr von Strachwitz returned in January 1945
• 9 November 1944 Appointed commander of the 11th Infantry Division
  • On 5 April 1945, Lieutenant General Feyerabend was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for holding the front of his division, which was already encircled on both sides, against eight to ten Soviet divisions in the Sixth Battle of Courland, and thus for preventing the collapse of the entire Courland Front. After the rescue of numerous troops across the Baltic Sea in the final days of the war, Feyerabend surrendered to the Soviets with the remnants of his division on 10 May 1945, and was repatriated on 10 July 1947.

Family

Gerhard was the son of Protestant lord of the manor (Gut Dopsattel) Eugen Feyerabend (d. 26 January 1911 at Dopsattel Estate) and his wife Anna, née Classen. One of his siblings was older brother Erich Feyerabend (b. 16 January 1887), a chemistry graduate from the Royal Prussian Technical University in Breslau, who served as a 2nd Lieutenant of the Reserves with the 3rd Battery/Fußartillerie-Regiment "von Dieskau" (Schlesisches) Nr. 6 in WWI and was ⚔ on 30 October 1918 only days before the end of hostilities.

Marriages

On 18 July 1924 in Bratricken, East Prussia, 2nd Lieutenant Feyerabend married his Protestant fiancée Erna Reschke (b. 16 June 1901), daughter of administrator Max Reschke (d. 28 April 1929 in Bratricken). They would have one child, daughter Marie-Luise (b. 9 May 1934 in Königsberg). It was not until he was repatriated in 1947 did Feyerabend learn that his wife and their 10-year-old daughter, who had lived on the family estate in Dopsattel had been raped and murdered by the Russians on 30 January 1945 after the invasion of East Prussia.

Despite the emotional blow, he would later experience love again. He married Major General Hans-Georg Schmidt von Altenstadt's widow, Danish-born Lillian/Lilian, née Thordsen (who is said to have been a member of the Vril Society), mother of three children. The new couple lived together in Bavarian Rottach-Egern near the house of General der Panzertruppe Gerhard Helmut Detloff Graf von Schwerin. Since July 1958, Lieutenant General (Ret.) Feyerabend was the treasurer and auditor of the Evangelische Kirchenbauverein Rottach-Egern am Tegernsee e. V.

Promotions

• 29 March 1916 Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
• 5 December 1916 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant) without Patent
  • later received Patent from 25 December 1916
  • 1 July 1922 received Reichswehr Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1 May 1917 (7)
• 31 July 1925 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant) with effect and RDA from 1 April 1925 (535)
• 1 April 1933 (42) Hauptmann (Captain)
• 2 August 1936 Major with effect and RDA from 1 August 1936 (42)
• 20 March 1939 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) with effect from 1 April 1939 and RDA from 1 January 1939 (42a)
• 9 November 1941 Oberst (Colonel) with effect and RDA from 1 December 1941 (8)
• 1 February 1944 (13) Generalmajor (Major General)
• 23 February 1945 (telex date) Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) with effect and RDA from 1 March 1945

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 8 November 1916
  • 1st Class on 27 March 1924
• German Gymnastics and Sports Badge (Deutsches Turn- und Sportabzeichen) in Bronze in September 1920
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords on 18 January 1935
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th to 2nd Class on 2 October 1936
• Sudetenland Medal with the Prague Castle Bar
• Repetition Clasp 1939 to the Iron Cross 1914, 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 24 September 1939
  • 1st Class on 9 November 1939
• Winter Battle in the East 1941–42 Medal on 14 July 1942
• German Cross in Gold on 2 February 1943 as Colonel and Chief of the General Staff of the XXVII. Armeekorps
• Courland Cuff Title / Cuff Band "Kurland" (Ärmelband „Kurland“)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 5 April 1945 as Lieutenant General and Commander of the 11. Infanterie-Division

Sources

• German Federal Archives: BArch PERS 6/2533 and PERS 6/299637