The IV SS Panzer Corps was a

panzer corps A panzer corps () was an armoured corps type in Nazi Germany's ''Wehrmacht'' during World War II. The name was introduced in 1941, when the motorised corps (''Armeekorps (mot)'' or ''AK(mot)'') were renamed to panzer corps. Panzer corps were cre ...

of 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 ...

'' which saw action on the Eastern Front and in the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

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 ...

History

The corps was formed in August 1943 in

Poitiers Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...

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 ...

. The formation was originally to be a skeleton formation to supervise those SS divisions that were being reformed as SS panzer divisions. On 30 June 1944, the formation absorbed the VII SS Panzer Corps and was reformed as a headquarters for the 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" and the 5th SS Panzer Division "Wiking". The corps was placed under the command of former ''Wiking'' commander ''SS-

Obergruppenführer (, ) was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissioned SS rank after ...

'' Herbert Otto Gille. The corps was placed into the line around

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, where it saw action against the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

as a part of the 9th Army. In August 1944, elements of the corps took part in the suppression of the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

. After holding the line near Warsaw, the corps was pushed back to the area near Modlin, where it saw heavy fighting until December. When ''SS-Obergruppenführer''

Karl Pfeffer Wildenbruch Karl Pfeffer-Wildenbruch (12 June 1888 – 29 January 1971) was a German SS and police (Ordnungspolizei) official during the Nazi era, who served on the Personal Staff Reichsführer-SS, personal staff of Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS. During ...

IX SS Mountain Corps The IX Waffen Mountain Corps of the SS (Croatian) (), later simply IX SS Mountain Corps, was a ''Waffen-SS'' corps during World War II. Originally set up to command Croatian and Albanian SS divisions, it also commanded a variety of other German an ...

and large numbers of Hungarian troops were encircled in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

in December 1944, the corps was shifted south from

Army Group A Army Group A () was the name of three distinct army groups of the ''German Army (1935–1945), Heer'', the ground forces of the ''Wehrmacht'', during World War II. The first Army Group A, previously known as "Army Group South", was active from Oct ...

to join the 6th Army and to take part in the relief efforts. The operations were named Konrad. In Operation Konrad III, the largest of the relief operations, the corps destroyed all the tanks of the Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front in an intense two-week battle in

Transdanubia Transdanubia ( ; , or ', ) is a traditional region of Hungary. It is also referred to as Hungarian Pannonia, or Pannonian Hungary. Administrative divisions Traditional interpretation The borders of Transdanubia are the Danube River (north and ...

but could not relieve the city. After the failure of Operation Konrad III, the corps was moved west to the area around

Lake Balaton Lake Balaton () is a freshwater rift lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the larges ...

, where it was responsible for defending the left flank of the

Operation Spring Awakening Operation Spring Awakening () was the last major German offensive of World War II. The operation was referred to in Germany as the Plattensee Offensive and in the Soviet Union as the Balaton Defensive Operation. It took place in Western Hungary ...

(''Frühlingserwachen''), near Stuhlweissenberg. After the failure of this operation, the Soviet

Vienna offensive The Vienna offensive was an offensive launched by the Soviet 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts in order to capture Vienna, Austria, during World War II. The offensive lasted from 16 March to 15 April 1945. After several days of street-to-street figh ...

tore a gap between the corps and the neighbouring Hungarian Third Army. After escaping an encirclement thanks to the efforts of the 9th SS Panzer Division "Hohenstaufen", the corps withdrew towards

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. The remnants of the corps surrendered to the Americans on 9 May 1945.

Commanders

* ''SS-Obergruppenführer'' Alfred Wünnenberg (5 August 1943 - 23 October 1943) * ''SS-Obergruppenführer'' Walter Krüger (23 October 1943 - 1 July 1944) * ''SS-Obergruppenführer''

Matthias Kleinheisterkamp Matthias Kleinheisterkamp (22 June 1893 – 29 April 1945) was a high-ranking German SS commander during the Nazi era. Reaching the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer, he commanded the SS Division Totenkopf, SS Division Nord, SS Division Das Rei ...

(1 July 1944 - 20 July 1944) * ''SS-

Brigadeführer ''Brigadeführer'' (, ) was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) that was used between 1932 and 1945. It was mainly known for its use as an SS rank. As an SA rank, it was used after briefly being known as '' Untergruppenführer'' in ...

'' Nikolaus Heilmann (20 July 1944 - 6 August 1944) * ''SS-Obergruppenfuhrer'' Herbert Otto Gille (6 August 1944 - 8 May 1945)

Orders of battle

September 16, 1944 — Defence of Modlin * Corps staff * Corps Group Bach * Ww2 GermanDivision Panzer 19-a

19th Panzer Division * 3rd SS Division Logo

3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" * 5th SS Division Logo

5th SS Panzer Division "Wiking" * 73rd Infanterie Division Logo

73rd Infantry Division * Hungarian 1st Cavalry Division * 104/504th Launcher Battalion * 504th Heavy SS Artillery Battalion * 104th SS Corps Intelligence Department * 104th SS Medical Battalion * IV SS Panzer Corps Field Training Battalion * 504th Motor Vehicle Company * 504th Garment Repair Train * 104th SS Military Post Office January 17, 1945 — Operation Konrad III * Corps staff * 3rd SS Division Logo

3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" * 5th SS Division Logo

5th SS Panzer Division "Wiking" * 1st Panzer Division Oak

1st Panzer Division * 3rd and 20th Panzer Division logo

3rd Panzer Division * 509th heavy tank battalion insignia

509th Heavy Panzer Battalion * 24th Panzer Detachment * 1335th StuG Detachment * 219th Sturmpanzer Detachment * 17th Volks Rocket Brigade * 104/504th Launcher Battalion * 504th Heavy SS Artillery Battalion * 104th SS Corps Intelligence Department * 104th SS Medical Battalion * IV SS Panzer Corps Field Training Battalion * 504th Motor Vehicle Company * 504th Garment Repair Train * 104th SS Military Post Office March 1, 1945 — Operation Spring Awakening * Corps staff * 3rd SS Division Logo

3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" * 5th SS Division Logo

5th SS Panzer Division "Wiking" * 356th Infanterie-Division Logo

356th Infantry Division * 104/504th Launcher Battalion * 504th Heavy SS Artillery Battalion * 104th SS Corps Intelligence Department * 104th SS Medical Battalion * IV SS Panzer Corps Field Training Battalion * 504th Motor Vehicle Company * 504th Garment Repair Train * 104th SS Military Post Office

Citations

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:04 Waffen-SS corps IV SS Panzer Corps Military units and formations disestablished in 1945