Karl Pfeffer-Wildenbruch (12 June 1888 – 29 January 1971) was a German SS and police (

Ordnungspolizei The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (''Orpo'', , meaning "Order Police") were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly of power after regional police jurisdiction was removed in favour of t ...

) official during the

Nazi era Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

, who served on the

personal staff of Heinrich Himmler Personal may refer to: Aspects of persons' respective individualities * Privacy * Personality * Personal, personal advertisement, variety of classified advertisement used to find romance or friendship Companies * Personal, Inc., a Washington, ...

, head of the SS. 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 commanded the SS Division Polizei,

VI SS Army Corps (Latvian) VI SS Army Corps (Latvian) (), was a corps of the ''Waffen-SS'' during World War II. It was formed in October 1943 to command the Latvian ''Waffen-SS'' divisions. It fought in the northern sector of the Eastern Front as part of the 18th Army. The ...

and the

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 ...

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 ...

; he was awarded the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves 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 lower in precedence than the Grand C ...

Career

Born in 1888, Karl Pfeffer-Wildenbruch joined the army in 1907 and served in

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 joined the

German General Staff The German General Staff, originally the Prussian General Staff and officially the Great General Staff (), was a full-time body at the head of the Prussian Army and later, the Imperial German Army, German Army, responsible for the continuous stu ...

, and served as a

military attaché A military attaché or defence attaché (DA),Defence Attachés
''Geneva C ...

to the German military mission in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

and as a staff officer with the 11th Infantry Division. At the end of the war, he remained on the General staff of the ZBV 55 and XXIV reserve corps. In August 1919 Pfeffer-Wildenbruch joined the police service and spent time in the Reich Ministry of the Interior. He became the police commander in

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population of 168 ...

and

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

. In 1928 he went to

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital city, capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's Chilean Central Valley, central valley and is the center ...

, to serve as Chief of the Chilean

Carabineros de Chile The () are the Chilean national law enforcement gendarmerie, who have jurisdiction over the entire national territory of the Republic of Chile. Created in 1927, their mission is to maintain order and enforce the laws of Chile. They reported to ...

.''Battle for Budapest''. By Krisztián Ungváry, Ladislaus Löb, p. 67 In June 1933, Pfeffer-Wildenbruch became an

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, ...

in the National Police Regiment at

Frankfurt an der Oder Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (, ; Marchian dialects, Central Marchian: ''Frankfort an de Oder,'' ) is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after Potsdam, Cottbus and Brandenburg an der Havel. With a ...

and from May 1936 he was the Inspector General of Police schools, being promoted to

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 ...

in the

(uniformed police) in May 1937. In March 1939 Pfeffer-Wildenbruch joined the SS (No. 292 713) and served on the

Personal Staff Reichsführer-SS The Personal Staff Reichsführer-SS () was a main office of the SS, which was established in 1933 by Heinrich Himmler to serve as a personal office coordinating various activities and projects subordinate to the '' Reichsführer-SS''. Operatio ...

, command staff of

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...

, head of the SS. At the end of 1939, following the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

, Pfeffer-Wildenbruch was given command of the

4th SS Polizei Division The 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division (4. SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier-Division) or SS Division Polizei was one of the thirty-eight divisions fielded as part of the Waffen-SS during World War II. Formation The division was formed in October ...

with the rank of SS-Gruppenführer. After the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

he returned to the staff of the Reichsführer-SS, serving as chief of the colonial police from 1941 to 1943. In October 1943, Pfeffer-Wildenbruch was appointed commander of the newly formed

, a paper command over the two Latvian Waffen-SS divisions. He was promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS und Polizei. In December 1944 Pfeffer-Wildenbruch was appointed commander of the

, stationed in Budapest,

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. He was in command of the German forces during the

Battle of Budapest The siege of Budapest or battle of Budapest was the 50-day-long encirclement by Soviet and Romanian forces of the Hungarian capital of Budapest, near the end of World War II. Part of the broader Budapest Offensive, the siege began when Budapes ...

from 24 December 1944 to 11 February 1945. Pfeffer-Wildenbruch was awarded the Knight's Cross on 11 January 1945 and the Oak Leaves on 1 February 1945. During the attempt to break out from Budapest, he was seriously wounded and was taken prisoner by the Soviet forces. On 10 August 1949 he was sentenced to 25 years. In 1955, he was released together with some 10,000 other prisoners of war and war criminals due to an informal agreement concluded in September 1955 between German Chancellor

Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman and politician who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of th ...

and Soviet Premier

Nikolai Bulganin Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin (; – 24 February 1975) was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 1955 to 1958. He also served as Minister of Defense (Soviet Union), Minister of Defense, following service in the Red Army during World War II. ...

. Pfeffer-Wildenbruch was killed in a traffic accident on 29 January 1971 at

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...

Awards

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 ...

(1914) 1st Class (14 September 1917)Thomas 1998, p. 149. *

Clasp to the Iron Cross Clasp, clasper or CLASP may refer to: * Book clasp, fastener for a book cover * Folding clasp, a device used to close a watch strap * Lobster clasp, fastener for jewellery * Wrist clasp, a dressing accessory * Medal bar, an element in militar ...

(1939) 2nd Class (20 June 1940) & 1st Class (22 June 1940) *

**Knight's Cross on 11 January 1945 as 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 ...

'' and General of the Waffen-SS and commanding general of the IX. SS-Gebrigskorps **723th Oak Leaves on 1 February 1945 as SS-''Obergruppenführer'' and General of the Waffen-SS and commanding general of the IX. Waffen-Gebrigskorps of the SSFellgiebel 2000, p. 96.

Sources

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pfeffer Wildenbruch, Karl 1888 births 1971 deaths People from Märkisch-Oderland German Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from the Province of Brandenburg SS-Obergruppenführer Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class German prisoners of war in World War II held by the Soviet Union Waffen-SS personnel Military personnel from Brandenburg Road incident deaths in West Germany