Kurt Rüdiger

From Metapedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Kurt Rüdiger
Dr.-Ing. Kurt Rudolf Rüdiger.jpg
General Dr.-Ing. Rüdiger
Birth name Carl Christian Kurt Rüdiger
Birth date 7 November 1890(1890-11-07)
Place of birth Hannover, Province of Hanover, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date 3 September 1973 (aged 82)
Place of death Dießen am Ammersee, Bavaria, West Germany
Allegiance  German Empire
 Weimar Republic
 National Socialist Germany
Service/branch War and service flag of Prussia (1895–1918).png Prussian Army
Iron Cross of the Luftstreitkräfte.png Imperial German Army
War Ensign of Germany (1921–1933).png Reichswehr
Balkenkreuz.jpg Heer
Years of service 1910–1945
Rank Lieutenant General
Battles/wars World War I
World War II
Awards Iron Cross
War Merit Cross (1939)
Relations 1918 Anna Meyer
Other work Engineer

Carl Christian Kurt Rüdiger (also Karl; 7 November 1890 – 3 September 1973) was a German officer of the Prussian Army, the Imperial German Army, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally Lieutenant General in World War II. He must not be confused with Dr. med. Kurt Rüdiger, ship's doctor on the Zeppelin LZ 129 „Hindenburg“ (he would also serve as ship's purser) and one of the survivors of the catastrophe on 6 May 1937.[1]

Military career (chronology)

  • 15 February 1910 Joined the 2. Hannoversches Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr. 26 in Verden an der Aller
    • attended war school (Kriegsschule)
  • 1912 Platoon Leader in the 2nd Battery/2. Hannoversches Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr. 26
  • 1 October 1913 to 31 January 1914 Course at the Field Artillery School
  • August 1914 Went with his regiment to the Western Front subordinated to the 19. Feldartillerie-Brigade/19. Infanterie-Division/X. Armeekorps/2. Armee
    • 4 to 16 August 1914 Conquest of Lüttich (Liège)
  • 4 February 1915 Regimental adjutant
  • 25 to 30 April 1915 Transport of the regiment to the Eastern Front
  • 6 May 1916 Commanded as assistant to the Field Artillery Department of the Artillery Examination Commission in Berlin
  • 1 October 1919 Taken over by the Preliminary Reichswehr
  • 3 January 1920 Transferred to the staff of the Reichswehr-Brigade 7 in Münster
    • Leader of a field column
    • Commanded to the Inspection for Weapons and Equipment in the Reich Ministry of Defense (RWM) in Berlin
  • Mid-May 1920 Transferred to the Reichswehr-Artillerie-Regiment 8 of the Reichswehr-Brigade 8 in Oppeln
  • 27 September 1920 with effect from 1 October 1920 Auxiliary Officer in the Staff of the 2nd Division of the Reichswehr in Stettin
    • Commanded to the experimental command (Versuchskommando) of the Reichswehr Ministry (RWM)
  • 10 September 1921 with effect from 1 October 1921 Transferred to the 6th (Prussian) Artillerie-Regiment in Minden
    • There he was scheduled to be a battery commander. Instead he was sent to the Technical University in Berlin-Charlottenburg to study weapons technology. During his studies, he was subordinated to the experimental command (Versuchskommando) of the 3. (Preußische) Fahr-Abteilung.
    • In the spring of 1923 and 1924, he was subordinated to the 4th Battery of the 6th (Prussian) Artillery Regiment in Minden under the battery commander Captain von Ludwiger.
    • In the spring of 1925 and 1926, he was subordinated to the 7th Battery of the 6th (Prussian) Artillery Regiment in Wolfenbüttel under Captain Curt Ebeling.
  • 24 August 1926 Command to the Technical University lifted and assigned to the experimental command of the RWM on that day
  • 23 September 1926 State examination for graduate engineer (Diplom-Ingenieur)
  • 17 March 1927 Command to the RWM lifted with effect from 31 March 1927
  • 1 April 1927 Transferred to the staff of the II. Battalion of the 6th (Prussian) Artillery Regiment in Minden
  • 1 May 1928 to 1 November 1930 Commander of the 2nd Battery/6. (Preußisches) Artillerie-Regiment in Münster (Westfalen)
  • 22 October to 1 December 1928 Attended a course at the artillery shooting school in Jüterbog
  • January 1929 Received his doctorate in engineering from the Technical University of Berlin-Charlottenburg with his dissertation "The economic efficiency of retractable cranes with a horizontal load track"
  • 5 February 1929 Allowed to use the title of Dr.-Ing. in his official military capacity
  • 9 September to 2 October 1929 Training course for officer instructors

