Kurt Knispel (20 September 1921 – 28 April 1945) was a German tank commander during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Knispel was profiled extensively in the second installment of the popular historical fiction series ''

Panzer Aces ''Panzer Aces'' is an English-language book series by the German author Franz Kurowski. Originally released in 1992 by J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing, a Canadian publisher of militaria literature, it was licensed in 2002 by the firm to American ...

'', which included an unfounded claim of having 168 tank kills. Knispel was severely wounded on 28 April 1945 by shrapnel to his head when his

Tiger II The Tiger II is a German heavy tank of the Second World War. The final official German designation was ''Panzerkampfwagen'' Tiger ''Ausf''. B,'' Panzerkampfwagen'' – abbr: ''Pz.'' or ''Pz.Kfw.'' (English: "armoured fighting vehicle"), ''Ausf ...

was hit in battle by Soviet tanks. He died two hours later in a German field hospital. On 10 April 2013,

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

authorities said that Knispel's remains were found with 15 other German soldiers behind a church wall in

Vrbovec Vrbovec () is a town in Zagreb County, Croatia, lying to the northeast of the capital Zagreb. Geography The town of Vrbovec lies to the north-east of Zagreb, either along the A4 motorway and the D10 expressway or by the old Zagreb –Du ...

, identified by his

dog tag Dog tag is an informal but common term for a specific type of identification tag worn by military personnel. The tags' primary use is for the identification of casualties; they have information about the individual written on them, including ...

s. On 12 November 2014, the

German War Graves Commission The German War Graves Commission ( in German) is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of German war graves in Europe and North Africa. Its objectives are acquisition, maintenance and care of German war graves; tending to next of kin; youth ...

reburied his remains at the Central Brno military cemetery in Brno. He was buried with 41 other German soldiers who died in

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. Th ...

and

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is spli ...

Awards

German Cross The War Order of the German Cross (german: Der Kriegsorden Deutsches Kreuz), 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 repe ...

in Gold on 20 May 1944 as ''

Unteroffizier () is a junior non-commissioned officer rank used by the . It is also the collective name for all non-commissioned officers in Austria and Germany. It was formerly a rank in the Imperial Russian Army. Austria , also , is the collective name to ...

'' in the 1./schwere Panzer-Abteilung 503 Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 238.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knispel, Kurt 1921 births 1945 deaths People from Zlaté Hory Sudeten German people Naturalized citizens of Germany Panzer commanders Recipients of the Gold German Cross German military personnel killed in World War II German Army soldiers of World War II