Operation Doppelkopf () and the following Operation Cäsar were German counter-offensives on the Eastern Front in the late summer of 1944 in the aftermath of the major Soviet advance in

Operation Bagration Operation Bagration () was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (), a military campaign fought between 22 June and 19 August 1944 in Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Byelorussia in the Eastern ...

with the aim of restoring a coherent front between Army Group North and Army Group Centre. The operation's codename was a reference to the German card game ''

Doppelkopf Doppelkopf (, lit. ''double-head''), sometimes abbreviated to Doko, is a trick-taking game, trick-taking card game for four players. In Germany, Doppelkopf is nearly as popular as Skat (card game), Skat, especially in Northern Germany and the R ...

''.

Strategic situation

By the end of July 1944, Soviet mechanised forces had reached the

Gulf of Riga The Gulf of Riga, Bay of Riga, or Gulf of Livonia (, , ) is a bay of the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Estonia. The island of Saaremaa (Estonia) partially separates it from the rest of the Baltic Sea. The main connection between the gulf and t ...

following their headlong advance in the

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

and

Šiauliai Offensive The Šiauliai offensive () was an operation of the Soviet forces of the 1st Baltic Front, commanded by General Hovhannes Bagramyan, conducted from 5 July to 29 August 1944, during the Second World War. It was part of the third phase of the Opera ...

s, part of the third and final 'pursuit' phase of the strategic offensive

. The Soviet 2nd Guards Army had exploited a breach between the German Sixteenth Army of

Army Group North Army Group North () was the name of three separate army groups of the Wehrmacht during World War II. Its rear area operations were organized by the Army Group North Rear Area. The first Army Group North was deployed during the invasion of Pol ...

and the neighbouring Third Panzer Army of

Army Group Centre Army Group Centre () was the name of two distinct strategic German Army Groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created during the planning of Operation Barbarossa, Germany's invasion of the So ...

, and severed the connection between them. German counter-attacks failed to restore it, and significant elements of the German armed forces were left isolated. The ''

Oberkommando des Heeres The (; abbreviated OKH) was the high command of the Army of Nazi Germany. It was founded in 1935 as part of Adolf Hitler's rearmament of Germany. OKH was ''de facto'' the most important unit within the German war planning until the defeat ...

'' made immediate plans for an offensive to restore the connection between the two Army Groups.

Planning

A number of armoured formations were assembled under Army Group Centre in Courland with orders to attack towards Jelgava (), cutting off the Soviet spearheads. The XXXX Panzer Corps, with the 7th and 14th Panzer Divisions, the Grossdeutschland Division and the 1st Infantry Division, was assembled at

Liepāja Liepāja () (formerly: Libau) is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Courland region and the third-largest in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an ...

/ Libau, while the XXXIX Panzer Corps was assembled at Tauroggen.

Deployments

''Wehrmacht''

(Colonel-General

Georg-Hans Reinhardt Georg-Hans Reinhardt (1 March 1887 – 23 November 1963) was a German general of the ''Wehrmacht'' during World War II, who was subsequently convicted of war crimes. He commanded the 3rd Panzer Army from 1941 to 1944, and Army Group Centre in 1 ...

) (from 16 August) ** Third Panzer Army (General Erhard Raus) (from 16 August) *** XL Panzer Corps (General Otto von Knobelsdorff) *** XXXIX Panzer Corps (General

Dietrich von Saucken Friedrich Wilhelm Eduard Kasimir Dietrich von Saucken (16 May 1892 – 27 September 1980) was a German general during World War II who commanded the 2nd Army and the Army East Prussia. Turning down an offer to escape by air, he surrendered t ...

)

Red Army

* Elements of 3rd Belorussian Front (General Ivan Chernyakhovsky) * Elements of 1st Baltic Front (General Hovhannes Bagramyan)

The offensive

The operation commenced with an attack by the 7th Panzer Division on 15 August towards Kelmė. The main offensive began the following day, but there was strong resistance against the XXXX Panzer Corps from ten Soviet infantry divisions supported by three artillery divisions and anti-tank units. Von Saucken's XXXIX Panzer Corps opened operations on 18 August. Its left flank, an ''ad hoc'' formation under Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz, was preceded by a heavy artillery bombardment from the cruiser '' Prinz Eugen''; forces inside the pocket attacked to link up with Strachwitz's force. Strachwitz reached Sixteenth Army at

Tukums Tukums (; ; ) is a town in Latvia and serves as the administrative center of Tukums Municipality. It is located in the eastern part of the historical region of Courland, and with more than 16,000 inhabitants Tukums is the 13th largest settlem ...

by midday. By 27 August, the corridor between Third Panzer Army and Sixteenth Army had been enlarged to 18 miles in width, though the latter had come under renewed pressure from a fresh Soviet offensive against

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

. The operation had also failed in its more ambitious objectives of retaking

Šiauliai Šiauliai ( ; ) is a city in northern Lithuania, the List of cities in Lithuania, country's fourth largest city and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, sixth largest city in the Baltic States, with a population of 112 581 in 202 ...

or of cutting off the 6th Guards Army threatening Riga.

Operation Cäsar

A second German 'spoiling' attack, was planned to destroy Bagramyan's forces in the salient below Riga and push the front out to a straight line between the Segewold position and Šiauliai. The main strike force was the reorganised XXXIX Panzer Corps, Third Panzer Army having been placed under the temporary overall control of Army Group North. The attack began on 16 September, in response to the Soviet Riga Offensive Operation, but by 19 September it had ground to a halt in the face of intense Soviet resistance after having penetrated only a few miles. The German forces then assumed a defensive configuration.

Aftermath

The Red Army attacked again on 5 October, in the Memel Offensive Operation. Five days later, they reached the Baltic Sea and finally cut off Army Group North in what eventually became the

Courland Pocket The Courland Pocket was a Pocket (military), pocket located on the Courland Peninsula in Latvia on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II from 9 October 1944 to 10 May 1945. Army Group North of the ''Wehrmacht'' were ...

. The German XXVIII Corps was isolated from the remainder of Third Panzer Army in a bridgehead at Memel.

Footnotes

References

* * Raus, E. ''Panzer Operations'', Da Capo, 2005, *