XIII Army Corps (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''XIII. Armeekorps'') was a corps of the German Army during World War II. Made up of several divisions, which varied from time to time, it was formed in Nuremberg on 1 October 1937. Soon after the general mobilisation of August, 1939 the corps was engaged in the

Polish campaign The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak Republic, and the Soviet ...

. Made up of the

10th Tenth may refer to: Numbers * 10th, the ordinal form of the number ten * One tenth, , or 0.1, a fraction, one part of a unit divided equally into ten parts. ** the SI prefix deci- ** tithe, a one-tenth part of something * 1/10 of any unit of me ...

17th 17 (seventeen) is the natural number following 16 and preceding 18. It is a prime number. 17 was described at MIT as "the least random number", according to the Jargon File. This is supposedly because, in a study where respondents were asked to ...

, and 221st Infantry, it was part of the 8th Army. After the decisive German victory at the

Battle of the Bzura The Battle of the Bzura (or the Battle of Kutno) was both the largest battle and Polish counter-attack of the German invasion of Poland and was fought from 9 to 19 September.''The Second World War: An Illustrated History '', Putnam, 1975, Goog ...

, the Corps was transferred to the 16th Army in the

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

area of western Germany. During the

Invasion of France France has been invaded on numerous occasions, by foreign powers or rival French governments; there have also been unimplemented invasion plans. * The 978 German invasion during the Franco-German war of 978–980 * The 1230 English invasion of ...

the following year the corps advanced to the

River Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...

through Luxembourg in May, 1940. Reassigned to the 16th Army in the Champagne district they had reached Chalons-sur-Saône by the time of the Armistice. In July XIII Corps was moved to northern France to take a leading role in the planned, and then abandoned,

Operation Sealion Operation Sea Lion, also written as Operation Sealion (), was Nazi Germany's code name for their planned invasion of the United Kingdom. It was to have taken place during the Battle of Britain, nine months after the start of the Second World ...

, the invasion of England. Instead they were moved to the Netherlands. In May 1941 they were transferred to East Prussia to take part in

Operation Barbarossa 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 ...

, the mass invasion of Soviet Russia. Comprising the

and the 78th Infantry Divisions, they formed a unit of the 4th Army in

German Army Group Center 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 Sov ...

. By July they had crossed the

River Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

Chernigov Chernihiv (, ; , ) is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within the oblast. Chernihiv's population is The city was designated as a Hero City of Ukrain ...

. In December, faced by Soviet counterattacks, they had to retreat back across the Ugra River. In April 1942 the Corps was transferred to the 4th Panzer Army. Sometime before August 1942, the Corps was transferred to the 2nd Army. In January 1943 a Soviet counter-offensive pushed XIII Corps back to the Olym river. After the Soviet victory at the

Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk, also called the Battle of the Kursk Salient, was a major World War II Eastern Front battle between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in southwestern Russia during the summer of 1943, resulting in ...

in July 1943 further retreat back to the River Dnieper was necessary. More Soviet attacks in December forced more retreat. In January 1944 they were pushed back to Galicia on the border of Poland and Ukraine. In March 1944 the Corps was surrounded and crushed by the Soviet 4th Tank Army near

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

in western Ukraine and subsequently dismantled by 5 August. Remnants of the Corps were absorbed into the

Grossdeutschland Panzer Corps Pan-Germanism ( or '), also occasionally known as Pan-Germanicism, is a pan-nationalist political idea. Pan-Germanism seeks to unify all ethnic Germans, German-speaking people, and possibly also non-German Germanic peoples – into a sin ...

. In January 1945 a newly formed XIII Corps was created from the Vosges Commando and stationed on the Western Front as part of

2nd Panzer Division The 2nd Panzer Division (English: 2nd Tank Division) was an armoured division in the German Army, the Heer, during World War II. Created as one of the original three German tank divisions in 1935, it was stationed in Austria after the Anschluss ...

. An Allied attack in April pushed the Corps back to

Günzburg Günzburg (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Genzburg'') is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is a ''Große Kreisstadt'' and the capital of the Swabian Günzburg (district), district Günzburg. This district was constituted in 1972 by combining the city ...

and, no longer operational, it retreated to the northern Alps.

Commanders

* Cavalry General ''(

General der Kavallerie General of the Cavalry () was a General officer rank in the cavalry in various states of which the modern states of German and Austria are successors or in other armies which used the German model. Artillery officers of equivalent rank were called ...

)''

Maximilian von Weichs Maximilian Maria Joseph Karl Gabriel Lamoral Reichsfreiherr von und zu Weichs an der Glonn (12 November 1881 – 27 September 1954) was a German ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (Field marshal) in the ''Wehrmacht'' of Nazi Germany during World War II. B ...

