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Army Group Upper Rhine
The Upper Rhine High Command (), known for three days as Army Group Upper Rhine (), was a short-lived headquarters unit of the German Armed Forces (''Wehrmacht'') created on the Western Front during World War II. The Upper Rhine High Command was formed on 26 November 1944 and deactivated on 25 January 1945. The sole commander of this headquarters unit was Heinrich Himmler. For most of its history, the command was known as an ''Oberkommando'', and was renamed to become a ''Heeresgruppe'' only on 22 January 1945, when Paul Hausser was appointed as commander. Just three days later, on 25 January, Hausser was assigned to Army Group G; Army Group Upper Rhine was dissolved on 29 January. Creation Following successful Allied offensives in November 1944 that forced the Saverne and Belfort Gaps, reached the Rhine River, and liberated Belfort, Strasbourg, and Mulhouse, Hitler ordered the German troops around Colmar in Alsace to hold fast. German Army Group G (''Heeresgruppe G'') was st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the List of cities in Germany by population, 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. It is also a former capital of Baden, a historic region named after Hohenbaden Castle in the city of Baden-Baden. Located on the right bank of the Rhine (Upper Rhine) near the French border, between the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region, Mannheim-Ludwigshafen conurbation to the north and Strasbourg to the south, Karlsruhe is Germany's legal center, being home to the Federal Constitutional Court, the Federal Court of Justice and the Public Prosecutor General (Germany), Public Prosecutor General. Karlsruhe was the capital of the Margraviate of Baden-Durlach (Durlach: 1565–1718; Karlsruhe: 1718–1771), the Margraviate of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volkssturm
The (, ) was a ''levée en masse'' national militia established by Nazi Germany during the last months of World War II. It was set up by the Nazi Party on the orders of Adolf Hitler and established on 25 September 1944. It was staffed by conscripting males between the ages of 16 and 60 years, who were not already serving in some military unit. The ''Volkssturm'' comprised one of the final components of the Total war#Nazi Germany, total war promulgated by Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, part of a Nazi endeavor to overcome their enemies' military strength through force of will. ''Volkssturm'' units fought unsuccessful battles against Allies of World War II, Allied forces at the end of the war. On several occasions, its members participated in atrocities, accompanied by German civilians and the Hitler Youth, which were overseen by members of the Schutzstaffel, SS or ''Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany, Gau'' leaders ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eleventh SS Panzer Army
__NOTOC__ The 11th SS Panzer Army (''SS-Panzer-Armeeoberkommando 11'') was little more than a paper army formed in February 1945 by Heinrich Himmler while he was commander of Army Group Vistula. (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 sources as the 11th SS Panzer Army.) Military historian Antony Beevor writes 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'' Felix Steiner was named its commander. After taking part in Operation Solstice east of the Oder River in February 1945, the army was assigned to OB West and reorganized in March 1945. Many of the units formerly subordinated to the 11th SS Panzer Army were trans ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg
The 10th SS Panzer Division "Frundsberg" () was a German Waffen-SS armoured division during World War II. The division's first battles were in Ukraine in April 1944. Afterwards, the unit was then transferred to the west, where it fought the Allies in France and at Arnhem. The division was moved to Pomerania, then fought south east of Berlin in the Lusatian area until the end of the war. History The division received the honor title "Frundsberg" after the 16th-century German commander Georg von Frundsberg. The division was mainly formed from conscripts. It first saw action at Tarnopol in April 1944 and later took part in the relief of the German troops cut off in the Kamenets-Podolsky pocket. It was then sent to Normandy to counter the Allied landings, where, along with the SS Division Hohenstaufen, it took part in fighting against the Allied Operation Epsom. The division spent the rest of July defending against British attacks against Hill 112 and Hill 113, most notably duri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colmar Pocket
The Colmar Pocket (; ) was the area held in central Alsace, France, by the German Nineteenth Army from November 1944 to February 1945, against the U.S. 6th Army Group (6th AG) during World War II. It was formed when 6th AG liberated southern and northern Alsace and adjacent eastern Lorraine, but could not clear central Alsace. During Operation Nordwind in December 1944, the 19th Army attacked north out of the Pocket in support of other German forces attacking south from the Saar into northern Alsace. In late January and early February 1945, the French First Army (reinforced by the U.S. XXI Corps) cleared the Pocket of German forces. Background Formation of the Pocket A German bridgehead on the west bank of the Rhine long and deep was isolated in November 1944 when the German defenses in the Vosges Mountains The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian (linguistics), Franconian and ) is a range of medium mountains in Eastern France, near its France–Germany border, border with G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gambsheim
Gambsheim is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France, in the historical region of Alsace. Geography Gambsheim lies adjacent to a river-crossing into Germany that is favoured by southbound traffic on the A35 autoroute wishing to avoid traffic delays around Strasbourg. The crossing coincides with the location of a large river lock which, like the similar French-German cooperation project at Iffezheim Lock, is also the site of a power station and one of the Rhine's first fish ladders. The latter was installed to support migratory fish in general and, more specifically, in an attempt to restore the abundant salmon population for which the upper Rhine was famous before the early 20th century, when the installation of a series of locks rendered the river navigable beyond Basel for boats, but blocked it for migrating fish. Population Landmarks * The church of St Nazaire. * Gambsheim lock gates (Upper Rhine). * Town hall, built in 1823 to r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Nordwind
