Max Dennerlein

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Max Dennerlein
Max Dennerlein.jpg
Birth name Max Felix Dennerlein
Birth date 16 May 1885(1885-05-16)
Place of birth Marktleuthen near Wunsiedel, Upper Franconia, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire[1]
Death date 13 October 1957 (aged 72)
Place of death Ortenburg, Bavaria, West Germany
Allegiance  German Empire
 Weimar Republic
 National Socialist Germany
Service/branch Fahne der Bayerischen Armee.png Royal Bavarian Army
Iron Cross of the Luftstreitkräfte.png Imperial German Army
War Ensign of the Reichswehr, 1919 - 1935.png Reichswehr
Balkenkreuz.jpg Heer
Years of service 1905–1945
Rank Lieutenant General
Battles/wars World War I
World War II
Awards Iron Cross
War Merit Cross (1939)
Relations ∞ 1916 Franziska Haertle

Max Felix Dennerlein (16 May 1885 – 13 October 1957) was a German officer of the Bavarian Army, the Imperial German Army, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally Lieutenant General of the German Army (Heer) in World War II.

Military career (chronology)

Oskar Schimpf (left) and Max Dennerlein
Painting “Aufbruch” (departure) as a gift from the staff of the 335. Infanterie-Division for Lieutenant General Max Dennerlein, dated 1941.
Max Felix Dennerlein, Uniform I.jpg
Max Felix Dennerlein, Uniform II.jpg
Max Felix Dennerlein, Uniform III.jpg
  • Entered Army Service with the Königlich Bayerisches 3. Pionier-Bataillon in Munich (19 Jul 1905)
  • Detached to the Artillery and Engineer School (01 Oct 1908-03 Jul 1910)
    • Artillerie- und Ingenieur-Schule
  • In June 1911 he was still a company officer in the 1st company of his battalion.
    • From 10 July to 24 July 1911, he was assigned to lead the pioneer course for the Royal Bavarian 1st Chevaulegers Regiment “Emperor Nicholas of Russia”.
    • From 5 February to 24 February 1912, he was assigned to the Amberg rifle factory for training in the weapons repair business.
    • From 15 July to 27 July 1912, he was assigned to the cavalry pioneer course at the Bavarian Military Riding School.
  • From 18 July to 2 August 1913, he was again assigned to the cavalry pioneer course at the Bavarian Military Riding School.
  • Transferred to the Fortress Ingolstadt (01 Oct 1913)
    • from there commanded to the imperial fortification Metz-Ost. He was then assigned to the 6th Fortress Inspectorate in the 4th Engineer Inspectorate. He was also assigned to the Metz-Ost fortification during the mobilization for World War I at the beginning of August 1914. He also lived privately in Fort Goeben in Metz-Queuleu. From 28 August 1914 to 3 March 1916, he was involved in the fighting in the southern position of Metz.
  • Engineer Officer of Section IV of Fortress Metz-East (20 Sep 1914-03 Mar 1916)
    • From 9 May to 21 June 1915, he was deputy leader of the Landsturm Pioneer Replacement Company at III. Bavarian Army Corps used, which was renamed Bavarian Pioneer Company 12 on 5 May 1917.
    • On 9 February 1916, he was assigned to the Bavarian inspection of the engineering corps with effect from 3 March 1916.
    • On 3 March 1916, he was transferred to the Royal Bavarian 3rd Pioneer Replacement Battalion.
      • Leader of the 2. Ersatz-Kompanie
  • Company-Leader (4. Feld-Kompanie) in the 3rd Bavarian Pioneer-Battalion/ III. Armeekorps (27 May 1916-20 Jun 1917)
    • With this unit he served in the battles between the Meuse and the Moselle until 17 July 1916. The battle of Apremont and Ailly deserves special mention. This was followed by trench warfare in Artois from 19 July 1916, which lasted until 7 September 1916.
    • From 8 September to 3 October 1916, he was deployed in the Battle of the Somme. This was followed by trench warfare in French Flanders, near Fionelle, until 1 May 1917.
    • Ordered to the gas course to Berlin from 11 December to 16 December 1916.
    • From 10 February 1917, he was appointed head of the Bavarian Pioneer Company 13 by renaming his company.
    • From 7 May to 12 May 1917, he was deployed at the Spring Battle of Arras.
    • From 21 May to 23 June 1917, he was again used in trench warfare in Artois.
    • From 17 June to 23 June 1917, he was deployed as deputy commander of the Royal Bavarian 3rd Pioneer Battalion.
  • Pioneer-Officer with the General-Command of the II. Bavarian Army-Corps (20 Jun 1917-24 Aug 1918)
