Alfred Wünnenberg

Alfred Wünnenberg
Alfred Wünnenberg as Major General of Police
Born	20 July 1891 Sarrebourg, Alsace-Lorraine, German Empire now Sarrebourg, Lorraine, France
Died	30 December 1963 (aged 72) Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918)  Weimar Republic (to 1933)  Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Waffen SS Ordnungspolizei
Years of service	1913–45
Rank	SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS
Service number	NSDAP #2,222,600
Unit	4th SS Polizei Panzer Grenadier Division
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves Iron Cross 1st Class (1914) & (1939) Iron Cross 2nd Class (1914) & (1939) Wound Badge in Gold Eastern Front

Alfred Bernhard Julius Ernst Wünnenberg (20 July 1891 – 30 December 1963) was an SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen SS und Polizei and the commander of the 4th SS Polizei Panzer Grenadier Division during World War II who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.^[1]

World War I

Alfred Wünnenberg was born on 20 July 1891 at Saarburg/Sarrebourg, Alsace-Lorraine, Germany. In February 1913 he joined the army and served in the 56th Infantry Regiment and was soon promoted to Unteroffizier.^[1] He took part in World War I and served on the Western Front and was severely wounded in September 1914. In January 1915 he was promoted to lieutenant, and given command of the 8th Company, 255th Infantry Regiment. He was selected for pilot training in June 1916 which was completed in August 1917, afterwards he was posted to the 47th Flying Division (Fliegerabteilung 47) as a reconnaissance pilot.^[1]

Between the wars

After the end of the War, he served on the eastern border in Upper Silesia as part of the free corps. After his promotion to captain, he left the army in September 1920 to be a lieutenant of the Prussian police unit. In April 1920 he was in command of the dog platoon at the Police School in Essen and was from February 1920 to April 1921 an instructor at the police school in Potsdam.^[1] In February 1924 he took over command of the police dog unit. This was followed by further postings to the police schools in Krefeld (1926) and Cologne (1928).^[1] In May 1928 he was in charge of police administration serving in Berlin, Charlottenburg, where in 1929 he married and had a daughter.^[1] In May 1933 he joined the NSDAP (Nazi Party) and was issued the party number 2,222,600.^[1] From August 1933 he commanded the guard police in Beuthen, in February 1935 in Saarbrücken, in October 1937 Bremen and Mannheim. In December 1938, he moved to the staff of the police inspector of Stuttgart.^[1]

World War II

Wünneberg joined the SS and was given the SS service number 405 898.^[1] On 2 October 1939 he became the commander of the 3rd Polizei Schützen Regiment with the rank of Standartenführer. With this regiment, he took part in the Battle of France and the attack on the Soviet Union in 1941 Operation Barbarossa, where on 15 November 1941 he was awarded the Knight's Cross.^[1]

In December 1941 he took over the command of the 4th SS Polizei Division from Walter Krüger. In recognition of the heavy fighting the unit was involved in on 23 April 1942 he was promoted to SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Polizei and awarded the Oakleaves to the Knight's Cross.^[1]

On 10 June 1943, he was moved to command the IV SS Panzer Corps, where he remained until 31 August. Afterwards he became chief of the Ordnungspolizei.^[1] This post he held up to the end of the war. Alfred Wünnenberg died on 30 December 1963 in Krefeld.^[1]

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1914)
  • 2nd Class (10 February 1915)^[2]
  • 1st Class (9 September 1915)^[2]
• Wound Badge (1918) in Gold
• Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (18 June 1940)^[2]
  • 1st Class (21 August 1941)^[2]
• Eastern Front Medal
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross on 15 November 1941 as SS-Standartenführer and Oberst of the Schupo, and commander of SS-Polizei-Schützen-Regiment 3^[3][4]
  • 91st Oak Leaves on 23 April 1942 as SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor of the Police, and commander of SS-Polizei-Division^[3][5]
• Sword of honour of the Reichsführer-SS
• SS Honour Ring ("Totenkopfring")

References

Citations

1. "personregister".
2. Thomas 1998, p. 460.
3. Scherzer 2007, p. 798.
4. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 453.
5. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 59.

Bibliography

• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
• Thomas, Franz (1998). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 2: L–Z [The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 2: L–Z] (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2300-9.

External links