Operation Northwind () was the last major German offensive of World War II on the Western Front. Northwind was launched to support the German Ardennes offensive campaign in the Battle of the Bulge, which by late December 1944 had decisively turned against the German forces. It began on 31 December 1944 in Rhineland-Palatinate, Alsace and Lorraine in southwestern Germany and northeastern France, and ended on 25 January 1945. The German offensive was an operational failure, with its main objectives not achieved. Objectives By 21 December 1944, the German momentum during the Battle of the Bulge had begun to dissipate, and it was evident that the operation was on the brink of failure. The German high command believed that an attack against the United States Seventh Army further south, which had extended its lines and taken on a defensive posture to cover the area vacated by the United States Third Army which had turned north to assist at the site of the German breakthrough, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lorraine (region)
Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain language, Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the Regions of France, administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of Lotharingia (855–959 AD), which in turn was named after either Emperor Lothair I or King Lothair II. Lorraine, originally the southern or "upper" part of this kingdom, came to be ruled by the Holy Roman Empire as the Duchy of Lorraine before the Kingdom of France annexed it in 1766. From 1982 until January 2016, Lorraine was an administrative region of France. In 2016, under a reorganisation, it became part of the new region Grand Est. As a region in modern France, Lorraine consisted of the four Departments of France, departments Meurthe-et-Moselle, Meuse (department), Meuse, Moselle (department), Moselle and Vosges (department), Vosges (from a historical point of view the Haute-Marne department is also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ardennes Offensive
The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. Geologically, the range is a western extension of the Eifel; both were raised during the Givetian age of the Devonian (382.7 to 387.7 million years ago), as were several other named ranges of the same greater range. The Ardennes proper stretches well into Germany and France (lending its name to the Ardennes department and the former Champagne-Ardenne region) and geologically into the Eifel (the eastern extension of the Ardennes Forest into Bitburg-Prüm, Germany); most of it is in the southeast of Wallonia, the southern and more rural part of Belgium (away from the coastal plain but encompassing more than half of the country's total area). The eastern part of the Ardennes forms the northernmost third of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, also called ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military District (Germany)
The military districts, also known in some English-language publications by their German name as Wehrkreise (singular: ''Wehrkreis''), were administrative territorial units in Nazi Germany before and during World War II. The task of military districts was the organization and the handling of reinforcements and resupplies for local military units. The Replacement Army (''Ersatzheer'') managed the districts. Responsibilities such as training, conscription, supply, and equipment were (at least partially) entrusted to the Ersatzheer. History On 30 September 1919, much of the Imperial German Army was dissolved. The Reichswehr (of the Weimar Republic) took its place, and four commands of the type '' Reichswehrgruppenkommando'' were created, as well as seven ''Wehrkreiskommando'' commands, each assigned to one of the seven initial Wehrkreise of the Weimar Republic (numbered I through VII). The ''Reichswehrgruppenkommandos'' (which combined under them several military units across Wehr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Replacement Army
The Replacement Army () was part of the Imperial German Army during World War I and part of the Wehrmacht during World War II. It was based within Germany proper and included command and administrative units as well as training and guard troops. Its primary role was to provide replacements for the combat divisions of the regular army. Third Reich It was formed in the various German military districts ('' Wehrkreise'') and was tasked with the conscription, recruitment, training and replacement of personnel, testing of new military equipment, and administration such as responsibility for soldiers on home leave. The ''Ersatzheer'' contingency plans for Operation Valkyrie were deliberately misused as part of the unsuccessful 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, arrest SS troops, and stage a military coup d'etat through the organization driven by the newly appointed Chief of Staff, Claus von Stauffenberg, in early 1944. Its commander, '' Generaloberst'' Friedrich Fromm, had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
19th Army (Wehrmacht)
The 19th Army () was a field army of the German Army (Heer) that specialized in anti-aircraft warfare, anti-tank warfare, armoured warfare, coastal defence and fortification, combined arms, counterinsurgency, conventional warfare, and maneuver warfare. Active from 1943 to 1945 on the Western Front, it was tasked with defending Southern France and before being pushed back to the France–Germany border during Operation Dragoon and then into Southern Germany. History Formed in August 1943 in occupied southern France from ''Armeegruppe Felber'' (the '' LXXXIII. Armeekorps''), the 19th Army defended Southern France, the Vosges Mountains, Alsace, Baden and Southern Württemberg during the Allied invasion of Southern France and other large Allied military operations that had as their goal the liberation of Southern France and the invasion of Southern Germany. Although nominally a field army, the 19th Army was under strength and consisted of third tier soldiers, wounded ve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
