Hellmuth Prieß

Hellmuth Prieß
Birth date	6 March 1896(1896-03-06)
Place of birth	Hildesheim, Province of Hanover, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	21 October 1944 (aged 48)
Place of death	⚔ between Hasenrode and Gumbinnen, East Prussia, German Reich
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Imperial German Army Reichswehr Heer
Years of service	1914–1944
Rank	General of the Infantry (General der Infanterie)
Commands held	121. Infanterie-Division XXVII. Armeekorps
Battles/wars	World War I World War II Battle of France Operation Barbarossa Siege of Leningrad Operation Bagration
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Relations	∞ 1927 Margarete Große, née Ahlborn

Heinrich Gustav Hellmuth Prieß (often also Helmuth and sometimes Priess; 6 March 1896 – 21 October 1944) was a German officer of the Imperial German Army in World War I as well as officer of the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally General der Infanterie and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. He must not be confused with SS-Gruppenführer and Generalleutnant of the Waffen-SS Hermann Prieß or with Helmuth Prieß (1939–2012), Lieutenant Colonel of the Bundeswehr and recipient of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Military career (chronology)

• 10.8.1914 Entered the 2. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 32 in Meiningen as a war volunteer
• 1914 Transferred to the Infanterie-Regiment „von Voigts-Rhetz“ (3. Hannoversches) Nr. 79 in Hildesheim
• 2.3.1916 Transferred to the E.M.G.K.G. (Replacement Machine Gun Company) of the X. Armee-Korps
• 26.3.1916 Leader of the Field Machine Gun Platoon 250 (Feldmaschinengewehrzug 250)
• 10.5.1916 Transferred to the Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment 76
• 19.4.1918 Transferred to the Sturm-Bataillon Nr. 5 "Rohr"
• 7.1.1919 Transferred back to the Infanterie-Regiment „von Voigts-Rhetz“ (3. Hannoversches) Nr. 79
• 1.4.1919 Transferred to the Niedersächsisches Reichswehr-Infanterie-Regiment 20/Reichswehr-Brigade 10/Vorläufige Reichswehr in Hannover
• 15.9.1919 Transferred to the Niedersächsisches Reichswehr-Infanterie-Regiment 19/Reichswehr-Brigade 10/Vorläufige Reichswehr in Hannover
• 1.1.1921 Company officer in the 16. Infanterie-Regiment in Oldenburg
• 1.4.1921 to 10.10.1921 Commanded to the Garnisons-Kommando Hannover
• 1.4.1922 8. (Maschinen-Gewehr-)Kompanie/16. Infanterie-Regiment in Hannover
• 1.3.1925 Infanterieschule München
• 1928 16. Kompanie/16. Infanterie-Regiments in Osnabrück
• 1.9.1928 In the staff of the 2. Division in Stettin
  • commanded to leader assistant training (kommandiert zur Führergehilfenausbildung)
• 15.6.1930 3. Kompanie/Kraftfahrabteilung 2 in Stettin
• 1.10.1930 Kommandantur Berlin
• 1.10.1931 to 14.1.1932 Commanded to the 9. (Preußisches) Infanterie-Regiment in Potsdam
• 1. 6.1932 General Department of the Military Service (Allgemeine Abteilung des Wehramtes) in Berlin (later renamed Allgemeines Heeresamt)
• 1.2.1935 Commander of the 8. (Maschinen-Gewehr-)Kompanie/19. (Bayerisches) Infanterie-Regiment in München
• 15.10.1935 Commander of the 14th (anti-tank) Company/Infanterie-Regiment 19
• 12.3.1937 Chief of Operations (Ia) of the 15. Division in Frankfurt am Main
• 6.2.1939 At the disposal of the Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht (Offizier z. b. V. zur Verfügung des Oberbefehlshabers des Heeres) in Berlin
  • Commanded to the Sonderstab W (Legion Condor)
  • 1.4.1939 Chief of staff of the Sonderstab W (replacing Bernhard von Loßberg)
• 25.5.1939 Staff of the Kommandantur of Berlin
• 26.8.1939 In the Department of National Defense in the High Command of the Wehrmacht
• 15.10.1940 Quartermaster of the 1st Army
• 15.3.1942 Commander of the Infanterie-Regiment 671
• 5.11.1942 Führerreserve OKH (III)
• 25.11.1942 to 31.12.1942 Delegated with the leadership of the 121. Infanterie-Division
• 1.1.1943 Commander of the 121. Infanterie-Division
  • 22.2.1944 to 2.3.1944 at the same time delegated with the deputy leadership of the XXXVIII. Army Corps
  • 1.4.1944 to 7.6.1944 onc eagain delegated with the deputy leadership of the XXXVIII. Armeekorps
• 10.7.1944 Führerreserve OKH (III)
• 27.7.1944 to 30.9.1944 Delegated with the leadership of the XXVII. Armeekorps
• 1.10.1944 Commanding General (Kommandierender General) of the XXVII. Armeekorps (4. Armee/Heeresgruppe Mitte)

Death

Infantry General Prieß fell on the Eastern Front, when his aeroplane was shot down during a reconnaissance flight. In the afternoon of this day, the Red Army (11th Soviet Guards Army) had launched an attack on Gumbinnen against the German 4th Army.

Family

Hellmuth was the son of Hermann Prieß (d. 3 July 1919), Professor at the agricultural school (Landwirtschaftsschule) in Hildesheim as well as author, and his wife Johanna Pauline "Paula/Paule", née Gramann (d. 24 September 1932). His brother was the architect Oskar Ferdinand Wolfgang Prieß (b. 27 January 1901 in Hannover). On 24 September 1927, Oberleutnant Prieß married Margarete Große, née Ahlborn, who brought daughter Flory (b. 14 March 1922) from her former marriage into her new marriage.

Promotions

• 10.8.1914 Kriegsfreiwilliger (War Volunteer)
• 12.12.1914 Fahnenjunker (Officer Candidate)
• 8.4.1915 Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
• 2.6.1915 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant) with Patent from 10.8.1914
  • 1.7.1922 received new Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1.9.1915
• 31.7.1925 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant) with RDA from 1.4.1925
• 1.11.1930 Hauptmann (Captain)
• 1.11.1935 Major
• 1.8.1938 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
• 1.10.1940 Oberst (Colonel)
• 21.1.1943 Generalmajor with RDA from 1.1.1943
• 1.7.1943 Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General)
• 1.10.1944 General der Infanterie (General of the Infantry)

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
• Military Merit Cross (Großherzoglich Mecklenburg-Schwerinsches Militärverdienstkreuz), 2nd Class (MK2)
• Hamburg Hanseatic Cross (Hamburgisches Hanseatenkreuz; HH)
• Wound Badge (Verwundetenabzeichen 1918) in Black
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 on 20 December 1934
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th to 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 2 October 1936
  • 1st Class on 9 November 1939
• Repetition Clasp 1939 to the Iron Cross 1914, 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 25 June 1940
  • 1st Class on 19 July 1942
• Infantry Assault Badge (Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen) on 9 November 1942
• War Merit Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class with Swords
  • 1st Class on 20 April 1942
• Two references in the Wehrmachtbericht (Namentliche Nennung im Wehrmachtbericht) on 4 February 1944 and 27 October 1944
• German Cross in Gold on 12 November 1942 as Oberst and Commander of the Infanterie-Regiment 671/371. Infanterie-Division
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 7 March 1944 as Generalleutnant and Commander of the 121. Infanterie-Division