Erich Lüdke (20 October 1882 – 13 February 1946) 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 ...

General of the Infantry General of the infantry is a military rank of a General officer in the infantry and refers to: * General of the Infantry (Austria) * General of the Infantry (Bulgaria) * General of the Infantry (Germany) General of the Infantry (, abbr. ) is ...

who was supreme commander of the German forces in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

from 1 June 1940 to 29 September 1942. Taken into custody by the Soviets after the war, he died in captivity in 1946.

Early career

Lüdke entered the army in 1900 and was promoted to ''

Leutnant () is the lowest junior officer rank in the armed forces of Germany ( Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the military of Switzerland. History The German noun (with the meaning "" (in English "deputy") from Middle High German «locum ...

'' in 1902 and to ''

Oberleutnant (English: First Lieutenant) is a senior lieutenant Officer (armed forces), officer rank in the German (language), German-speaking armed forces of Germany (Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the Swiss Armed Forces. In Austria, ''Oberle ...

'' in 1910. In spring 1914, he was assigned to the

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

in Berlin. At the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was promoted to ''

Hauptmann () is an officer rank in the armies of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It is usually translated as ''captain''. Background While in contemporary German means 'main', it also has, and originally had, the meaning of 'head', i.e. ' literall ...

'' and became a company commander.

World War I

From 1915, Lüdke served in various staff functions. During the war he received the Iron Cross 2nd Class and Knight's Cross of House Order of Hohenzollern.

Interbellum

After World War I, Lüdke moved into the new

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' (; ) was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first two years of Nazi Germany. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

and initially used in the Reichswehr Ministry. On 1 April 1922, he was then appointed commander of an infantry regiment and gradually achieved level of ''

Oberstleutnant () (English: Lieutenant Colonel) is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to lieutenant colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, ...

'' due to various position of commander of cavalry and infantry regiments. In June 1935, Lüdke was promoted to ''

Generalleutnant () is the German-language variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries. Austria Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO ...

'' and took command of the 9th Infantry Division. A year later he took command of 34th Infantry Division. In 1937 he was assigned to the X Army Corps 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 ...

. After the death of the commanding general, Wilhelm Knochenhauer, he was assigned to the leadership of X Army Corps.

World War II

On 1 June 1940, Lüdke was appointed commander of German troops in

where he replaced

Leonhard Kaupisch Leonhard Kaupisch (1 September 1878 – 26 September 1945) was a German general during World War II who served as Supreme Military Commander of occupied Denmark. World War I and interwar period Kaupisch entered the army in 1898; from 1907 to 190 ...

. On 1 December 1940 he was promoted to

. His time in Denmark was relatively peaceful, and it was only towards the end of his period in command that the

Danish resistance movement The Danish resistance movements () were an underground insurgency to resist the German occupation of Denmark during World War II. Due to the initially lenient arrangements, in which the Nazi occupation authority allowed the democratic govern ...

was becoming increasingly noticeable. After the

Telegram Crisis The Telegram Crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Denmark and Germany in October and November 1942, during the German occupation of Denmark. The crisis was triggered by a telegram from King Christian X of Denmark to Adolf Hitler, acknowledgi ...

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

wanted a harder line implemented in Denmark and Lüdke was deemed unfit. He was released from his post in the fall of 1942 and given the status of reserve officer. On 31 January 1944, he retired from active service. After the war he was arrested by the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

s and taken into captivity. He died in Russia in 1946.

Awards and decorations

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 ...

of 1914, 1st and 2nd class * Knight's Cross of the Royal

House Order of Hohenzollern The House Order of Hohenzollern ( or ') was a dynastic order of knighthood of the House of Hohenzollern awarded to military commissioned officers and civilians of comparable status. Associated with the various versions of the order were crosses an ...

with Swords * Knight's Cross Second Class of the

Order of the White Falcon Order of the White Falcon () is a grand-ducal order of the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, founded by Duke Ernest Augustus on 2 August 1732, and renewed in 1815 by Charles Augustus. Description In the early 20th century it had four classes a ...

with swords *

Hanseatic Cross The Hanseatic Cross () was a military decoration of the three Hanseatic city-states of Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck, who were members of the German Empire during World War I. Each republic established its own version of the cross, but the design ...

of Bremen * Knight's Cross Second Class of the Ducal

Saxe-Ernestine House Order The Saxe-Ernestine House Order ()Hausorden
Herzogliche Haus Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha was a ...

* Cross of Honour, 3rd class with Swords and Crown (Reuss) * Cross of Honour, 3rd class with Swords (Schwarzburg) * Military Merit Cross, 3rd class with war decoration (Austria-Hungary) * Ottoman War Medal ("Iron Crescent") *

Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 (), commonly referred to as the Hindenburg Cross or the German WWI Service Cross, was established by Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, President of the German Weimar Republic, by an order dated 13 July ...

with Swords *

Wehrmacht Long Service Award The Wehrmacht Long Service Award () was a List of military decorations of the Third Reich, military service decoration of Nazi Germany issued for satisfactory completion of a number of years in military service. History On 16 March 1936, Adolf ...

, 4th to 1st class

Footnotes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ludke, Erich 1882 births 1946 deaths People from Naumburg (Saale) Military personnel from the Province of Saxony German Army personnel of World War I German Army generals of World War II Generals of Infantry (Wehrmacht) Recipients of the Hanseatic Cross (Bremen) German prisoners of war in World War II held by the Soviet Union German people who died in Soviet detention Major generals of the Reichswehr