Hellmuth Reymann (24 November 1892 – 8 December 1988) was an

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

in the German Army ('' Heer'') 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 ...

. He was one of the last commanders of the Berlin Defence Area during the final assault by Soviet forces on

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

World War II

From 1 October 1942 to 1 October 1943, Reymann commanded the 212th Infantry Division as part of

Army Group North Army Group North () was the name of three separate army groups of the Wehrmacht during World War II. Its rear area operations were organized by the Army Group North Rear Area. The first Army Group North was deployed during the invasion of Pol ...

. From 1 October 1943 to 1 April 1944, he commanded the 13th Air Force Field Division. Reymann's division suffered heavy losses in the retreat from

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and was disbanded in April 1944. From 1 April 1944 to 18 November 1944, Reymann commanded the 11th Infantry Division. In October 1944, Reymann's division was encircled in the

Courland Pocket The Courland Pocket was a Pocket (military), pocket located on the Courland Peninsula in Latvia on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II from 9 October 1944 to 10 May 1945. Army Group North of the ''Wehrmacht'' were ...

and he was replaced by General Gerhard Feyerabend.

Berlin, 1945

In March 1945, Reymann was appointed commander of the

Defence Area and replaced General Bruno Ritter von Hauenschild. When he entered Berlin, Reymann found that he had inherited almost nothing from von Hauenschild. Reymann realised that

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 ...

and

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...

had ruled that any defeatist talk would lead to immediate execution. No plans were drawn up to evacuate the civilian population, which remained in the city. By 21 April, Goebbels, as Reich Commissioner for Berlin, ordered that "no man capable of bearing arms may leave Berlin". Only Reymann, as commander of the Berlin Defence Area, could issue an exemption. Senior

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

officials, who readily condemned members of the army for retreating, rushed to Reymann's headquarters for the necessary authorisations to leave. Reymann was happy to sign over 2,000 passes to get rid of the "armchair warriors". Reymann's chief-of-staff, Hans Refior, commented, "The rats are leaving the sinking ship". Both Wilhelm Burgdorf and Goebbels convinced Hitler that Reymann should be relieved of command. When Reymann chose not to locate his office next to Goebbels's office in the

Zoo Tower The Zoo flak tower (German: ''Flakturm Grosser Tiergarten, Tiergarten'', ''Tiergarten Flak Tower'' or commonly referred to as the "Zoo Tower") was a fortified flak tower that existed in Berlin from 1941 to 1947. It was one of several flak towers ...

, Goebbels held that act against him. On 22 April, Hitler relieved Reymann of his command for his defeatism and replaced him with the newly-promoted Generalleutnant Ernst Kaether, who was the former Chief-of-Staff to the chief political commissar of the German Army ('' Heer''). However, Kaether never took command and his orders were cancelled the next day. The result was that when the first

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

units entered the suburbs of

, there was no German commander to coordinate the city's defences. One day later, Hitler changed his mind again and made Artillery General (''General der Artillerie'') Helmuth Weidling the new commander of the Berlin Defence Area. Weidling remained in command of Berlin's defenses to the end and ultimately surrendered the city on 2 May to Soviet General Vasily Chuikov.

Army Group Spree

After his dismissal as the commander of the Berlin Defence Area, Reymann was given a weak infantry division and a brigade sized ''Panzerkampfgruppe'' near

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

. The force received a dubious designation "Army Group Spree". Reymann's group could not then link up with General Walther Wenck's unit, just south of Potsdam, because of the strong Soviet Red Army forces. On 28/29 April, Wenck's 12th Army held the area around Beelitz long enough for a force of about 20,000 of both Reymann's men and troops from other units to escape through the narrow route to the Elbe.

Awards

* Iron Cross 2nd and 1st Class * Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (28 November 1939) & 1st Class (18 June 1940) *

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 22 November 1941 as ''

Oberst ''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German language, German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the Army, ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, a ...

'' in Infaterie-Regiment 205 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross ('' Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes'') with Oak Leaves (''mit Eichenlaub'') ** Knight's Cross on 5 April 1944 as ''

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 commander of the 13. Feld-Division (L). ** 672nd Oak Leaves on 28 November 1944 as ''Generalleutnant'' and commander of the 11. Infanterie-Division

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reymann, Hellmuth 1892 births 1988 deaths People from Prudnik Military personnel from the Province of Silesia Lieutenant generals of the German Army (Wehrmacht) Battle of Berlin German Army personnel of World War I Prussian Army personnel Recipients of the Gold German Cross Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves