The 3rd Armoured Division () was formed on 2 July 1956 in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

and was one of the first major formations of the new German Army or ''

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

'' after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The 3rd Armoured Division was stationed on the

North German Plain The North German Plain or Northern Lowland () is one of the major geographical regions of Germany. It is the German part of the North European Plain. The region is bounded by the coasts of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the north, Germany's ...

between the rivers Elbe and Weser. Its last

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

location was

Buxtehude Buxtehude (; , ), officially the Hanseatic City of Buxtehude (), is a town on the Este River in Northern Germany, belonging to the district of Stade in Lower Saxony. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region and attached to the city's S-Ba ...

. It was part of the I Corps alongside the 1st Panzer, 7th Panzer, and 11th Panzergrenadier Divisions. The 3rd Armoured Division was disbanded on 30 September 1994. Its last commander was Generalmajor Gerd Schultze-Rhonhof. In the 1980s under Army Structures III and IV the division consisted of the 7th Panzergrenadier Brigade, 8th Panzer Brigade, and the Panzerlehrbrigade 9 (Armoured demonstration brigade). After the division's disbandment 9 PzL Bde eventually became part of 1st Armoured Division (Germany).

Operations

The Division provided support to numerous disasters, e. g. during serious floods in North Germany in

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

and 1976 as well as the flooding of the Elbe Lateral Canal. In January 1979 elements of the Division were deployed during the emergency caused by heavy snowfall in North Germany. In 1993 parts of the Division were deployed to

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

as part of

UNOSOM II The United Nations Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II) was the second phase of the United Nations intervention in Somalia and took place from March 1993 until March 1995, following the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991. UNOSOM II carried o ...

Divisional Organization 1989

* 3rd Panzer Division,

** Staff Company, 3rd Panzer Division, Buxtehude ** 7th Panzergrenadier Brigade,

*** Staff Company, 1st Panzergrenadier Brigade, Hamburg, (8x M577, 8x Luchs) *** 71st Panzergrenadier Battalion (Reserve), Hamburg, (13x Leopard 1A5, 24x Marder, 12x

M113 The M113 is a fully tracked armored personnel carrier (APC) that was developed and produced by the FMC Corporation. The M113 was sent to United States Army Europe in 1961 to replace the mechanized infantry's M59 APCs. The M113 was first used ...

) *** 72nd Panzergrenadier Battalion, Hamburg, (24x Marder, 6x Panzermörser, 23x M113) *** 73rd Panzergrenadier Battalion,

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is a town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has a footprint o ...

, (24x Marder, 6x Panzermörser, 23x M113) *** 74th Panzer Battalion, Cuxhaven, (41x

Leopard 2 The Leopard 2 is a third generation German main battle tank (MBT). Developed by Krauss-Maffei in the 1970s, the tank entered service in 1979 and replaced the earlier Leopard 1 as the main battle tank of the West German army. Various iterat ...

, 12x M113) *** 75th Panzer Artillery Battalion, Hamburg, (18x M109A3G) *** 70th Anti-Tank Company, Cuxhaven, (12x

Jaguar 2 The Raketenjagdpanzer 4 Jaguar 2 was a West German tank destroyer equipped with anti-tank guided missiles. It was only operated by the Bundeswehr. History From 1983 to 1985, 162 Kanonenjagdpanzers were converted to ''Raketenjagdpanzer 4'' Jaguar ...

) *** 70th Armored Engineer Company, Stade *** 70th Supply Company, Stade *** 70th Maintenance Company, Stade ** 8th Panzer Brigade,

Lüneburg Lüneburg, officially the Hanseatic City of Lüneburg and also known in English as Lunenburg, is a town in the German Bundesland (Germany), state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of another Hanseatic League, Hanseatic city, Hambur ...

*** Staff Company, 8th Panzer Brigade, Lüneburg, (8x M577, 8x Luchs) *** 81st Panzer Battalion (Reserve), Lüneburg, (28x Leopard 2, 11x Marder, 12x M113) *** 82nd Panzergrenadier Battalion, Lüneburg, (35x Marder, 6x Panzermörser, 12x M113) *** 83rd Panzer Battalion, Lüneburg, (41x Leopard 2, 12x M113) *** 84th Panzer Battalion, Lüneburg, (41x Leopard 2, 12x M113) *** 85th Panzer Artillery Battalion, Lüneburg, (18x M109A3G) *** 80th Anti-Tank Company, Lüneburg, (12x

Jaguar 1 The Raketenjagdpanzer (RakJPz 3) Jaguar 1 was a West German tank destroyer equipped with anti-tank guided missiles. From 1978 to 1982, 316 obsolete Raketenjagdpanzer 2 units were converted into Jaguar 1s by replacing the SS.11 missile system with ...

