Ulrich Kleemann

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Ulrich Kleemann
Ulrich Kleemann.jpg
Generalleutnant Kleemann
Birth name Hans Karl Wilhelm Ulrich Kleemann
Birth date 23 March 1892
Place of birth Langensalza, Province of Saxony, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date 3 January 1963 (aged 70)
Place of death Oberursel, Hesse, 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
Freikorps Flag.jpg Freikorps
War Ensign of Germany (1921–1933).png Reichswehr
Balkenkreuz.jpg Heer
Years of service 1911–1945
Rank General der Panzertruppe
Battles/wars World War I, World War II
Awards German Cross in Gold, Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves
Relations ∞ 1953 Minna Toni Ida Gertrud "Gerda", née Braun

Hans Karl Wilhelm Ulrich Kleemann (23 March 1892 – 3 January 1963[1]) was a German officer of the Prussian Army, the Imperial German Army, the Freikorps, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally General der Panzertruppe (General of the Panzer Troops or Armoured Corps) and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves during World War II.

Military career (chronology)

Generalmajor Ulrich Kleemann of the German 90th Light Africa Division speaking to a photographer (presumably a Kriegsberichter) aboard his SdKfz. 250 half-track command vehicle
Erwin Rommel (left) with Ulrich Kleemann (center) in the area of operations of the Afrika Korps in a meeting at the battlefront
Ulrich Kleemann wounded (wounded in the face by hitting a cluster mine) in the early morning of 8 September 1942 (war diary)
Kleemann with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
New Year's Day Command, 1 January 1944
Generalleutnant Kleemann on Rhodos with Oberst Rolf Scherenberg (Stahlhelm)
Parade on Rhodos, Führergeburtstag 20 April 1944 (birthday of the Führer)

Prussian Army

  • Fahnenjunker in the 2. Badisches Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 21 in Bruchsal (23 Oct 1911-03 Aug 1914)
  • Detached to Officer-Riding-School Paderborn (17 Oct 1913-30 Jun 1914)

Imperial Army

  • In the Field with the 21st Dragoon-Regiment (03 Aug 1914-26 May 1915)
  • Wounded, in Hospital (26 May 1915-22 Jun 1915)
  • In the Field with the 83rd Reserve-Infantry-Regiment (22 Jun 1915-01 Sep 1915)
  • Wounded again, in Hospital (01 Sep 1915-28 Sep 1915)
  • Transferred to the Replacement-Squadron of the 21st Dragoon-Regiment (28 Sep 1915-10 Dec 1915)
  • In the Field with the 21st Dragoon-Regiment (10 Dec 1915-01 Apr 1918)
  • Regiments-Adjutant of the 21st Dragoon-Regiment (01 Apr 1918-20 Jan 1919)
  • Squadron-Officer in the 21st Dragoon-Regiment (20 Jan 1919-23 Apr 1919)
  • Leader of the 12th Volunteer-Squadron (23 Apr 1919-27 Sep 1919)

Reichswehr

  • Transferred into the 113th Reichswehr-Cavalry-Regiment (27 Sep 1919-01 May 1920)
  • Detached to the Cavalry-School Hannover (21 Jan 1920-1922)
  • Transferred into the 18th Mounted-Regiment / 18. Reiter-Regiment (01 May 1920-01 Oct 1923)
  • Rittmeister with the Staff of the 18th Mounted-Regiment, Stuttgart-Cannstadt (01 Oct 1923-01 Jun 1925)
  • Chief of 3rd Squadron of the 18th Mounted-Regiment (01 Jun 1925-01 Oct 1930)
    • Detached to Combat-School-Course A in Döberitz (09 Oct 1928-24 Oct 1928)
  • Detached to Course for Advanced Uniformed Riding Training at the Cavalry-School Hannover (10 Oct 1929-06 Nov 1929)
  • Detached to Firing Course for Heavy Infantry Weapons in Döberitz (04 Mar 1930-29 Mar 1930)
  • Major with the Staff of Location Ludwigsburg (01 Oct 1930-01 Oct 1933)
    • im Stab des Kommandanten des Standortes Ludwigsburg
  • Transferred to the Staff of the 15th Mounted-Regiment / 15. (Preußisches) Reiter-Regiment in Paderborn (01 Oct 1933-01 Oct 1934)
  • Commander of the I. Half-Regiment of Mounted-Regiment Erfurt (01 Oct 1934-15 Oct 1935)
    • Kommandeur der I. Abteilung im Reiter-Regiment Erfurt (vormals 16. Reiter-Regiment)

Wehrmacht

  • Commander of the 1st Motorcycle-Infantry-Battalion / Kradschützen-Bataillon 1 (15 Oct 1935-01 Jan 1938)
  • Commander of the 3rd Rifle-Regiment (01 Jan 1938-04 Dec 1939)
  • Commander of the 3rd Rifle-Brigade (04 Dec 1939-05 Jan 1942)
  • Führer-Reserve OKH (05 Jan 1942-10 Apr 1942)
  • Commander of the 90th Light Africa-Division (10 Apr 1942-14 Jun 1942)
  • Commander of the 90th Light Africa-Division (21 Jun 1942-08 Sep 1942)
    • Kleemann was wounded, Generalmajor Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke took over the division. Then on 15 September 1942, Oberst Hermann Schulte-Heuthaus took over and on 24 September 1942 Oberst Karl Anton Theodor Graf von Sponeck.
  • Führer-Reserve OKH (01 Nov 1942-28 May 1943)
  • Commander of Assault-Division Rhodos (28 May 1943-31 Aug 1944)
  • Commanding General of LXXXXI. Army-Corps z. b. V. (18 Sep 1944-09 Oct 1944)
    • His Karteikarte reads that he commanded the LXXXXI. Armee-Korps z. b. V. from 18.09. to 09.10.1944. But the Kriegsgliederung of 28.09.44 lists a „Korps Kleemann“ (under OKH) instead (from many sources, including Tessin Errata, Stab or Gruppe or Korps "Kleemann" was created already in September 1944 and was renamed IV. Panzer-Korps on 10.10.1944), whilst the LXXXXI. AK (in the same Kriegsgliederung) was under Heeresgruppe E. It is possible, that the LXXXXI. Armee-Korps z. b. V. and the „Korps Kleemann“ (Balkans / Hungary) are one in the same.
  • Führer-Reserve OKH (09 Oct 1944-11 Oct 1944)
  • Commanding General of IV. Panzer-Corps (11 Oct 1944-28 Nov 1944)
  • Commanding General of Panzer-Corps Feldherrnhalle (28 Nov 1944-08 May 1945)
    • At the same time, Delegated with the Leadership of the 8th Army (22 Dec 1944-28 Dec 1944)
    • Battle of Budapest
  • In US-American Captivity (8 May 1945-1947)[2]

Death

Ulrich Kleemann (Grab, Oberursel).jpg

General der Panzertruppe a. D. Kleemann died on 3 January 1963 as a result of a car accident. Ulrich and Gerda Kleemann found their final resting place in the Oberursel city cemetery (field Z3, grave 14/15).

Family

Marriage

Kleemann married on 28 April 1953 (another source claims 29 May 1952) in Göttingen the widow Minna Toni Ida Gertrud "Gerda", née Braun (b. 6 May 1901 in Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Hesse; d. May 1979 in Göttingen). Gerda's first marriage was with Hans-Wilhelm Clemens Gottlieb Maria von Stockhausen (b. 8 January 1899 in Münster), whom she had married on 30 September 1926 at Schloß Stammen near Kassel. Gerda's grandmother Klara Georgine Elise Auguste Braun had married Oberst Erich Emil Leopold Adalbert von Stockhausen (parents of Generalmajor Theodor Hans-Adalbert von Stockhausen), the two families were well connected.

Hans-Wilhelm Clemens Gottlieb Maria von Stockhausen

Gerda's first husband Hans-Wilhelm, a cousin of Generalleutnant Wilhelm-Hunold Karl Eduard Maria von Stockhausen, was also an officer, he served in WWI as Leutnant, was promoted to Oberleutnant of the Reichswehr (16. Reiter-Regiment) on 1 August 1925, became Major of the Wehrmacht on 1 April 1937, commanded the II. Bataillon/Infanterie-Lehr-Regiment, fought on the Eastern Front, was promoted to Oberst on 1 August 1941, was mortally wounded near Kiev on 14 August 1941 and died on 15 August 1941 at the Hauptverbandsplatz (main dressing station, Sanko 1/61 H.V.Pl. Peschki/Rußland). Since 1996, he rests in the collective German cemetery (Sammelfriedhof) of Kiev (Block 4 – Among the Unknowns).

Promotions

Prussian / Imperial Army

  • Fahnenjunker (23 October 1911)
  • Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier (31 March 1912)
  • Fähnrich (18 August 1912)
  • Leutnant (16 June 1913)
  • Oberleutnant (18 June 1916)

Reichswehr

Wehrmacht

  • Oberstleutnant (1 March 1936)
  • Oberst (1 October 1938)
  • Generalmajor (30 January 1942)
    • with effect from 1 November 1941 and Rank Seniority from 1 October 1941[3]
  • Generalleutnant (10 June 1943)
  • General der Panzertruppe (20 October 1944)

Awards and decorations

Further reading

  • Franz Thomas: Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945, Band 1: A–K (in German), Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1998, ISBN 978-3-7648-2299-6
  • Walther-Peer Fellgiebel: Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile (in German), Podzun-Pallas, Wölfersheim 2000, ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6
    • English: The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches, expanded edition, 2000
  • Klaus D. Patzwall / Veit Scherzer: Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941–1945 Geschichte und Inhaber, Band II (in German), Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt 2001, ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8
  • Veit Scherzer: Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 – Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives (in German), Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag, Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2

External links

References

  1. ↑ A single source claims 1 November 1963
  2. ↑ General der Panzertruppe Ulrich Kleemann
  3. ↑ Gen Ulrich Kleemann
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