    • From 24 June 1917 to 8 April 1918, he was deployed in trench warfare in French Flanders.
    • From 9 April to 14 April 1918, he was deployed at the Battle of Armentieres.
    • Fighting between Arras and Albert followed from 14 April to 20 August 1918.
    • From 21 August to 2 September 1918, he was deployed at the Battle of Scarpe and Somme and the Battle of Monchy-Bapaume.
  • Staff-Commander with the Staff of the 3rd (another sources states 2nd) Bavarian Pioneer-Battalion (24 Aug 1918-07 Jan 1919)
    • at the same time Commander of Pioneers of the 5th Bavarian Infantry-Division
    • From 3 September to 9 October 1918, he was involved in the fighting on the Siegfried Front.
    • From 10 October to 4 November 1918, fighting continued in front of and in the Hermannsstellung.
  • 13 October 1918, appointed leader / commander of the Royal Bavarian 3rd Pioneer Battalion.
    • From 5 November to11 November 1918, he was involved in the retreat fighting in front of the Antwerp-Meuse position. The evacuation of the occupied territory and the march back home began on 12 November 1918 and lasted until 23 December 1918.
  • Company-Leader (1. Kompanie) in the 24th Reichswehr-Pioneer-Battalion (28 May 1919-27 Sep 1920)
    • He was sworn in again in September 1919.
  • Company-Leader (3. Kompanie) in the 7th Reichswehr-Pioneer-Battalion (27 Sep 1920-20 Oct 1920)
  • Detached to the Inspection for Weapons and Equipment, RWM (20 Oct 1920-18 Dec 1920)
  • Transferred into the Inspection for Weapons and Equipment (18 Dec 1920-24 Aug 1921)
  • Pioneer-Officer of Fortress Ingolstadt (24 Aug 1921-15 Dec 1921)
  • Leader of the Bridging-Column of the 7th Pioneer-Battalion (15 Dec 1921-20 Feb 1922)
  • Transferred to the Fortress-Commander Ingolstadt (20 Feb 1922-01 Apr 1924)
  • Instructor at the Infantry-School, Munich (01 Apr 1924-01 Oct 1927)
  • Transferred into the Staff of the 5th Pioneer-Battalion (01 Oct 1927-01 May 1930)
  • Welfare-Officer of the 5th Pioneer-Battalion (01 May 1930-01 Feb 1931)
  • Commander of the 7th Pioneer-Battalion (01 Feb 1931-01 Feb 1934)
    • On 1 February 1934, he handed over his command to Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Wilhelm Meise
  • Higher Pioneer Officer with the Staff of Group-Command 2 (01 Feb 1934-01 Jan 1935)
  • Commander of the Pioneer-Inspection 2, Kassel (01 Jan 1935-15 Oct 1935)
  • Higher Pioneer Officer 2 (15 Oct 1935-01 Feb 1939)
    • Höherer Pionier-Offizier 2
  • Inspector of West Fortifications (01 Feb 1939-26 Oct 1939)
    • During the mobilization for World War II, he was a senior pioneer officer for the western fortifications.
  • Position / title (not rank) as General der Pioniere with Army-Group C (26 Oct 1939-06 Feb 1940)
  • Commander of the 290th Infantry-Division (06 Feb 1940-08 Jun 1940)
  • Wounded, in Hospital the Führer-Reserve (08 Jun 1940-15 Nov 1940)
    • His division was taken over by Major General Theodor Freiherr von Wrede. He was then transferred to the leader reserve (Führer-Reserve) of the OKH on 9 June 1940. On 13 June 1940, he received from the chief physician of the Reserve Military Hospital III Frankfurt am Main, Professor Dr. Schmieden, the following certificate:
      • “Major General Dennerlein, commander of the 290th Infantry Division, came under my treatment on 8 June 1940 around 1 a.m. Among the numerous smaller shrapnel injuries, there are two somewhat more serious ones: 1.) Impact of a small shrapnel into the right hand chest cavity, 2.) Penetration of a small shrapnel into the crook of the left elbow close to the joint. Since the two above-mentioned, as well as the other, grenade splinter injuries have so far been unresponsive, I think it is possible that Lieutenant General Dennerlein will be able to return to field service after three weeks of hospital treatment."
  • Commander of the 335th Infantry-Division (15 Nov 1940-27 Oct 1942)
  • Führer-Reserve (27 Oct 1942-11 Nov 1942) in Lyon (France), where he was visited by his cousin Franz Xaver Haertle in December 1942.
  • Commander of the 326th Infantry-Division (11 Nov 1942-08 May 1943)
  • Führer-Reserve (08 May 1943-01 Jun 1943)
  • Commander of the 433rd Replacement-Division (01 Jun 1943-08 Dec 1944)
  • Führer-Reserve OKH (08 Dec 1944-05 Jan 1945)
  • Inspector of Fortresses (05 Jan 1945-08 May 1945)
  • In western Allied Captivity (08 May 1945-27 Feb 1947)
  • Released (27 Feb 1947)