14 October 1930 with effect from 1 November 1930 Assigned to the Reichswehr Ministry (RWM)

    • as such assigned to the experimental command of the artillery inspection (In 4)
  • 6 January 1931 with effect from 15 January 1931 Commanded to the Berlin Command (Kommandantur von Berlin)
    • From there he was assigned to the Artillery Training and Testing Command.
  • 4 February 1931 Entrusted with the command of the gas protection courses
  • February 1933 Head of the Gas Protection Course at the Army Gas Protection School in Berlin
  • 23 April 1934 with effect from 1 April 1934 Head of the gas protection department (Wa Prw 9) of the Heeres-Waffenamt (WaA) of the RWM in Berlin
  • 17 December 1935 Involved in a car accident with government councilor Professor Dr. Fritz Wirth and graduate engineer Schuberth on the way to Deutsch-Krone in Vogelsdorf at 8:50 a.m., in which all three were slightly injured
  • 20 July 1935 Appointed head of the gas protection department in the Army Ordnance Office
  • 12 October 1937 Commander of the new Artillerie-Regiment 41 in Ulm
    • summer 1939 on the western defences (Westwall)
  • 20 November 1939 Commanded to the General Army Office (Allgemeines Heeresamt)
  • 1 April 1940 Appointed Artillerie-Kommandeur 121 (Arko 121)
  • 12 February 1942 Given command of the 137th Infantry Division, which was also deployed in the central sector of the Eastern Front in the Juchnow area, for the wounded commander, Major General Hans Kamecke
  • 22 April 1942 with effect from 25 February 1942 Appointed Höherer Artillerie-Kommandeur 312 (HArko 312)
    • With this staff he now belonged to the 4th Panzer Army in the southern sector of the Eastern Front.
    • 17 April 1943 Appointed deputy commander of the 4th Panzer Army
  • 16 Juli 1943 Relieved as HArko 312
  • 26 July to 21 August 1943 6th Division Commander Training Course in Döberitz
  • 12 November 1943 to 20 January 1944 Commander of the 302. Infanterie-Division; successor: Erich von Bogen
  • 25 January 1944 Führerreserve OKH (Wehrkreis V)
  • 29 April 1944 with effect from 1 May 1944 Commanded to the Wischau military training area in South Moravia and instructed in the duties of military training area commandant
  • 20 May 1944 Entrusted with the conduct of business as commandant of the Milowitz military training area
  • 15 June 1944 Appointed commandant of the Milowitz military training area near Lissa in Bohemia

POW

On 6 May 1945, Rüdiger left the military training area with soldiers from Panzer Division 507 and broke through the Soviet lines to surrender to the Americans. On 12 May 1945, he was handed over to the Red Army in Mylau Castle. The Red Army then imprisoned him in various camps. Over the next few years, he was held in NKVD camps No. 432/Stettin, 27/Krasnogorsk, 28/Cherny, Lezhnevo, 182/Shakhty, 144/Woroschilowgrad and prison No. 1/Rostov-on-Don. On 12 July 1947, he was routinely sentenced by the Rostov Military Tribunal to 25 years of forced labor in a reform camp. He was then transferred to the Vorkuta camp. He was repatriated to Germany on 7 October 1955 as one of the last German officers.[2]

Family

Kurt was the son of 1st Lieutenant (ret.) Friedrich Rudolf Rüdiger (b. 5 November 1853 in Gieboldhausen, Kingdom of Hanover; d. 3 August 1914 in Hanover) and his wife Luise Mathilde Catharina, née Kreß (b. 26 February 1865 in Herford). On 2 August 1914, 2nd Lieutenant Rüdiger received permission to marry. During the war, he married his fiancée Anna Auguste Carrie Alma Meyer, daughter of a Privy Councilor of Justice and District Court Director. Their son Wolfgang-Dieter Rüdiger (b. 4 March 1919) fell in January 1945 during the Weichsel-Oder-Operation at the Pulawy bridgehead.

Promotions

  • 15.2.1910 Fahnenjunker (Officer Candidate)
  • 16.11.1910 Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
  • 18.8.1911 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant) with Patent from 20.8.1909
  • 18.8.1915 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
  • 20.9.1918 Hauptmann (Captain)[3]
  • 1.2.1932 Major
  • 1.10.1934 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
  • 20.4.1937 Oberst (Colonel) with effect from 1.4.1937
  • 1.6.1941 Generalmajor (Major General)
  • 10.5.1943 Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) with effect from 1.6.1943

Awards and decorations

Writings

  • Die Wirtschaftlichkeit von Einziehkranen mit waagerechter Lastbahn, 1929 (dissertation; published 1930)
  • Zur Berechnung von Wippkranen, 1929
  • Einziehkrane mit waagerechter Lastbahn, 1930

References

  1. ↑ Dr. Kurt Rüdiger
  2. ↑ Rüdiger, Dr. Ing. Kurt Karl Christian
  3. ↑ Dienstalters-Liste der Offiziere der Königlich Preußischen Armee und des XIII. (Königlich Württembergischen) Armeekorps, 1919, p. 166
  4. ↑ Rangliste des Deutschen Reichsheeres, 1931, p. 129
  5. ↑ Generalleutnant Dr. Kurt Rüdiger (1890-1973)
Retrieved from "http://en.metapedia.org/m/index.php?title=Kurt_Rüdiger&oldid=519349"