) *** 80th Armored Engineer Company, Lüneburg *** 80th Supply Company, Lüneburg *** 80th Maintenance Company, Lüneburg ** 9th Panzer (Lehr) Brigade,

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

*** Staff Company, 9th Panzerlehrbrigade, Munster, (8x M577, 8x Luchs) *** 91st Panzer (Lehr) Battalion (Reserve), Munster, (28x Leopard 2, 11x Marder, 12x M113) *** 92nd Panzergrenadier (Lehr) Battalion, Munster, (35x Marder, 6x Panzermörser, 12x M113) *** 93rd Panzer (Lehr) Battalion, Munster, (41x Leopard 2, 12x M113) *** 94th Panzer (Lehr) Battalion, Munster, (41x Leopard 2, 12x M113) *** 95th Panzer (Lehr) Artillery Battalion, Munster, (18x M109A3G) *** 90th Anti-Tank (Lehr) Company, Munster, (12x Jaguar 1) *** 90th Armored Engineer (Lehr) Company, Munster *** 90th Supply (Lehr) Company, Munster *** 90th Maintenance (Lehr) Company, Munster ** 3rd Artillery Regiment, Stade *** Staff Battery, 3rd Artillery Regiment, Stade *** 31st Field Artillery Battalion, Lüneburg, (18x M110A2, 18x

FH-70 The FH70 (field howitzer for the 1970s) is a towed 155 mm howitzer used by several nations. History In 1963, NATO agreed a NATO Basic Military Requirement 39 for close support artillery, either towed or tracked. Subsequently, Germany and UK ...

) *** 32nd Rocket Artillery Battalion, Dörverden, (16x

LARS Lars is a common male name in Scandinavian countries. Origin ''Lars'' means "from the city of Laurentum". Lars is derived from the Latin name Laurentius, which means "from Laurentum" or "crowned with laurel", and is therefore related to the name ...

) *** 33rd Surveillance Battalion, Stade, (12x CL89) *** 3rd Infantry Battery, Dörverden ** 3rd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Lüneburg, (34x

Leopard 1 The Kampfpanzer Leopard, subsequently Leopard 1 following the introduction of the successive Leopard 2, is a main battle tank designed by Porsche and manufactured by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, Krauss-Maffei in West Germany, first entering service ...

, 10x Luchs, 18x Fuchs - 9 of which carry a RASIT radar) ** 3rd Air Defense Regiment, Hamburg, (36x Gepard) ** 3rd Engineer Battalion, Stade, (8x Biber AVLB, 8x Pionierpanzer 1, 4x Skorpion Mine Layers, 12x Floating Bridge Modules) ** 3rd Army Aviation Squadron, Rotenburg, (10x Alouette II) ** 3rd Signal Battalion, Buxtehude ** 3rd Medical Battalion (Reserve), Hamburg ** 3rd Supply Battalion (Reserve), Stade ** 3rd Maintenance Battalion (Reserve), Rotenburg ** 5x Field Replacement Battalions: 31st and 32nd in

Zeven Zeven () is a town in the district of Rotenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of around 14,000. The nearest large towns are Bremerhaven, Bremen and Hamburg. It is situated approximately 22 km northwest of Rotenburg, and 40& ...

, 33rd and 35th in Verden, 34th in Neustadt am

Achim Achim (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Achem''), commonly Achim bei Bremen, is a municipality and the largest town (population 30,059 in December 2006) in the district of Verden, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Weser, a ...

** 36th Jäger Battalion (Reserve), Zeven ** 37th Jäger Battalion (Reserve), Munster ** 38th Security Battalion (Reserve), Zeven

Commanders

External links

The 3rd Armoured Division of the Bundeswehr at www.relikte.com

{{Authority control 3 20th century in Hamburg Military units and formations disestablished in 1994 Military units and formations established in 1956 1950s in Hamburg