Family

Max was the son of the Royal Forester Hugo Dennerlein (d. 7 January 1904) and his wife Berta, née von Schintling. On 14 October 1916 in Aschaffenburg, Captain Dennerlein married his fiancée Franziska Haertle (1890–1946), only daughter of the Aschaffenburg senior veterinary councilor (Oberveterinärrat) Karl Theodor Haertle (1856–1902) and his wife Bibiana, née Baumann (1863–1925) from Dettelbach. Their son Eberhard Karl Hugo was born on 8 September 1917 in Aschaffenburg.[2]

Son Eberhard Dennerlein joined the Wehrmacht in 1936 (Pionierbataillon 47), was trained in München, Ingolstadt, Ohrdruf, Dresden, Ulm, and Kassel and served during the liberation of the Sudetenland and in WWII. As Hauptmann and later Major, he fought during the Battle of France and commanded the Pionier-Bataillon 138 at the Eastern Front. He was wounded and experienced the fighting in the Russian Pripyt swamps. In 1945, he witnessed the criminal air raid on Dresden and, after an adventurous escape towards Bavaria, became a Soviet prisoner of war until December 1949. Among other awards, he received both classes of the Iron Cross, the General Assault Badge, the Wound Badge and the German Cross in Gold on 11 November 1943. Klaus G. Förg's book Unglaubliches überstanden – Ein Soldatenschicksal im Zweiten Weltkrieg (2021) is based on Dennerlein's autobiographical notes, which were created on the basis of diary entries and later notes.

Promotions

  • 19 July 1905 Fahnenjunker (Officer Candidate)
  • 20 October 1905 (Fahnenjunker-)Unteroffizier
  • 24 February 1906 Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
  • 8 March 1907 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
  • 3 January 1914 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant) with Patent from 7 January 1914
  • 17 August 1916 Hauptmann (Captain) without Patent
    • 1 February 1922 Rank Seniority (RDA) as Hauptmann from 18 June 1915
  • 1 February 1928 Major
  • 1 October 1932 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
  • 1 October 1934 Oberst (Colonel)

Wehrmacht

  • 1 March 1938 Generalmajor (Major General)
  • 1 March 1940 Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General)

Awards and decorations

WWII

Further reading

  • Clemens Maria Haertle: Herr, mach ein Ende! Franz Xaver Haertle – Kriegstagebücher und Briefe 1936–1945, Köln 2019

References

  1. ↑ Dennerlein, Max Felix
  2. ↑ Dennerlein, Max Felix (Archive)
  3. ↑ Militär-Handbuch des Königsreich Bayern, 1914, p. 186
  4. ↑ GL Max Dennerlein
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