Robert Meissner

Robert Meissner
Birth date	23 December 1888
Place of birth	Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Death date	8 August 1953 (aged 64)
Place of death	Talitsa, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Soviet Union
Allegiance	Austria-Hungary Republic of German-Austria First Austrian Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Austro-Hungarian Army Deutschösterreichische Volkswehr Austrian Bundesheer Heer
Years of service	1908–1945
Rank	Colonel (Austria) Lieutenant General (Germany)
Commands held	28th Infantry Regiment 68th Infantry Division
Battles/wars	World War I World War II Eastern Front Battle of Vienna (1945)
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Relations	∞ 1926 Elisabeth Palzow
Other work	Officer judge (Reich War Court)

Robert Meissner (sometimes wrongly Meißner; 23 December 1888 – 8 August 1953) was a German officer of Austria and the German Reich, finally Lieutenant General of the Wehrmacht and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in World War II.

Life

Military career; wounds and sickness in WWI:

— 6 September 1914 (Serbia) Gunshot wound to the left knee, gunshot wound to the left elbow, gunshot wound to the left chest, bullet lodged in the left thigh; hospitalized in Novisad
— 1 April 1915 (Carpathians) Gunshot wound to the right side of face
— 17 September 1915 Severely ill with typhus

Born in Wien-Josefstadt, Robert attended elementary school from 1894 to 1899, then Realschule to 1904 when he transferred to the Infantry Cadet School in Vienna on 1 October 1944. From there, on 18 August 1908, he was transferred to the 6th Company/k.u.k. Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 74 (Reichenberg) of the Common Army (Gemeinsame Armee) and was sworn-in. In July 1914, he was appointed platoon leader, in August 1914 company commander. In WWI, he served mainly as a company commander, but also, on 6 September 1916, as a battalion commander. In 1917, he was appointed general staff officer. In 1919, he served with the Deutschösterreichische Volkswehr, on 1 September 1920, he was taken over by the Austrian Bundesheer. He served as adjutant, battalion weapons officer, became a railway service expert, served as company commander and from 1 August 1928 in the general staff of the army. After serving in the 2nd Brigade Command and as Chief of the General Staff of the 1st Division Command, he was appointed to the Operations Department of National Defense of the Federal Ministry on 1 October 1937, since 25 October 1937 tasked with handling federal railway matters.

Wehrmacht

• 13 March 1938 Still with the Operations Department of National Defense (Abwehr Office) of the Federal Ministry
• 14 March 1938 Sworn-in
• 1 August 1938 Transferred to the Army Group Command 5 (Heeresgruppen-Kommando 5) in Vienna under Wilhelm List
• 10 November 1938 Transferred to the Staff of the Infanterie-Regiment 118
• 26 August 1939 Appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Deputy General Command of the XII. Army Corps in Wiesbaden
• 25 October 1940 Appointed commander of the Infanterie-Regiment 28
• 15 May 1941 Führerreserve (OKH)/Army High Command Leader Reserve
  • 21 My 1941 not suitable for tropical service (nicht tropendiensttauglich)
  • 23 June 1941 granted sick leave (with effect from 19 June 1941) and admittetd to Reserve Military Hospital III (Orthopedic Hospital) in Vienna; medical findings: surgical removal of the bone fragments in the left knee joint, formed by severe osteochondrosis; incapacity for service: 2 to 3 months
• 16 November 1941 Appointed commander of the 68. Infanterie-Division
  • 8 November 1942 granted six weeks of leave
  • 16 November 1942 admitted to the spa military hospital in Baden near Vienna (severe osteoarthritis in both knees)
  • January 1943 replaced for health reasons by Hans Freiherr von Salmuth, Commander-in-Chief of the 2nd Army; succeeded by Colonel Hans Schmidt
• 24 January 1943 Führerreserve (OKH)/Army High Command Leader Reserve
  • 17/18 February 1943 medical findings (Reserve Military Hospital IIIa in Vienna):
• 8 March 1943 Commanded to the Reich War Court in Berlin-Charlottenburg as an officer judge
• 20 June 1943 Transferred to the Reich War Court in Berlin-Charlottenburg as an officer judge
• 15 September 1944 Führerreserve (OKH)/Army High Command Leader Reserve
• 5 October 1944 Commanded to the Central Court of the Army in Berlin
  • This special court was formed on 11 April 1944 from the field court-martial of the Wehrmacht command in Berlin, but was soon dissolved again. Its tasks were then taken over by the People's Court under Roland Freisler.
• 21 November 1944 Return to the Military District XVII in Vienna under General der Infanterie Albrecht Schubert
  • 23 January 1945 admitted to the Reserve Military Hospital IIIa in Vienna for two months
• In April 1945, he was among the German units that retreated from Vienna to Prague, hoping to then reach the American lines in the west. It is unknown whether he commanded combat troops or whether he was merely a member of the military district staff.

