Heinrich von Vietinghoff

Heinrich von Vietinghoff
Born	6 December 1887 Mainz, Grand Duchy of Hesse, German Empire
Died	23 February 1952 (aged 64) Pfronten-Ried, Bavaria, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918)  Weimar Republic (to 1933)  Nazi Germany  West Germany
Years of service	1903–45
Rank	Generaloberst
Commands held	XIII Corps 15th Army 10th Army Army Group Courland
Battles/wars	First World War Second World War
Awards	See "Military awards" section
Relations	Hans Hahn (son-in-law)

Heinrich Gottfried Otto Richard von Vietinghoff, otherwise (de: genannt) Scheel (6 December 1887 – 23 February 1952) was a German Colonel-General (Generaloberst) of the German Army (Heer) during the Second World War. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub). He is best known for commanding the German and Italian troops in German-occupied Italy in 1945.

Early life and family

Vietinghoff was born in Mainz, Grand Duchy of Hesse into a family of Westphalian Uradel.^[1] His military career was strongly supported by his parents, Artillery Lt. Gen. Heinrich Otto Konrad von Vietinghoff, otherwise Scheel (1857–1917) and Leona von Vietinghoff, otherwise Scheel (formerly Leona von Schmettow) (1861–1942). He joined the army at the age of fifteen, exaggerating his age in the first few years.

Military career

Italy: Vietinghoff inspects a Pantherturm emplacement.

On 24 November 1938, Vietinghoff was appointed commander of the 5th Panzer Division and took part in the invasion of Poland under Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb. He was promoted to General in June 1940 after which he led the German XLVI Panzer Corps in the invasion of Yugoslavia. During Operation Barbarossa his Corps was part of Army Group Centre under Generalfeldmarschall Fedor von Bock. Vietinghoff also later served with General Heinz Guderian in the German Second Panzer Army.

From December 1941 to August 1943 he was Commander-in-Chief of the German Fifteenth Army in France (The HQ of the 15th Army is today a museum in Tourcoing, near Lille in northern France, Musée du 5 Juin 1944). In Italy from August 1943 onwards he commanded German Tenth Army, which was responsible for the telling delaying actions through the successive defensive lines built across Italy. Notable in this context were the defences on the Winter Line from November 1943 to May 1944 and the fighting in the autumn of 1944 on the Gothic Line. In October 1944 he was temporarily raised to overall command in Italy (Army Group C) when Field Marshal Albert Kesselring was seriously injured in a car crash.^[2] In January 1945, on Kesselring's return, he left Italy to command Army Group Courland in East Prussia. When Kesselring was moved in March 1945 to command German Army Command West (OB West) in France, Vietinghoff returned as the supreme German commander in Italy.^[3]

At the end of April 1945, he made contact with the Allied forces and on 29 April, his representative General Karl Wolff signed on his behalf at the Royal Palace in Caserta the instrument of surrender on 2 May 1945 at noon. Afterwards he spent two and a half years in British captivity at Bridgend Island Farm (Special Camp XI) among numerous other German prisoners of war. He was released in September 1947.

After the war Vietinghoff was a member of the expert group dealing with the question of German rearmament. In October 1950 he wrote the Himmerod memorandum, named after the Himmerod Abbey where it was written, on behalf of the Adenauer government, on West German contributions to European defence. He died on 23 February 1952 in Pfronten.^[1]

Military promotions

1. Fähnrich: 6 March 1906
2. Leutnant: 27 January 1907 (Patent 14 June 1905)
3. Hauptmann: 24 June 1915
4. Major: 1 March 1926
5. Oberstleutnant: 1 February 1931
6. Oberst: 1 April 1933
7. Generalmajor: 1 April 1936
8. Generalleutnant: 1 March 1938
9. General der Panzertruppe: 1 June 1940
10. Generaloberst: 1 September 1943 ^[1]

Military awards

• Prussian Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight’s Cross with Swords - 18 April 1918
• Prussian Iron Cross (1914)
  • 1st Class (23 April 1915)^[4]
  • 2nd Class (13 September 1914)^[4]
• Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939)
  • 1st Class (28 September 1939)^[4]
  • 2nd Class (21 September 1939)^[4]
• Medal for the Winter Campaign in Russia 1941-1942^[5]
• Saxon Albert Order, Knight 1st Class with Swords
• Mecklenburg-Schwerin Military Merit Cross, 2nd Class
• Cross for Merit in War (Saxe-Meiningen)
• Hanseatic Cross of Lübeck
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918^[5]
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award, 4th class to 1st Class (25 years)^[5]
• Austrian Order of the Iron Crown, 3rd Class with War Decoration
• Austrian Military Merit Cross, 3rd Class with War Decoration
• Ottoman War Medal (also known as the "Gallipoli Star" or "Iron Crescent")
• Bulgarian Military Merit Order (Officer's Cross)
• Tank Battle Badge (Silver) (Panzerkampfabzeichen)^[5]
• Wound Badge in Black – World War I ^[1][5]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross on 24 June 1940 as General der Panzertruppe and commanding general of XIII. Armeekorps^[6][7]
  • 456th Oak Leaves on 16 April 1944 as Generaloberst and commander-in-chief of the 10. Armee^[6][8]
• German Cross in Gold - 22 April 1942 as General der Panzertruppe and commanding general of the XXXXVI Panzerkorps^[9]

See also

• Italian Campaign (World War II)
• Winter Line
• Gustav Line
• Operation Shingle
• Gothic Line

References

Citations

1. Exton, Brett; Bohannon, Shawn (February 2005). "Prisoners held at Special Camp 11: Generaloberst Heinrich-Gottfried von Vietinghoff gen. Scheel". Island Farm Prisoner of War Camp: 198 / Special Camp: XI Bridgend, South Wales (website). Retrieved 2007-06-01. External link in |work= (help)
2. Blaxland 1979, p. 226.
3. Blaxland 1979, p. 246.
4. Thomas 1998, p. 400.
5. Miller, Michael D. "Generaloberst Heinrich Gottfried von Vietinghoff, gen. Scheel". Axis Biographical Research. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
6. Scherzer 2007, p. 759.
7. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 431.
8. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 81.
9. Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 486.

Bibliography

• Blaxland, Gregory (1979). Alexander's Generals (the Italian Campaign 1944-1945). London: William Kimber & Co. ISBN 0-7183-0386-5.
• 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.
• Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II [The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8.
• 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.