LVII 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 ...

in the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

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 ...

. This corps was activated in Augsburg in February 1941 as the LVII Army Corps, for the

German invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along a ...

, which commenced on 22 June 1941. It fought in the

Battle of Białystok–Minsk The Battle of Białystok–Minsk was a German strategic operation conducted by the Wehrmacht's Army Group Centre under Field Marshal Fedor von Bock during the penetration of the Soviet border region in the opening stage of Operation Barbaros ...

and in the

Battle of Moscow The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II, between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated H ...

. On 21 June 1942, the Corps was renamed LVII Panzer Corps . It fought at Rostov, and then in the

Battle of the Caucasus The Battle of the Caucasus was a series of Axis and Soviet operations in the Caucasus as part of the Eastern Front of World War II. On 25 July 1942, German troops captured Rostov-on-Don, opening the Caucasus region of the southern Soviet ...

under the control of

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 ...

. After the encirclement of the 6th Army and portions of the 4th Panzer Army with the meeting of Soviet forces at Kalach, Army Group Don was formed to establish a perimeter to stop the Soviet advance and ultimately counterattack to relieve the encircled forces in Stalingrad. The LVII Panzer Corps was transferred from Army Group A to the newly formed Army Group Don under General Manstein. The LVII Panzer Corps was tasked with leading Operation Winter Thunderstorm from the southwest towards Stalingrad. The LVII Panzer Corps Headquarters along with the 23rd Panzer Division arrived from Army Group A. The LVII Panzer Corps was subsequently joined first by the 6th Panzer Division and then the 17th Panzer Division. The LVII Panzer Corps initially fought for the town of Pokhleblin from December 3-4, 1942 to establish a base for the attack towards Stalingrad. From December 6 - 12, 1942, fought a series of battles in their attempts to push north, finally advancing to the Aksai River on December 13, 1942. On December 14 - 15, the 6th Panzer Division attempted to push towards Verkhne Kuumski where it was engaged by a series of Soviet armored forces, forcing a retreat back to the Aksai Front. on December 17 - 19, 1942, the LVII Panzer Corps launched attacks towards Verkhne Kumski again with the forces finally breaking through to Vassilyevska on December 19, 1942. The LVII Panzer Corps exploited to Myshkova on December 20 where new Soviet forces stopped the attack forcing the LVII Panzer Corps to defend its positions. Developments elsewhere by the Soviet forces, in particular Operation Little Saturn, forced the LVII Panzer Corps to break-off the Operation Winter Thunderstorm on December 23, 1942, and begin to retreat. It fought south-west of Stalingrad and then retreated along the Don. In 1943 it was active in the Donets region and in Kursk. It retreated over the Romanian border before being attached to the

3rd Hungarian Army The Hungarian Third Army () was a field army in the Royal Hungarian Army that saw action during World War II. Commanders * Lieutenant General Elemér Gorondy-Novák from 1 March 1940 to 1 November 1941 * Lieutenant General Zoltán Decleva from ...

and transferred to the south of Hungary. There it fought in 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 ...

and ended the war in Silesia.

Commanders

* General of the Tank Troops (''General der Panzertruppe'')

Adolf-Friedrich Kuntzen __NOTOC__ General Adolf-Friedrich Kuntzen (26 July 1889 – 10 July 1964) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded the LXXXI Army-Corps under Erwin Rommel in Normandy in 1944. He saw service in World War I, an ...

- From 15 February 1941 to 15 November 1941. * General of the Tank Troops (''General der Panzertruppe'')

Friedrich Kirchner Friedrich Kirchner (26 March 1885 – 6 April 1960) was a German general during World War II who commanded 1st Panzer Division and the LVII Panzer Corps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. C ...

- From 15 November 1941 to 12 January 1942 * General of the Tank Troops (''General der Panzertruppe'') Adolf-Friedrich Kuntzen - From 12 to 31 January 1942 * General of the Tank Troops (''General der Panzertruppe'') Friedrich Kirchner - From 31 January 1942 to 30 November 1943 * General of the Tank Troops (''General der Panzertruppe'')

Hans-Karl Freiherr von Esebeck Hans-Karl Freiherr von Esebeck (10 July 1892 – 5 January 1955) was a German general who commanded the 15th Panzer Division in the Afrika Korps. Esebeck had knowledge of and was sympathetic to the anti-Hitler conspiracy in the military. He was ...

- From 30 November 1943 to 19 February 1944 * General of the Tank Troops (''General der Panzertruppe'') Friedrich Kirchner - From 19 February 1944 to 25 May 1944 * Infantry General (''General der Infanterie'') Franz Beyer - From 25 May 1944 to 2 June 1944 * * General of the Tank Troops (''General der Panzertruppe'') Friedrich Kirchner - From 2 June 1944 to 8 May 1945

Area of operations

* Eastern Front, central sector - From June 1942 to July 1944 * Southern Hungary - From July 1944 to January 1945 * Silesia - From January 1945 to May 1945

External links

LVII. Panzerkorps on lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lvii Panzer Corps (Germany) P057 Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945