__NOTOC__ Fritz Paul Heinrich Otto Klingenberg (17 December 1912 – 23 March 1945) was a German officer in the

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

who served with the SS Division Das Reich and was a commander of the SS Division Götz von Berlichingen. He was best known for his role in the capture of the

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

n capital,

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, for which he was awarded the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. While it was order of precedence, lower in preceden ...

. In April 1941, the German Army invaded Yugoslavia and then

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. Klingenberg, a company commander in the Das Reich division, led his unit to the capital,

, where a small group in the vanguard accepted the surrender of the city on 13 April. A few days later, Yugoslavia surrendered.

Capture of Belgrade

In April 1941, Klingenberg was with SS troops taking part in the invasion of Yugoslavia. Klingenberg disobeyed orders, and decided to reconnoiter Belgrade, with his units far ahead of the main German army. Finding a boat, he crossed the river, with the intention of ferrying a sizable force across; however, the boat sank, and he was left with just six men. Klingenberg then encountered some Yugoslav troops who had captured a drunken German tourist, and captured them. On the 11th April, after a number of firefights the six Germans, having sustained no casualties but capturing a number of Yugoslav soldiers, made it to the centre of Belgrade with the tourist and their prisoners. There they raised a German flag. Jevrem Tomić, the Mayor of Belgrade, came out to meet them, after Klingenberg bluffed, telling him there was an incoming artillery barrage and an impending Luftwaffe attack. Tomić and some garrison troops surrendered the city to them on 12 April. At this point a few more of Klingenberg's men arrived the same way he had, and made a show of their presence, pretending that there was more of them than there were. The German army eventually arrived, dumbfounded at the situation, having made a complex plan to take the city that was no longer needed, and was expected to cost thousands of lives. A few days later Yugoslavia surrendered. Klingenberg was awarded the Knight’s Cross for capturing the city, in effect capturing Belgrade with just himself, his six soldiers and the tourist.

European theatre against US forces

On 21 December 1944, Fritz Klingenberg was promoted to SS-'' Standartenführer'' and two weeks later (on 12 January 1945) was appointed to command the SS Division Götz von Berlichingen. The division was attached to XIII SS Corps, defending southeast of

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...

against the XV Corps of the Seventh United States Army. On 23 March 1945, Klingenberg was killed by a tank shell during a firefight on the western edge of Herxheim and is buried at the German War Cemetery in Andilly,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Decorations

on 14 May 1941 as SS-'' Hauptsturmführer'' and chief of the 2./SS-Kradschützen-Bataillon of the SS-Division "Reich". *

German Cross The War Order of the German Cross (), normally abbreviated to the German Cross or ''Deutsches Kreuz'', was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 28 September 1941. It was awarded in two divisions: in gold for repeated acts of bravery or military leade ...

in Gold on 28 April 1944 as SS-'' Obersturmbannführer'' in the 2. SS-Panzer-Division "Das Reich"

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Klingenberg, Fritz 1912 births 1945 deaths Deaths by explosive device People from Rostock (district) SS-Standartenführer Recipients of the Gold German Cross Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Military personnel from the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Military personnel from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Waffen-SS personnel killed in action