Erich Hampe (17 December 1889 – 28 June 1978) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Army officer with the rank of

generalmajor is the Germanic languages, Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central Europe, Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and R ...

, who served as Chief of the Department for Technical Troops in

OKH The (; abbreviated OKH) was the high command of the Army of Nazi Germany. It was founded in 1935 as part of Adolf Hitler's rearmament of Germany. OKH was ''de facto'' the most important unit within the German war planning until the defeat ...

during

World War II 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 ...

. Previously he was Vice Chief of the

Technische Nothilfe (abbreviated as TN, T.N, T.H, Tech Nh, TeNo, TENO; ) was a German organisation. It began as a strikebreaker organisation after the First World War, but developed into a volunteer emergency response unit. During the Nazi period TN became in ch ...

as well as an editor and the author of the official history of German civil defense during the Second World War. During the postwar years, he served as the first president of the Federal Agency for Civil Defense (''Bundesanstalt für zivilen Luftschutz''). Born in 1889, Hampe entered army service within the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

on in 1908 as an officer candidate. In 1912, when he was discharged to the Army Reserve. Hampe began subsequently work as Chief Editor of the "Die Post" newspaper, which closely cooperated with

Free Conservative Party The Free Conservative Party (, FKP) was a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative political party in Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia and the German Empire which ran as the German Reich Party (, DRP) in the federal elections to the Reichstag (Ger ...

. With the outbreak of the World War I, Hampe was called up in August 1914 and assigned to a machine gun-detachment; he was posted to the

Guard Corps The Guards Corps/GK () was a corps level command of the Prussian Army, Prussian and then the Imperial German Army, Imperial German Armies from the 19th century to World War I. The Corps was headquartered in Berlin, with its units garrisoned in ...

and ordered to the Western front. He participated in the

First Battle of Ypres The First Battle of Ypres (, , – was a battle of the First World War, fought on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front around Ypres, in West Flanders, Belgium. The battle was part of the First Battle of Flanders, in which German A ...

, the

First Battle of Champagne The First Battle of Champagne () was fought from 1915 in World War I in the Champagne region of France and was the second offensive by the Allies against the German Empire since mobile warfare had ended after the First Battle of Ypres in Flande ...

, the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive, and the

Battle of Verdun The Battle of Verdun ( ; ) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in French Third Republic, France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north ...

. His military service ended on November 30, 1919, when he retired from the Army. During his service in the Army, Hampe was awarded with both classes of

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...

and Hesse Medal for Bravery. In the beginning of 1920 in the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

, he worked as Vice Chief of the

(TN). In 1941 he was transferred the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

and served as inspector general of the Technical Troops (that originated in TN units transferred to the army). In the public service of

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

in 1950, he started with the reconstruction of the

Technisches Hilfswerk The (, (THW) , English: ''Federal Agency for Technical Relief'') is the federal Emergency management, civil protection organisation of Germany. It is legally part of the Federal Ministry of the Interior (Germany), Federal Ministry of the Inte ...

, continued as head of division in the German Federal Ministry of the Interior and finally as first President of the Federal Agency for Civil Defense (Bundesanstalt für zivilen Luftschutz). Hampe died in 1978 in Hangelar near

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

References and bibliography

* Bundesarchiv Koblenz Pers 101/60606-60608
Gasschutz und Luftschutz
. – Berlin : Ebeling. - 1 (1931) - 15 (1945) * Die Räder : Zeitschrift der Technischen Nothilfe. - Berlin : Räder-Verl. - 1 (1920) - 26 (1945) * utobiography... als alles in Scherben fiel : Erinnerungen des Generalmajors a.D., ehemaligen Generals der Technischen Truppen und Präsident der Bundesanstalt für zivilen Luftschutz / Erich Hampe. - Osnabrück : Biblio-Verl., 1979. - 185 S. - (Soldatenschicksale des 20. Jahrhunderts als Geschichtsquellen ; 1) * ''Der zivile Luftschutz im Zweiten Weltkrieg: Dokumentation und Erfahrungsberichte über Aufbau und Einsatz''. Bernard und Graefe 1963. Downloa
here (www.bbk.bund.de)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hampe, Erich 1889 births 1978 deaths People from Gera People from the Principality of Reuss-Gera Major generals of the German Army (Wehrmacht) Prussian Army personnel Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class 20th-century Freikorps personnel