Erich Hampe

Erich Hampe

Erich Hampe in the uniform of Technische Nothilfe
Born (1889-12-17)17 December 1889
Gera, Principality of Reuss junior line, German Empire
Died 28 June 1978(1978-06-28) (aged 88)
Hangelar near Bonn, North Rhine Westphalia, West Germany
Allegiance German Empire German Empire (to 1918)
Germany Weimar Republic (to 1933)
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
Service/branch Heer
Years of service 1908–1919, 1941-1945
Rank Generalmajor
Commands held Technische Nothilfe
Battles/wars

World War I

World War II
Awards German Cross in Silver
Iron Cross 1st Class
Bundesverdienstkreuz
Other work President of the Institute for Civilian Air Protection

Erich Hampe (17 December 1889 – 28 June 1978) was a German Army officer with the rank of Generalmajor, who served as Chief of the Department for Technical Troops in OKH during the World War II. Previously he was Vice Chief of the Technische Nothilfe as well as an editor and the author of the official history of German civil defense during the second World War. During the postwar years, he served as the first president of the Federal Agency for Civil Defense (Bundesanstalt für zivilen Luftschutz).

Early military career

Hampe was born on December 17, 1889 in Gera, Thuringia as son of army surgeon general Ernst Hampe. Young Hampe entered army service within the German Army on March 28, 1908 as Fahnenjunker (Officer candidate). He was assigned to the Magdeburgische Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 4 (Battalion of light infantry), where he was promoted to the rank of Fähnrich. During his service with this unit, he was promoted to the rank of Leutnant on August 17, 1909. Hampe was transferred to the Machine gun battalion 2 (Maschinengewehr-Abteilung 2) at the beginning of the November 1911 and served in this capacity until July 20, 1912, when he was discharged to the Army Reserve.

Hampe began subsequently work as Chief Editor of the "Die Post" newspaper, which closely cooperates with Free Conservative Party.

With the outbreak of the World War I, Hampe was called up from the Reserve on August 4, 1914 and assigned to the Replacement Machine Gun-Detachment (Ersatz-Maschinengewehr-Abteilung). Following month he was transferred to the Guard Machine gun battalion (Garde-Maschinengewehr-Abteilung Nr. 1) within the Guard Corps and ordered to the Western front. Subsequently participated in the static battles in Flanders and Artois.

In November 1914, his unit participated in the First Battle of Ypres and then in winter combats in the Champagne region. He was promoted to the rank of First lieutenant (Oberleutnant der Reserve) on March 22, 1915 and his unit was subsequently transferred to the Eastern Front, where participated in the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive. He was then transferred to the Hessian 168th Infantry Regiment (Großherzoglich Hessisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 168) on November 2, 1915. His new unit was subsequently sent back to the Western front and participated in the Battle of Verdun.

At the beginning of December 1916, Hampe became ill and thus he was transferred back to the Replacement Machine Gun-Detachment, where he served until the end of the War. During his time there, he was promoted to the rank of Captain (Hauptmann der Reserve) on January 27, 1918.

On December 1, 1918, Captain Hampe was assigned to the 1st Replacement-Machine Gun Company (Ersatz-Maschinengewehr-Kompanie 1) within the III. Corps under the command of General Alfred von Böckmann. At the beginning of year 1919, Hampe was appointed a Commander of 2nd Machine Gun Detachment and served in this capacity until June 27, 1919. His last assignment was with the Hospital-Commission of the Reserve-Hospital Saarow.

His military service ended on November 30, 1919, when he finally retired from the Army. During his service in the Army, Hampe was awarded with the both classes of Iron Cross and Hesse Medal for Bravery.

Interwar period

In the beginning of 1920 in the Weimar Republic, he worked as Vice Chief of the Technische Nothilfe (TN). After being dismissed from TN in 1941, he returned to the Wehrmacht and served as General of the Technical Troops. In the public service of West Germany in 1950, he started with the reconstruction of the Technisches Hilfswerk, continued as head of division in the German Federal Ministry of the Interior and finally as first President of the Federal Agency for Civil Defense (Bundesanstalt für zivilen Luftschutz). Hampe died in 1978 in Hangelar near Bonn.

Awards and decorations

References and bibliography

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