Helmut Zollenkopf

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Helmut Zollenkopf
Helmut Zollenkopf.jpg
Colonel (Oberst) Zollenkopf
Birth name Helmut Eugen Max Zollenkopf
Birth date 19 May 1896
Place of birth Hildesheim, Province of Hanover, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date 1962
Place of death Utting am Ammersee, Bavaria, West Germany
Allegiance  German Empire
 Weimar Republic
 National Socialist Germany
Service/branch Iron Cross of the Luftstreitkräfte.png Imperial German Army
Freikorps Flag.jpg Freikorps
War Ensign of the Reichswehr, 1919 - 1935.png Vorläufige Reichswehr
War Ensign of the Reichswehr, 1919 - 1935.png Reichswehr
Balkenkreuz.jpg Heer
Years of service 1914–1918
1919
1919–1920
1934–1935
1935–1945
Rank Oberst
Commands held Schützen-Regiment 114
9. Panzerdivision
Battles/wars World War I
World War II
Awards Iron Cross
Panzer Battle Badge
Certificate of Recognition (OKH)
Wound Badge (1939)
German Cross in Gold
Relations ∞ 1929 Elisabeth-Charlotte Baumeister

Helmut Eugen Max Zollenkopf (1896–1962) was a German officer of the Imperial German Army, the Freikorps, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally Oberst (Colonel) and division commander in World War II.

Military career (chronology)

PERS 6 301460 0012 Helmut Eugen Max Zollenkopf I.jpg
Colonel Helmut Zollenkopf, with the remains of his 9th Panzer Division (subordinated to the LVIII. Panzer-Korps under Generalleutnant Walter Botsch), surrenders on 16 April 1945 to the 7th US Armored Division near Menden (Ruhrkessel)
  • 17.8.1914 Joined the Kaiser Alexander Garde-Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 1
  • 18.8.1915 Deputy battalion adjutant
  • 18.12.1915 Company officer
  • 1.6.1916 Company leader (Kompanieführer)
  • 13.12.1918 Adjutant of the Kaiser Alexander Garde-Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 1
  • 21.1.1919 Member of the Volunteer Company "Königsberg-Land" of the Freikorps
  • 31.3.1920 Retired from the military
  • 15.7.1934 Returned to military service of the Reichswehr with the Infanterie-Regiment Oldenburg
    • reclassified as Infanterie-Regiment 16 on 15 October 1935
  • 1.10.1934 Captain in the II. Bataillon/Infanterie-Regiment Osnabrück
    • reclassified as Infanterie-Regiment 37 on 15 October 1935
  • 15.10.1935 Commander of the 11th Company/Infanterie-Regiment 60 in Iserlohn
  • 12.10.1937 Commander of the 11th Company/Schützen-Regiment 4 in Bielefeld
  • 10.11.1938 Commander of the 11th Company/Kavallerie-Schützen-Regiment 4 in Wuppertal
  • 26.08.1939 Commander of the I. Bataillon/Schützen-Regiment 4
  • 1.8.1940 Commander of the I. Bataillon/Schützen-Regiment 114
  • 10.9.1941, officially since 11.9.1941 Delegated with the leadership of the Schützen-Regiment 114 for the wounded commander Erich Freiherr von Seckendorff
  • 7.2.1942 Commander of the Schützen-Regiment 114
  • 13.5.1943 Führerreserve OKH (Leader Reserve)
  • 15.5.1943 to 5.6.1943 Delegated with the deputy leadership of the 106. Infanterie-Division
  • 1.8.1943 Commander of the army non-commissioned officer school of the Panzertruppe in Eisenach (Kommandeur der Heeresunteroffizierschule der Panzertruppe Eisenach)
  • 10.10.1944 Führerreserve OKH (Leader Reserve)
  • 19.10.1944 to 15.11.1944 Commanded to the 15th division leader course (15. Divisionsführerlehrgang)
  • 25.1.1945 Delegated with the leadership of the 21. Panzer-Division
  • 12.2.1945 Führerreserve OKH (IX)
  • 10.3.1945 Delegated with the leadership of the 9. Panzer-Division for the fallen commander Harald Freiherr von Elverfeldt
  • 18.3.1945 Appointed commander of the 9. Panzer-Division/LVIII. Panzerkorps/5. Panzerarmee/Heeresgruppe B

Family

Helmut was the son of Protestant Gewerberat (title used in Prussia for a factory inspector) Max Adolf Julius Wilhelm Zollenkopf (d. 18 February 1945 in Eisenach) and his first wife Laura Therese Elisabeth, née Matthiae (d. 24 November 1899). On 5 October 1909, his father entered into a second marriage with Hedwig Marie Dorothea Heidenreich, née Moehring—widow of the general practitioner Dr. Leopold Louis Wilhelm Heidenreich and daughter of the merchant Karl Moehring.

His older brother was Kurt Zollenkopf, born in Cologne on 17 July 1893. He, too, pursued a career as an officer. He was assigned to the 1st Masurian Infantry Regiment No. 146. After attending military school, he was promoted to the rank of Leutnant (Second Lieutenant) in that regiment on 16 June 1913. Initially, he served as a company officer with the regiment's 6th Company in Allenstein. He was severely wounded at the front by a gunshot to the lung and died from this injury on 28 November 1914 at the reserve military hospital in Cosel. Helmut also had twin brothers, Erich and Herbert Zollenkopf, born on 2 November 1899. The latter joined the Imperial German Navy as a naval cadet in 1917, during World War I. By the end of World War II, Kapitän zur See Herbert Zollenkopf was the commander of the 1st Ship Cadre Regiment (1. Schiff-Stamm-Regiment) of the Kriegsmarine.

Marriage

On 25 April 1929, Zollenkopf married his fiancée Elisabeth-Charlotte Baumeister. Their daughter Ulrike was born on 14 January 1938.

Promotions

  • 17 August 1914 Fahnenjunker (Officer Candidate)
  • 25 July 1915 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant) without Patent
    • 19 December 1915 received Patent
  • 31 March/1 April 1925 Charakter als Oberleutnant (Honorary 1st Lieutenant)
  • 15 July 1934 Hauptmann (Captain) with Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1 December 1933
    • 20 January 1935 received ordinal number (Ordnungsnummer) "13" to his RDA from 1 December 1933
  • 1 June 1938 Major (13)
  • 1 July 1941 (8) Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
  • 20 April 1942 Oberst (Colonel) with RDA from 1 April 1942 (146a)

Awards and decorations (excerpt)

Gallery

  • Helmut Zollenkopf II.jpg
  • Helmut Zollenkopf IV.png
  • Helmut Zollenkopf III.JPG
  • PERS 6 301460 0012 Helmut Eugen Max Zollenkopf.jpg

Sources

  • German Federal Archives: BArch PERS 6/301460

External links

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