Heinrich-Hermann von Hülsen

Heinrich-Hermann von Hülsen
Birth date	8 July 1895(1895-07-08)
Place of birth	Weimar, Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, German Empire
Death date	6 June 1982 (aged 86)
Place of death	Celle, Lower Saxony, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Imperial German Army Freikorps Reichswehr Heer
Years of service	1914–1945
Rank	Major General
Unit	9. Panzer-Division
Commands held	9th Rifle Brigade 9th Panzer Grenadier Regiment 21. Panzer-Division
Battles/wars	World War I World War II Poland Campaign Operation Barbarossa Battle of the Caucasus North African Campaign
Awards	Iron Cross House Order of Hohenzollern Panzer Battle Badge German Cross in Gold
Relations	∞ 1922 Hildegard von Schierstaedt

Heinrich-Hermann Franz Mario Walter Lobegott von Hülsen (8 July 1895 – 6 June 1982) was a German officer, finally Major General and divisional commander of the Wehrmacht in World War II.

Life

Severely wounded on 2 March 1915

Von Hülsen as a Reichswehr officer

Wounded on 16 August 1941

Promotion to Major General

Heinrich-Hermann attended the elementary school of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gymnasium (KWG) in Hanover from Easter 1901 to November 1905, then he attended the Kaiserin-Augusta-Gymnasium in Charlottenburg until 1 July 1906. From 15 September 1906 to April 1910, he attended the cadet school in Plön, he then transferred to the Royal Prussian Main Cadet Institute (Hauptkadettenanstalt in Groß-Lichterfelde) near Berlin where he became a cadet with honors and served for a time as a page to Empress Auguste Viktoria (1858–1921). On 13 August 1914, because of his extraordinary achievements, he was transferred to the 4th Guards Regiment of Foot as a commissioned 2nd Lieutenant.

• 21 August 1914 Sworn-in
• 2 January 1915 Appointed deputy leader of the 6th Company
  • 2 March 1915 severely wounded; shrapnel in the left hip and right lower leg
• 1 November 1915 Appointed orderly officer with the 43rd Infantry Brigade
• 14 January 1916 Transferred to the staff of the 4th Guards Regiment of Foot
• 7 February 1916 Appointed deputy adjutant and court officer of the III. Battalion (Fusilier Battalion)
• 21 May 1916 Appointed adjutant of the III. Battalion (Fusilier Battalion)
  • 16 April to 27 April 1918 deputy regimental adjutant
  • 27 May to 31 May 1918 deputy leader of the III. Battalion
• 9 June 1918 Commanded to the Army Group German Crown Prince under General der Infanterie Wilhelm von Preußen as an orderly officer
• 17 October 1918 Appointed adjutant of the mobile 4th Guards Regiment of Foot under Colonel Wilhelm Reinhard
  • After the November Revolution, Reinhard led his regiment back to the homeland in good order and created the Volunteer Regiment "Reinhard", later the Volunteer Brigade "Reinhard" (also: Freikorps "Reinhard").

After the war and Freikorps service, von Hülsen served as regimental adjutant of the Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 29, as of 1 January 1921 as platoon leader in the 3rd (Machine Gun) Company/9. (Preußisches) Infanterie-Regiment in Wünsdorf, as of August 1921 with the 9. (Preußisches) Reiter-Regiment in Fürstenwalde, as of October 1925 with the training squadron of the 7. (Preußisches) Reiter-Regiment, as of October 1928 as commander of the 1st Squadron/7. (Preußisches) Reiter-Regiment, as of October 1933 with the Military District Command Stettin and from 1 October 1934 as adjutant to the Artillery Commander II in Stettin.

Wehrmacht

• 15 October 1935 Adjutant in the staff of the 2. Infanterie-Division in Stettin
  • 8 November 1935 ordered to wear the cavalry uniform of the Reiter-Regiment 8
• 6 October 1936 Transferred to the staff of the Kavallerie-Regiment 6 in Schwedt
  • 2 August to 11 August 1937 commanded to the Royal Danish Guard Hussar Regiment in the Jaegerspries Camp
• 1 September/12 October 1937 Appointed commander of the II. (Cycling) Battalion/Kavallerie-Regiment 6 in Darmstadt
• 15 March 1938 Commanded to the staff of the Army Group Command 3 (8th Army) as adjutant to Fedor von Bock in Vienna
  • later adjutant to Wilhelm List, Commander-in-Chief of Army Group Command 5 in Vienna (tasked with integrating the Austrian Bundesheer into the Wehrmacht)
• Late may 1938 Return to the II. (Cycling) Battalion/Kavallerie-Regiment 6 in Darmstadt
• 1 August 1938 Appointed commander of the Kavallerie-Regiment 11 in Stockerau near Vienna
• 25. August 1939 Appointed commander of the Reconnaissance Battalion 44 (the former Kavallerie-Regiment 11)
  • He led this battalion at the beginning of World War II as part of the 44th Infantry Division in the Polish Campaign.
• 5 December 1939 Appointed adjutant of the Army High Command 1 (AOK 1)
  • 8 December 1939 reported in writing "commenced service"
• 1 April 1941 Appointed commander of the Reiter-Regiment 2
  • He led this regiment in the central sector of the Eastern Front at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa.
  • 16 August 1941 wounded; field military hospital, from 25 August 1941 Reserve Military Hospital 101 in Berlin-Charlottenburg and granted leave for four weeks to his home in Lindhorst near Strasburg/Uckermark with simultaneous outpatient treatment.
• 1 December 1941 Transferred to the Führerreserve (OKH)/Army High Command Leader Reserve
  • simultaneously commanded to the 24. Panzer-Division (until 20 January 1942)
• 18 January 1942 Delegated with the leadership of the 5th Rifle Brigade (5. Schützen-Brigade) for Colonel Kurt Haseloff who had fallen severely ill
  • 20 January 1942 order revoked, because von Hülsen had also fallen ill
• 16 April 1942 Commanded to the Panzer Troops School (School for Fast Troops) in Wünsdorf
• 29 April 1942 Commanded to the 24. Panzer-Division for the purpose of training as regimental commander or commander of a rifle brigade
• 25 May 1942 Appointed commander of the 9th Rifle Brigade, subordinated to the 9. Panzer-Division at the Eastern Front
  • 5 July 1942 renamed to 9th Panzergrenadier Brigade
  • 27 July 1942 to 3 August 1942 Delegated with the deputy leadership of the 9. Panzer-Division for the severely wounded Major General Johannes "Hans" Siegfried Baeßler until the new designated commander, Major General Walter Scheller, arrived.
• 15 December 1942 Führerreserve (OKH)/Army High Command Leader Reserve
• 22 February to 20 March 1943 Commanded to the 2nd Division Commander Course in Berlin, he resided at Hotel Bristol
• 20 April with effect from 25 April 1943 21. Panzer-Division for major General Hans-Georg Hildebrandt who had fallen ill
  • 21 April 1943 Transferred to the Military District III in Berlin for clothing for the tropics (Tunisia)

