Heinrich Springer

Heinrich Springer
Heinrich Springer
Born	3 November 1914 Kiel, German Empire
Died	27 October 2007 (aged 92) Oelixdorf, Germany
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Waffen-SS
Years of service	1933–45
Rank	Sturmbannführer
Unit	1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
Commands held	3rd Company, Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, 1st Company, Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Iron Cross 1st Class Iron Cross 2nd Class Wound Badge in Gold

Heinrich Springer (November 3, 1914 – October 27, 2007) was a Sturmbannführer (Major) in the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. He went to the Gelehrtenschule in Meldorf. Springer trained as a civil engineer and an architect and also served as a Hitler Youth leader.^[1] As a youth in the Weimar Republic he trained to be volunteered for the Waffen SS and attended the SS officers training school at Bad Tölz, after graduation he was posted to the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. He went on to command the 3rd company in 1941 with the rank of Obersturmführer (First Lieutenant). It was while in command of the 3rd company that he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. During the Battle of Rostov he seized a vital bridge over the River Don.^[2] He later commanded the 1st Company LSSAH from June 1942 to February 1943 with the rank of Hauptsturmführer (Captain).^[3]

Further information on Springer is sparse. After suffering multiple wounds he was awarded the Golden Wound Badge. He then spent some time at the OKW as the Waffen SS Liaison officer working with General Alfred Jodl. He was then posted to the headquarters of the Army Group B, under Field Marshal Walter Model, where he stayed during 30 August 1944 and 5 February 1945. He was then the officer in charge of ordnance for Army Group Vistula. He then spent some time in captivity before being released and returning to his family.^[4]

He died in Oelixdorf, Germany in 2007.

Quotation

(last words in his autobiography, p. 170)
We are all children of the Creator - that is my belief. We have the mission to act in His Will, life-affirming and full of the joys of life. With the consciousness of our responsibility to God and His Creation we shall work until our last breath, until one day we tiredly lie down our head and close our eyes forever.

Awards

• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 12 January 1942 as SS-Hauptsturmführer and leader of the 3./SS-Infanterie-Regiment (motorized) "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler"^{[5][Note 1]}

Notes

1. According to Scherzer as leader of the 3./"Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler".^[6]

References

Citations

1. "verseandbook".
2. The Waffen-SS (1) By Gordon Williamson, Stephen Andrew p.8
3. "verseandbook".
4. "verseandbook".
5. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 406.
6. Scherzer 2007, p. 715.

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.
• Krätschmer, Ernst-Günther (1999). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Waffen-SS [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Waffen-SS]. Coburg, Germany: Nation Europa Verlag. ISBN 978-3-920677-43-9.
• 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.

Works

• Springer, Heinrich (1996). Stationen eines Lebens in Krieg und Frieden: Zeitgeschichtliches Zeugnis des SS-Sturmbannführers und Ritterkreuzträgers der Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. DVG Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft. ISBN 978-3-920722-40-5.

External links

• color photograph - Heinrich Springer in the middle, standing next to Fritz Witt who holds his birthday present