Kurt von Tippelskirch

Infobox Military Person
name=Kurt von Tippelskirch
lived=birth date|1891|10|9|df=y — death date and age|1957|5|10|1891|10|9|df=y
placeofbirth=Berlin (Charlottenburg)
placeofdeath=Lüneburg (Lower Saxony)


caption=
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|German Empire German Empire (to 1918)
flagicon|Germany Weimar Republic (to 1933)
flagicon|Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
branch=Heer
serviceyears=1910-1945
rank=General der Infanterie
commands=Army Group Vistula
German 21st Army
German 14th Army
unit=
battles=World War I
*Battle of the Marne
World War II
awards="Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves"
laterwork=

Kurt von Tippelskirch (9 October 1891 – May 10 1957) was a general in the German Army during World War II.

Personal life

Kurt von Tippelskirch was born on 9 October 1891 in Berlin (Charlottenburg). His wife's name was Elly (née Gallencamp) von Tippelskirch.

His son, Adolf-Hilmar von Tippelskirch, received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 September 1941 as a Lieutenant-Colonel ("Oberstleutnant"), while serving as Chief of the 1st Battery of Artillery Regiment 3 on the northern sector of the Eastern Front. As a Major in the General Staff, he was killed in action near Mogilev in Russia on 28 June 1944.

His brother-in-Law, Artillery General ("General der Artillerie") Curt Gallencamp (17 February 1890 to April 1958), received the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross on 19 November 1941. He received the Knight's Cross while commanding the 78th Infantry Division on the Eastern Front.

Army career

* Kurt von Tippelskirch entered the German Army, passing the Cadet Corps on 3 March 1910.
* Lieutenant ("Leutnant") von Tippelskirch was captured by the French during the Battle of the Marne in September 1914.
* After being released from captivity in 1920, Kurt von Tippelskirch became a Chief of the 4th Company of Infantry Regiment 9.
* Between 1924 and 1933: von Tippelskirch served in several staff positions, commander of Infantry Regiment 27 (1934) and, later, he transferred to the Defense Ministry (1936).
* In 1938 to 1941: Kurt von Tippelskirch was appointed Staff for Intelligence in the Army General Staff and worked analyzing intelligence data connected to Germany’s campaigns of the war and Operation Barbarossa.
* 5 January to 5 June 1942: Lieutenant-General ("Generalleutnant") von Tippelskirch commander of the 30th Infantry Division belonging to the German 16th Army of Colonel-General ("Generaloberst") Ernst Busch (Army Group North).
* 27 August 1942 to 1 February 1943: General of Infantry Kurt von Tippelskirch served in Italian 8th Army on the Eastern Front.
* 18 February 1944 to 4 June 1944: von Tipelskirch was commanding general of the XII Army Corps on the Eastern Front. In June to July of 1944 he assumed temporary command of the German 4th Army.
* 18 July 1944: von Tippelskirch was injured in an airplane crash. [http://www.bridgend-powcamp.fsnet.co.uk/General%20der%20Infanterie%20Kurt%20von%20Tippelskirch.htm Some of the prisoners held at Special Camp 11] . Retrieved on 2 July, 2007.] From 31 October 1944 to 22 February 1945, von Tippelskirch was delegated to the Western Front, first as the commander of the German 1st Army in Lorraine and then as the commander of the German 14th Army in Italy.
* 26 December 1944: von Tippelskrich launched Operation Winter Thunderstorm, which held off the Allied forces until 1945.Spartacus Educational. [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERtippelskirch.htm Kurt von Tippelskirch] . Retrieved on 2 July, 2007.]
* 27 April 1945 to 2 May 1945: von Tippelskirch was the commander of German 21st Army on the collapsing Eastern Front. His army operated in Brandenburg and Mecklenburg.
* 29 April 1945 to 1 May 1945: von Tippelskirch was the commander of Army Group Vistula ("Heeresgruppe Weichsel"). For the especially successful leadership in German Army, von Tippelskirch was decorated and awarded.
* 2 May, 1945: von Tippelskirch surrendered to the United States Army.

After the War

Kurt von Tippelskirch surrendered to the United States Army on 2 May 1945. He surrendered in the vicinity of Lübeck – Schwerin - Wismar (Germany).

After the war, von Tippelskirch wrote several books on military history (e.g. "History of the Second World War", 1951).

Kurt von Tippelskirch died 10 May 1957 at Lüneburg (Lower Saxony).

Ranks

* Officer Candidate ("Fähnrich"): 3 March 1910
* Lieutenant ("Leutnant"): 20 March 1911 (Patent 24 June 1909)
* Major ("Major"): 1 April 1928
* Lieutenant-Colonel ("Oberstleutnant"): 1 February 1933
* Colonel ("Oberst"): 1 March 1935
* Major-General ("Generalmajor"): 1 April 1938
* Lieutenant-General ("Generalleutnant"): 1 June 1940
* Infantry General ("General der Infanterie"): 27 August 1942 (RDA 1 February 1942)

ee also

*List of World War II military operations
*Battle of Berlin

References

* Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. "Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945". Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas, 2000. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.

Persondata
NAME=Tippelskirch, Kurt von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=German World War II general
DATE OF BIRTH=October 9, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH=Berlin, Germany
DATE OF DEATH=May 10, 1957
PLACE OF DEATH=Lüneburg, Germany