__NOTOC__ The 11th SS Panzer Army (''SS-Panzer-Armeeoberkommando 11'') was not much more than a paper army formed in February 1945 by

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

while he was commander of

Army Group Vistula Army Group Vistula () was an Army Group of the '' Wehrmacht'', formed on 24 January 1945. It lasted for 105 days, having been put together from elements of Army Group A (shattered in the Soviet Vistula-Oder Offensive), Army Group Centre (similarl ...

. The military historian

Antony Beevor Sir Antony James Beevor, (born 14 December 1946) is a British military historian. He has published several popular historical works on the Second World War and the Spanish Civil War. Early life Born in Kensington, Beevor was educated at tw ...

wrote that when the 11th SS Panzer Army was created the available units at best could constitute a corps, "'But panzer army' observed Hans-Georg Eismann 'has a better ring to it'". It also allowed Himmler to promote SS officers to senior staff and field commands within the formation. ''

Obergruppenführer ' (, "senior group leader") was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissio ...

Felix Steiner Felix Martin Julius Steiner (23 May 1896 – 12 May 1966) was a German SS commander during the Nazi era. During World War II, he served in the Waffen-SS, the combat branch of the SS, and commanded several SS divisions and corps. He was awarded t ...

was named its commander.Beevor p.88 The Army was officially listed as the 11th Army but it was also known as ''SS Panzer-Armeeoberkommando 11''Tessin p.194 and is often referred to in English as the ''11th SS Panzer Army''. After taking part in

Operation Solstice Operation Solstice (german: Unternehmen Sonnenwende), also known as ''Unternehmen Husarenritt'' or the Stargard tank battle, was one of the last German armoured offensive operations on the Eastern Front in World War II. It was originally pla ...

(a counter-attack) east of the

Oder River The Oder ( , ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows t ...

during February 1945, the 11th was assigned to OB West and reorganized in March 1945. Many of the units formerly subordinated to the 11th SS Panzer Army were transferred to the

3rd Panzer Army The 3rd Panzer Army (german: 3. Panzerarmee) was a German armoured formation during World War II, formed from the 3rd Panzer Group on 1 January 1942. 3rd Panzer Group The 3rd Panzer Group (german: Panzergruppe 3) was formed on 16 November ...

and other units were assigned to the 11th Army for operations against the Western Allies. After defending the

Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...

River and the

Harz Mountains The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High Germ ...

, the 11th surrendered to the Western Allies on 21 April.

Order of battle

February 1945

By 5 February the 11th, subordinated to Army Group Vistula, had the following units assigned to it: *Tettau Corps group: **Köslin **Bärwalde * X SS Army Corps ** 5th Jäger-Division **Division Nr 402 *Munzel Corps group: ** Führer-Grenadier-Division ** Führer-Begleit-Division *

III SS Panzer Corps The III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps (''III. (germanisches) SS-Panzerkorps'') was a German Waffen-SS armoured corps which saw action on the Eastern Front during World War II. The ''(germanische)'' (lit. Germanic) part of its designation was grant ...

: ** 281st Infanterie-Division ** 23rd SS-Panzergrenadier-Division **Division Voigt ** 11th SS-Panzergrenadier-Division ** 27th SS-Grenadier-Division *

XXXIX Panzer Corps The XXXIX Panzer Corps (german: XXXIX.Panzerkorps, also previously designated the ''XXXIX.Armeekorps (mot)'') was a German panzer corps which saw action on the Western and Eastern Fronts during World War II. Operational history The Corps whos ...

** 4th SS-Panzergrenadier-Division ** 10th SS-Panzer-Division ** 28th SS-Grenadier-Division **

Panzer Division Holstein Panzer-Division Holstein was an armoured division of the German army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bun ...

*HQ, Wehrkreis II as corps-level field command (stellv. II): ** Swinemünde Defensive Region **Division Deneke ** 9th Fallschirm-Jäger-Division *Direct army command ** 163rd Infanterie-Division

March, 1945

By 1 March the Eleventh, subordinated to Army Group Vistula had no units assigned to it.

April 1945

By 12 April the Eleventh was directly subordinated to OB West and had the following units assigned to it. *LXVII Army Corps: ** Kampfgruppe Fellner **Division Ettner **Division Heidenreich **Division Grosskreuz *Stellv. IX: ** 26th Volksgrenadier-Division ** 326th Volksgrenadier-Division *LXVI Army Corps: ** 277th Volksgrenadier-Division ** SS Brigade Westfalen ** 9th Panzer-Division ** 116th Panzer-Division

References

* Tessin, Georg. ''Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS 1939 - 1945'' Volume 3 * Beevor, Antony. ''Berlin: The Downfall 1945'', Penguin Books, 2002,

Footnotes