Eugen Ritter von Schobert

Eugen Ritter von Schobert
Born	13 March 1883 Würzburg, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire
Died	12 September 1941 (aged 58) Mykolaiv Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (airplane crash)
Allegiance	Bavaria  German Empire  Weimar Republic  Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Bavarian Army, Reichswehr, Wehrmacht
Years of service	1902–41
Rank	Generaloberst
Commands held	17th Infantry Division (1935-1936) 33rd Infantry Division (1936-1938) VII Army Corps (1938-1940) 11th Army (1940-1941)
Battles/wars	World War I Battle of Verdun Spring Offensive of 1918 World War II Polish campaign Battle of France Operation Barbarossa
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (1940) Military Order of Max Joseph, Knight's Cross House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross with Swords Bavarian Military Merit Order, 4th Class with Crown and Swords (1918) Romanian Order of Michael the Brave (1941)

Eugen Siegfried Erich Ritter von Schobert^{[Note 1]} (13 March 1883 – 12 September 1941) was a German general who served in World War I and World War II. He died in the Soviet Union when his observation plane crashed in a Soviet minefield.

Early life

Schobert was born as Eugen Schobert in Würzburg in the Kingdom of Bavaria, a member state of the German Empire.^[1] He was the son of Major Karl Schobert and Anna née Michaely.^[1] Schobert entered the Royal Bavarian Army in July 1902. He served primarily in the 1st Bavarian Infantry Regiment "König" and underwent pilot training in 1911.^[1]

World War I and post-war

During World War I, Schobert remained a Bavarian infantry officer, serving the entire war on the Western Front. During the German Spring Offensive of 1918, he led the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Bavarian Infantry Regiment. For his actions on 23 March 1918, when he personally and successfully led his battalion in the crossing of a canal near Jussy against stiff British resistance, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Max Joseph.^[2] This was Bavaria's highest military honor, comparable to the Prussian Pour le Mérite, and conferred a patent of nobility on a recipient who was a commoner. Hence Eugen Schobert became Eugen Ritter von Schobert.^{[Note 2]}

After World War I, Schobert remained in the Reichswehr and then the Wehrmacht, steadily rising up the ranks. He was Inspector of Infantry from December 1933 to September 1934 and then commanded the 17th Infantry Division and the 33rd Infantry Division.^[3] He took command of the VII Army Corps (VII. Armeekorps) on 4 February 1938.^[4]

World War II and death

In September 1939, Schobert led his VII Army Corps in the invasion of Poland as part of the reserve of Army Group South. In May–June 1940, his corps, part of General Ernst Busch's Sixteenth Army of Army Group A, participated in the invasion of Belgium and Luxembourg and the Battle of France. He received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his leadership of the VII Corps in the breakthrough of the Maginot Line and the capture of Nancy and Toul.^[1] He remained in command of the corps during preparations for the invasion of Great Britain.

In September 1940, Schobert was given command of the Eleventh Army. The army was assigned to Army Group South for Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. During combat operations in the southern Soviet Union, Schobert and his pilot Wilhelm Suwelack ^[5] were killed when their Fieseler Storch observation aircraft crashed in a Soviet minefield.

Family

Schobert married Alice Rieder-Gollwitzer in 1921. They had three children: two sons and one daughter. His younger son was killed in combat in 1944 while serving as a fighter pilot for the Luftwaffe.^[6]

Decorations

• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 June 1940 as General der Infanterie and commanding general of the VII. Armeekorps^[7]
• Military Order of Max Joseph, Knight's Cross
• 1914 Iron Cross 1st Class with Clasp "1939"
• 1914 Iron Cross 2nd Class with Clasp "1939"
• House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross with Swords
• Bavarian Military Merit Order, 4th Class with Crown and Swords (1918)
• Romanian Order of Michael the Brave, 2nd Class (1941)
• 1918 Wound Badge in black

Notes

1. Regarding personal names: Ritter was a title before 1919, but now is regarded as part of the surname. It is translated as Knight. Before the August 1919 abolition of nobility as a legal class, titles preceded the full name when given (Graf Helmuth James von Moltke). Since 1919, these titles, along with any nobiliary prefix (von, zu, etc.), can be used, but are regarded as a dependent part of the surname, and thus come after any given names (Helmuth James Graf von Moltke). Titles and all dependent parts of surnames are ignored in alphabetical sorting. There is no equivalent feminine form.
2. Although his actions were in March 1918, the Military Max Joseph Order was not actually bestowed on Schobert until after the end of the war and the abdication of the Bavarian king. Therefore, technically his (and a number of other recipients') patent of nobility was only a change of name. In any event, the patent was non-hereditary so his children would not have carried the title.

References

Citations

1. Virtuti Pro Patria, 404
2. Bayerns Goldenes Ehrenbuch, 46
3. Günter Wegner, Stellenbesetzung der deutschen Heere 1815-1939. (Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück, 1993), Bd. 1, 767, 830, 835.
4. Wegner, Stellenbesetzung, 797.
5. 12 o;clock high
6. Virtuti Pro Patria, 404-5
7. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 386.

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.
• Rudolf von Kramer, Otto Freiherr von Waldenfels und Dr. Günther Freiherr von Pechmann: Virtuti Pro Patria: Der königlich bayerische Militär-Max-Joseph-Orden, München 1966 (Rudolf von Kramer, Otto Freiherr von Waldenfels & Dr. Günther Freiherr von Pechmann: Virtuti Pro Patria: The Royal Bavarian Military Max Joseph Order, Munich, 1966)
• 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.
• Bayerisches Kriegsarchiv: "Bayerns Goldenes Ehrenbuch", gewidmet den Inhabern der höchsten bayerischen Kriegs-auszeichnungen aus dem Weltkrieg 1914/18, München 1928 (Bavarian War Archives: "Bavaria's Golden Book of Honor", dedicated to the holders of the highest Bavarian war decorations of the World War 1914-18, Munich, 1928)

External links

• Eugen Ritter von Schobert in the German National Library catalogue