The 9th Parachute Division (german: 9.Fallschirmjäger-Division) was one of the final parachute divisions to be raised by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The division was destroyed during the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula– ...

in April 1945.

History

The 9th Division was formed in December 1944Tessin, p.152 under the command of General

Bruno Bräuer Bruno Bräuer (4 February 1893 – 20 May 1947) was a general in the paratroop forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. He served as a commander on Crete (called Fortress Crete by the Germans) and then commanded the 9th Paratroop Division. A ...

with many Luftwaffe personnel transferred to combat duties for which they had no experience; it was thus a parachute division in name only, paratrooper training having ceased in mid-1944. By that time the new “paratrooper” units were ordinary infantry units under Air Force command. In January 1945 two of his battalions were encircled by the

1st Ukrainian Front The 1st Ukrainian Front (Russian: Пéрвый Украи́нский фронт), previously the Voronezh Front (Russian: Воронежский Фронт) was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a ...

in Breslau where they were destroyed. In the

Battle of the Seelow Heights The Battle of the Seelow Heights (german: Schlacht um die Seelower Höhen) was part of the Berlin Offensive, Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation (16 April–2 May 1945). A pitched battle, it was one of the last assaults on large Field entrenchm ...

the 9th Division was positioned between

Seelow Seelow () is a German town, seat of the Märkisch-Oderland, a district of Brandenburg. As of 2013 its population was of 5,464. Geography It is situated in the extreme east of Germany, 70 km (40 miles) east of Berlin, 16 km (10 miles) wes ...

and

Neuhardenberg Neuhardenberg is a municipality in the district Märkisch-Oderland, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is the site of Neuhardenberg Palace, residence of the Prussian statesman Prince Karl August von Hardenberg (1750-1822). The municipal area comprises th ...

, they received the full force of the first days artillery bombardment by Marshal Georgi Zhukov's

1st Belorussian Front The 1st Belorussian Front ( Russian: Пéрвый Белорусский фронт, ''Perviy Belorusskiy front'', also romanized " Byelorussian") was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army ...

on 16 April. Under this bombardment the 9th Division buckled. It rallied briefly on the morning of 17 April, when it was given some armoured support, but collapsed again shortly afterwards. Bräuer suffered a nervous breakdown and was relieved of his command at the request of Goering, angry at the collapse of one of his Luftwaffe divisions.Beevor pp. 223 236–237, 243, 246–247 Bräuer was followed in command by Colonel Herrmann. The SS ''Nordland'' Division rounded up some elements of the 9th Division and managed a temporarily successful counterattack. By 19 April, the remnants of the 9th Division along with what remained of the rest of the LVI Panzer Corps were within the Berlin U-Bahn outer defensive ring. During the attempted breakout on the night of 1/2 May a small group of the 9th Division stormed the tower of

Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smallest borough by population, but the fourth largest by land ...

Rathaus In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

'' (Town Hall) from which Soviet machine-gunners were decimating Germans attempting to break out of Berlin over the Havel using the ''Charlottenbrücke'' (' Charlotten Bridge').Beevor p. 385 By the end of 2 May the 9th Parachute Division had ceased to exist.

Subordination

* Stellv. II Corps,

11th SS Panzer Army __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 while he was commander of Army Group Vistula. The military historian Antony Beevor wrote that whe ...

, Army Group ''Vistula'' – February 1945 * Stellv. II Corps,

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 ...

, Army Group ''Vistula'' – March 1945 *

XI SS Corps The XI SS Corps (German: ''XI. SS-Armeekorps'' later ''XI. SS-Panzerkorps'') was a Waffen-SS corps created on July 24, 1944 in southern Poland on the basis of the remains of the headquarters of the defeated V Army Corps and employed on the Eas ...

, 11th Army, Army Group ''Vistula'' – April 1945 * LVI Panzer Corps – May 1945

Commanding officers

*Generalleutnant

Gustav Wilke __NOTOC__ Gustav Wilke (6 March 1898 – 14 March 1977) was a German paratroop general during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Awards * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 24 May 1940 as '' ...

(December 1944 – 2 March 1945) *General der Fallschirmtruppe

(2 March 1945 – 18 April 1945) *Oberst

Harry Herrmann Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

(19 April 1945 – 2 May 1945)

Notes

References

* Beevor, Antony. ''Berlin: The Downfall 1945'', Penguin Books, 2002, * Le Tissier, Tony. ''Der Kampf um Berlin 1945'', Bechtermünz Verlag, 1997, . * Tessin, Georg. ''Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS'', Vol. III, Biblio Verlag, 1974, . * Stimpel, Hans-Martin. ''Widersinn 1945''Cuvilier Verlag Göttingen, 2003, {{DEFAULTSORT:9th Parachute Division (Germany) Fallschirmjäger divisions Military units and formations established in 1944 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945