__NOTOC__ Max-Josef Pemsel (15 January 1897 – 30 June 1985) was a ''Generalleutnant'' in the German Army during

Second World War 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 ...

. After the war he became one of the very few senior officers who served in the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

to serve in the West German Army.

Life and career

Born on 15 January 1897 in

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, Pemsel entered the

Bavarian Army The Bavarian Army () was the army of the Electorate of Bavaria, Electorate (1682–1806) and then Kingdom of Bavaria, Kingdom (1806–1918) of Bavaria. It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereig ...

during the

First World War 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 ...

in April 1916 as a volunteer. He was assigned to the 11th Reserve Infantry Regiment, with which he saw action at the Western Front. On 30 April 1918 Pemsel was promoted to lieutenant. After the Armistice, Pemsel remained in the shrunken German

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' (; ) was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first two years of Nazi Germany. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

. In 1935 Pemsel became a staff officer in the 1st Mountain Division. During the

he fought in various theaters. In 1941 during the

Invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, was a Nazi Germany, German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was put fo ...

he was the chief of staff of the XVIII Gebirgskorps. By 1944 he had been promoted to lieutenant-general and made chief of staff of the 7th Army under ''Generaloberst''

Friedrich Dollmann Friedrich Karl Albert Dollmann (2 February 188229 June 1944)Reynolds, M: ''Steel Inferno'', p. 163. Dell Publishing, 1997.D'Este, C: ''Decision in Normandy'', pp. 241–242. Penguin Books, 2004. was a German general during World War II who comma ...

, during which coordinated the first German response to

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The ope ...

. In August 1944 Pemsel was transferred to Finland and given command of the 6th Mountain Division, a command he held until 19 April 1945. On 9 December 1944 Pemsel was awarded the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 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 order of precedence, lower in preceden ...

. In April 1945 Pemsel was transferred to Italy, where he became chief of staff of the '' Ligurien Armee''. He surrendered on 26 April 1945 and remained a prisoner of war until April 1948. On 26 April 1956 Pemsel entered the ''

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

'' in the rank of a major-general and was given command of ''Wehrbereich VI'' ("6th Military District") based at

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. On 1 April 1957 he was promoted to commanding general of the II Corps, stationed in

Ulm Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city. Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...

. On 30 January 1958 he was promoted to lieutenant-general. Grab Max-Josef Pemsel

Pemsel retired on 30 September 1961 and died on 30 June 1985 in Munich. Pemsel was a military consultant to the makers of the 1962 film '' The Longest Day'', in which he was portrayed by

Wolfgang Preiss Wolfgang Preiss (27 February 1910 – 27 November 2002) was a German theatre, film and television actor. The son of a teacher, Preiss studied philosophy, German, and drama in the early 1930s. He also took private acting classes with Hans Schle ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pemsel, Max 1897 births 1985 deaths Military personnel from the Kingdom of Bavaria German Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from Regensburg Lieutenant generals of the German Army (Wehrmacht) Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Burials at the Nordfriedhof (Munich) Lieutenant generals of the German Army