Otto von Knobelsdorff

Germany state institutions Counter-revolutionary forces 1886–1966 ○ Died

Commander of XLVIII Panzer Corps on the left of the southern attack at Kursk

Born in Berlin to a noble family, he joined the Imperial German Army in 1905 and won the Iron Cross twice in the First World War. In 1940 he led the 19th Infantry Division through the Battle of France, oversaw its conversion into the 19th Panzer Division and took it to the outskirts of Moscow in Operation Barbarossa. He led XLVIII Panzer Corps from late 1942 to late 1943, and at Kursk in July 1943 the corps advanced on the left of the southern attack. Given command of 1st Army in France in September 1944, he was relieved in November for resisting Hitler's efforts to move its tanks to the Ardennes offensive.

Also known as: Heinrich Otto Ernst von Knobelsdorff