POW and death

On 5 May 1945, Lieutenant General Meissner was taken prisoner of war by the Russians in Prague. He was deported to the Soviet Union by the Red Army. There, he was held in various camps for the next several years, including NKVD Camps No. 76 (1st Ukrainian Front), No. 27 Krasnogorsk, No. 82 Voronezh, No. 483 Degtyarka, No. 476 Sverdlovsk, Special Hospital 1893 Pervouralsk, and Prison No. 1 Voronezh. On 15 May 1949, he was routinely sentenced by the Voronezh Military Court in a show trial to 25 years in a labor camp and transferred to Vorkuta. He died of stomach cancer on 8 August 1953. He was buried in the cemetery of Special Military Hospital No. 1893 Talitsa.

Family

Robert was the son of Catholic merchant Robert Meissner (d. 9 September 1911) and his wife Maria, née Reinl. On 30 June 1926 in Vienna, Staff Captain Meissner married his Protestant fiancée Elisabeth Palzow (b. 9 October 1898 in Wien-Ottakring).

Promotions

• 18 August 1908 Kadett-Offiziers-Stellvertreter (Officer Cadet; renamed Fähnrich on 1 October 1908)
• 1 May 1911 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
• 1 August 1914 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
• 1 August 1917 Hauptmann (Captain)
• 8 July 1921 Major (title, not rank)
• 1 March 1923 Stabshauptmann (Staff Captain or Captain 1st Class)
  • In 1921, several officers which held the rank of "Hauptmann/Rittmeister" from wartime, were (sometimes prematurely) promoted to or received the title as "Major". At the beginning of the year 1923, the Inter-Allied Military Control Commission (IMCC) stated that there were more majors in the Bundesheer than allowed by the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Therefore many dozens of majors had to accept the rank designation (Chargenbezeichnung) of "Stabshauptmann" (staff captain). They got special badges (collar tabs) of rank – captain with an additional third star – and received the payment as majors. This regulation came into effect on 1 March 1923 and was dismissed in 1927 when the IMCC ceased to function. (Source: GMIC)
• 27 September 1927 Major
• 21 June 1930 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
  • 27 July 1938 received Wehrmacht Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1 March 1936 (34a)
• 23 September 1933 Oberst (Colonel)

Wehrmacht

• 13 March 1938 Oberst im Generalstab (Colonel in General Staff)
  • 15 August 1938 received preliminary Wehrmacht RDA from 23 September 1933
  • 20 April 1939 received adjusted Wehrmacht RDA from 1 April 1937 (13a)
• 20 April 1941 Generalmajor (Major General) with effect and RDA from 1 April 1941 (9)
• 16 November 1942 Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) with effect and RDA from 1 October 1942 (18)

Awards and decorations

• 1908 Military Jubilee Cross on 2 December 1908
  • awarded for the anniversary of Emperor Franz Josef's accession to the throne of the Habsburg Empire.
• Military Merit Cross (Austria-Hungary), III. Class with War Decoration (ÖM3K) on 27 October 1914
  • When the "swords" were introduced to the war decoration on 13 December 1916, he was subsequently awarded this distinction (ÖM3K⚔).
• Austro-Hungarian Military Merit Medal (Signum Laudis) in Bronze on the ribbon of the Military Merit Cross (ribbon for wartime merit) with Swords on 5 March 1917
• Karl Troop Cross (Kaiser-Karl-Truppenkreuz)
• Wound Medal (Austria-Hungary) with two stripes
  • after the Anschluss in 1938 exchanged for the German Wound Badge (1918) in Black
• Austro-Hungarian Military Merit Medal (Signum Laudis) in Silver on the ribbon of the Military Merit Cross (ribbon for wartime merit) with Swords on 28 June 1918
• Order of the Iron Crown (Austria), Knight III. Class with War Decoration and Swords (ÖEK3K⚔)
• Austrian War Commemorative Medal with Swords
• Golden Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria for courageous and successful conduct during the February Uprising of 1934 on 21 April 1934
• Military Service Badge (Austria) for Officers, 2nd Class on 8 October 1934
• Austrian Order of Merit (1934), Knight's Cross 1st Class
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th to 1st Class (25-year Service Cross)
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords
• War Merit Cross (1939), 2nd Class with Swords on 24 November 1940
• Iron Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 22 January 1942
  • 1st Class on 27 March 1942
• Winter Battle in the East 1941–42 Medal on 19 August 1942
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 24 May 1943 as Lieutenant General and Commander of the 68. Infanterie-Division

Sources

• German Federal Archives (Military Section): BArch PERS 6/747 and PERS 6/300209