, 12 October 1937 – 26 October 1939 * Colonel-general ''(

Generaloberst A ("colonel general") was the second-highest general officer rank in the German '' Reichswehr'' and ''Wehrmacht'', the Austro-Hungarian Common Army, the East German National People's Army and in their respective police services. The rank w ...

)'' Heinrich von Vietinghoff-Scheel, 26 October 1939 – 25 October 1940 * Infantry General ''(

General der Infanterie General of the infantry is a military rank of a General officer in the infantry and refers to: * General of the Infantry (Austria) * General of the Infantry (Bulgaria) * General of the Infantry (Germany) ('), a rank of a general in the German Impe ...

)'' Hans-Gustav Felber, 25 October 1940 – 13 January 1942 * Lieutenant-general ''(

Generalleutnant () is the German-language variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries. Austria Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO ...

)''

Otto-Ernst Ottenbacher __NOTOC__ Otto-Ernst Ottenbacher (18 November 1888 – 7 January 1975) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded several corps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Ottenbacher was wounded durin ...

, 14 Januar – 21 April 1942 * Infantry General ''(

)''

Erich Straube __NOTOC__ Erich Straube (11 December 1887 – 31 March 1971) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II who held several corps level commands. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Ger ...

, 21 April 1942 – 20 February 1943 * Infantry General ''(

)''

Friedrich Siebert __NOTOC__ Friedrich Siebert (7 July 1888 – 13 May 1950) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany who commanded the XIII Corps during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Siebert was a member of the Nazi ...

, 20 February – 7 September 1943 * Infantry General ''(

)''

Arthur Hauffe Arthur Hauffe (20 December 1892 – 22 July 1944) was a German general during World War II and commanded the XIII Army Corps. He was recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Role in Romania during World War II While ...

, 7 September 1943 – 25 April 1944 * Lieutenant-general ''(

)''

Johannes Block __NOTOC__ Johannes Block (17 November 1894 – 26 January 1945) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II who held commands at division and corps level. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Blo ...

, 25 April – 5 June 1944 * Infantry General ''(

)''

, 5 June – 22 July 1944 After reformation * Infantry General ''(

)'' Hans-Gustav Felber, 8 January – 11 February 1945 * Lieutenant-general ''(

)''

Ralph Graf von Oriola __NOTOC__ Ralph Graf von Oriola (9 August 1895 – 28 April 1970) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded the XIII. Armeekorps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Awards and ...

, 12 February – 31 March 1945 * Lieutenant-general ''(

)''

Max Bork Max Hermann Bork (1 January 1899 – 4 July 1973) was a German general during World War II who commanded the XIII Army Corps. He may have been a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Bork was born in Lasdehnen, Eas ...

, 31 March 1945 – 15 April 1945 * Infantry General ''(

)''

Walther Hahm __NOTOC__ Walther Hahm (21 December 1894 – 11 August 1951) was a German general during World War II who held several commands at division and corps level. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi German ...

, 15 – 20 April 1945 * 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 ...

Felix Steiner Felix Martin Julius Steiner (23 May 1896 – 12 May 1966) was a German SS commander during the Nazi era. During World War II, he served in the Waffen-SS, the combat branch of the SS, and commanded several SS divisions and corps. He was awarded t ...

Area of Operation

* Poland : September 1939 - May 1940 * France : May 1940 - June 1941 * Eastern Front southern sector : June 1941 - July 1944 * Western Front : January 1945 - April 1945

References

* Article based on a translation of the equivalent articles on German and French Wikipedia. *Georg Tessin: Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939–1945, Volume 3, Frankfurt/Main und Osnabrück 1966, S. 260–261. *Percy Ernst Schramm (Hrsg.): Kriegstagebuch des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht, Bernard & Graefe Verlag für Wehrwesen, Frankfurt am Main 1965. ** Volume I: 1940/41 written by Hans-Adolf Jacobsen. ** Volume II: 1942 written by Andreas Hillgruber, Bernard & Graefe Verlag für Wehrwesen, Frankfurt am Main 1965. ** Volume III: 1943 written by Walther Hubatsch, Bernard & Graefe Verlag für Wehrwesen, Frankfurt am Main 1965. * Manfried Rauchensteiner: Der Krieg in Österreich 1945, Österreichischer Bundesverlag, Vienna 1985. {{Authority control Army,13 Military units and formations established in 1937 1937 establishments in Germany Military units and formations disestablished in 1944 Military units and formations established in 1945 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945