The VII SS Panzer Corps was an

armoured corps An armoured corps (also mechanized corps or tank corps) is a specialized military organization whose role is to conduct armoured warfare. The units belonging to an armoured corps include military staff, and are equipped with tanks and other arm ...

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 ...

'' 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 ...

which never took part in hostilities. On 30 June 1944, the corps was merged into the

IV SS Panzer Corps The IV SS Panzer Corps was a panzer corps of the ''Waffen-SS'' which saw action on the Eastern Front and in the Balkans during World War II. History The corps was formed in August 1943 in Poitiers, France. The formation was originally to be a sk ...

History

The headquarters of the VII SS Panzer Corps were established on 3 October 1943 in the training camp in

Morhange Morhange (; ; Lorraine Franconian ''Märchinge'') is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Population See also * Communes of the Moselle department The following is a list of the 725 communes of the ...

(north-eastern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

). The new corps was intended to include the 10th SS Panzer Division "Frundsberg" and the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division "Götz von Berlichingen". Both divisions were still in training. At the end of December 1943, ''SS-

Gruppenführer __NOTOC__ ''Gruppenführer'' (, ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA. Since then, the term ''Gruppenführer'' is also used for leaders of groups/teams of the police, fire d ...

Matthias Kleinheisterkamp Matthias Kleinheisterkamp (22 June 1893 – 29 April 1945) was a high-ranking German SS commander during the Nazi era. Reaching the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer, he commanded the SS Division Totenkopf, SS Division Nord, SS Division Das Rei ...

was commissioned to lead the corps, but in February 1944 he was also given command of the

III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps The III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps (''III. (germanisches) SS-Panzerkorps'') was a ''Waffen-SS'' armoured corps which saw action on the Eastern Front during World War II. The ''(Germanische)'' (lit. Germanic) part of its designation was granted as ...

. Without the presence of a commander, staff personnel were transferred to other units. In February 1944, the staff only consisted of 1 officer and 1 non-commissioned officer. In March 1944, the 10th SS Panzer Division was relocated to the Eastern Front. After the Allied landings in Normandy, the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division was added to the 7th Army. In May 1944, Kleinheisterkamp returned to the corps and was formally appointed commander. He restarted building the staff, but on 30 June 1944 the staff was merged with the IV SS Panzer Corps, also led by Kleinheisterkamp.

Corps commanders

* May 25, 1944 – June 30, 1944: ''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 ...

Sources

* ''This is a translation of an article in the

Dutch Wikipedia The Dutch Wikipedia () is the Dutch-language edition of the free online encyclopedia, Wikipedia. It was founded on 19 June 2001. As of , the Dutch Wikipedia is the -largest Wikipedia edition, with articles. It was the fourth Wikipedia ed ...

, VII SS Korps.'' As of July, 2023, the Dutch article about this subject is named :nl:VII SS Pantserkorps. {{DEFAULTSORT:7 Waffen-SS corps Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations disestablished in 1944