The 225th Infantry Division (german: 225. Infanterie-Division) was an infantry division of the German

Heer Heer may refer to: People * Jeet Heer, Canadian author and journalist * Jeffrey Heer (born 1979), American computer scientist and entrepreneur * Kamal Heer (born 1973), Punjabi singer and musician * Oswald Heer (1809–1883), Swiss botanist and ...

during World War II.

Operational history

The division was formed on 26 August 1939 as part of the third ''

Aufstellungswelle In the German Wehrmacht before and during World War II, infantry divisions were raised as part of a designated ''Aufstellungswelle'' (deployment wave) or ''Welle'' (wave), sometimes translated as "draft". The ''Aufstellungswelle'' system was adopte ...

'' in the Hamburg area of Wehrkreis X. It initially consisted of Artillery Regiment 225 as well as the Infantry Regiments 333 (Hamburg), 376 ( Lübeck) and 377 (

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

). The division was formed from Landwehr personnel from the regiments' areas. The division's initial commander was Ernst Schaumburg. The 225th Infantry Division was sent to

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

and used for border guard duty while the bulk of German forces focussed on the Invasion of Poland. The second battalion of Regiment 377 was given to the 555th Infantry Division on 29 January 1940. After the German victory in Poland, the 225th Infantry Division saw action in the

western campaign The Western Expedition () was a campaign by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom against the Qing dynasty during the Taiping Rebellion. Planning The Western Expedition was conceived by Yang Xiuqing shortly after the fall of Nanjing. It was intende ...

, specifically in the invasion of the Netherlands. The division took part in the drive on Amsterdam. After the German victory in the west, the 225th Infantry Division remained on occupation duty until the end of 1941. The Artillery Regiment 225 joined 215th Infantry Division on 16 November 1941. In January 1942, it became one of the division that was quickly redeployed to the Eastern Front in response to the Soviet victory at the

Battle of Moscow The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between September 1941 and January ...

. The division became part of Army Group North and remained under this army group for the rest of the war, with a brief exception in July 1944, when the division was attached to

Army Group Centre Army Group Centre (german: Heeresgruppe Mitte) was the name of two distinct strategic German Army Groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created on 22 June 1941, as one of three German Army fo ...

before being transferred back to Army Group North. The 225th Infantry Division saw action in the Soviet winter offensives of 1941/42 and 1942/43, took part in the

Siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of L ...

, participated in the Battle of Demyansk from November 1942 to February 1943, and fought at

Lake Ilmen Lake Ilmen ( rus, И́льмень, p=ˈilʲmʲɪnʲ) is a large lake in the Novgorod Oblast of Russia. A historically important lake, it formed a vital part of the medieval trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks. The city of Novgorod - wh ...

between March and May 1942. At that time, the 333rd Grenadier Regiment (formerly Infantry Regiment 333 (Hamburg)) fought at the Oranienbaum Bridgehead, where it sustained massive casualties (448 dead, 1050 wounded, 89 missing) between 1 May and 15 June 1942. As a result of these irrecoverable losses, the 333rd Regiment was disbanded in January 1943. On 20 February 1944, the 225th Infantry Division absorbed most of the remnants of the

9th Luftwaffe Field Division __NOTOC__ The 9th ''Luftwaffe'' Field Division (german: 9.Luftwaffen-Feld-Division) was an infantry division of the '' Luftwaffe'' branch of the '' Wehrmacht'' that fought in World War II. It was formed using surplus ground crew of the ''Luftwaffe ...

. Over the course of the year 1944, the 225th Infantry Division was part of the German retreat through the Baltic. The division was trapped in the Courland Pocket in October 1944 and eventually surrendered to Soviet forces in April 1945.

Noteworthy individuals

* Ernst Schaumburg, divisional commander starting 26 August 1939. * Friedrich-Karl von Wachter, divisional commander starting 1 July 1940. * Hans von Basse, divisional commander starting 1 June 1941. * Ernst-Walther Risse, divisional commander starting 25 September 1942.

Legacy

A memorial for the fallen soldiers of the 225th Infantry Division was erected in 1959 in Hamburg-Dammtor.

References

{{Authority control Infantry divisions of Germany during World War II Military units and formations established in 1939 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945