Austrian-born panzer general who led Corps Raus of Army Detachment Kempf at Kursk
An Austro-Hungarian officer, he led a bicycle infantry company on the Eastern Front in the First World War, served in the Austrian army after it, and moved to the German military after the 1938 annexation, becoming military attaché in Rome. In Operation Barbarossa in 1941 he took over the 6th Panzer Division and joined the advance on Moscow. At Kursk in July 1943 he led Corps Raus (XI Army Corps) in Army Detachment Kempf, and after Operation Citadel failed he organised the Axis withdrawal across the Dnieper, taking thousands of plundered cattle and horses with it. He went on to command the 4th, 1st and 3rd Panzer Armies. After the war he wrote books and reports analysing panzer tactics on the Eastern Front.
Activities and affiliations
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1938–1945
Germany state institutionsCommander, Corps Raus and panzer armiesMain
Military command
Career Timeline
- 1907Enters the Austro-Hungarian officer school in Brno
- 1938Joins the German military; attaché in Rome
- 1941Commander, 6th Panzer Division: advance on Moscow
- 1943Corps Raus at Kursk; acting commander, 4th Panzer Army
- 1944–1945Commander, 1st and 3rd Panzer Armies