POW and post-WWII

On 13 May 1943, Colonel von Hülsen was taken prisoner of war by the English. Two days later, he was promoted to Major General which Generaloberst Hans-Jürgen Bernhard Theodor von Arnim, Commander-in-Chief of the Army Group Africa, had already requested shortly after von Hülsens arrival in North Africa. From 16 May 1943 to 16 June 1944, he was initially in the British generals' camp at Trent Park (de). In 1944, von Arnim, along with a group of other generals, including von Hülsen, was transferred to the United States to the generals' camp Camp Clinton in Mississippi. On 17 February 1947, he was repatriated.

Family

Heinrich-Hermann was the first son and second child of General of the Infantry Walter von Hülsen and his wife Irmgard, née von Keudell. He had seven siblings. His uncles Ernst Karl Adolf Walter Ehregott von Hülsen (1860–1912) and Bernhard Franz Karl Adolf Gottvertrau von Hülsen (1865–1950) were also officers.

Marriage

On 6 July 1922, 2nd Lieutenant von Hülsen was granted permission to marry. On 21 September 1922 in Läsgen, he married his fiancée Adelheid Georgine Toni Anna Hildegard von Schierstaedt (15 August 1900 – 24 July 1973), daughter of lord of the manor (Läsgen and Groß-Lessen) and Royal Prussian Chamberlain Gustav Ludwig Hans von Schierstaedt (1872–1946) and his wife Anna Christine Clausa, née von Colmar Meyenburg (1880–1958). They would have six children:

• Ernst-Wilhelm-Gottvertrau (b. 27 March 1925 in Fürstenwalde; d. 19 April 1925)
• Karl-Wilhelm (b. 27 July 1926 in Breslau; d. 1 May 2013 in Bad Segeberg), Knight of Justice (Rechtsritter) of the Johanniter-Orden; ∞ Giselhild von Alvensleben (1932–2017)
• Kraft-Siegfried Axel Heinrich Ehregott (b. 4 February 1930 in Breslau), from 1996 to 2008 lay chairman of the Christ Church congregation in Ulm-Söflingen; ∞ Heilwig Catharina Angelika von Grolman, 5 children
• Beate Anna Irmgard Hildegard Gottehre (b. 15 May 1933 in Breslau; d. 2 December 2010 in Ellerbruch); ∞ Jürgen von der Wense, six children
• Hans-Walter Gustav Dagobert Heinrich Traugott (b. 15 July 1936 in Stettin), Knight of Justice (Rechtsritter) of the Johanniter-Orden
• Ina Irmgard-Anna Franziska Hildegard Gotthilfe (b. 1 March 1939 in Winn); ∞ 1960 Claudius Hermann Friedrich Carl Paul Michael von Samson-Himmelstjerna (1930–2001), five children

Promotions

• 13 August 1914 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant) with Patent from 22 June 1914
  • 1 July 1922 received Reichswehr Rank Seniority (RDA) from 22 June 1914 (15)
• 17 March 1924 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant) with effect and RDA from 1 March 1924 (5)
• 1 February 1929 Rittmeister (1)
• 1 June 1935 Major (1)
• 31 December 1937 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) with effect and RDA from 1 January 1938 (62)
• 20 November 1940 Oberst (Colonel) with effect and RDA from 1 December 1940 (26)
• 15 May 1943 Generalmajor (Major General) with effect and RDA from 1 May 1943 (1c1)

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 12 October 1914
  • 1st Class on 10 January 1917
• Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross with Swords (HOH3⚔) on 3 May 1918
• Wound Badge (1918) in Black
• Honor saber for exceptionally good shooting with a carbine on 3 December 1930
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords on 20 December 1934
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th with 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 2 October 1936
  • 1st Class in June 1939
• Honor saber for exceptionally good shooting with a rifle on 8 October 1938
• Anschluss Medal
• Repetition Clasp 1939 to the Iron Cross 1914, 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 23 September 1939
  • 1st Class on 1 October 1939
• Wound Badge (1939) in Silver on 28 August 1941
• German Cross in Gold on 1 November 1941
• Panzer Combat Badge in Bronze on 3 December 1942

Sources

• German Federal Archives: BArch PERS 6/1415 and PERS 6/299918

External links

• von Hülsen, Heinrich-Hermann
• Generalmajor Heinrich-Hermann von Hülsen (Archive)