The 5th Division was a unit of the

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' () was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first years of the Third Reich. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

Creation

In the Order of 31 July 1920 for the Reduction of the Army (to comply with the upper limits on the size of the military contained in the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

), it was determined that in every ''Wehrkreis'' (

military district Military districts (also called military regions) are formations of a state's armed forces (often of the Army) which are responsible for a certain area of territory. They are often more responsible for administrative than operational matters, and ...

) a division would be established by 1 October 1920. The 5th Division was formed with the Reichswehr-Brigaden 11 in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

and 13 in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, both of the former ''Übergangsheer'' (Transition Army). It consisted of 3 infantry regiments: the 13th (Württembergisches) Infantry Regiment, the 14th (Badisches) Infantry Regiment, and the 15th Infantry Regiment. It also included an artillery regiment, an engineering battalion, a signals battalion, a transportation battalion and a medical battalion. It was subordinated to Gruppenkommando 2. The commander of the Wehrkreis V was simultaneously the commander of the 5th Division.
For the leadership of the troops, an ''Infanterieführer'' and an ''Artillerieführer'' were appointed, both subordinated to the commander of the Division. The Divisional commanders were: *

General of the Infantry General of the Infantry is a military rank of a General officer in the infantry and refers to: * General of the Infantry (Austria) * General of the Infantry (Bulgaria) * General of the Infantry (Germany) ('), a rank of a general in the German Impe ...

Walther Reinhardt Walther Gustav Reinhardt (; 24 March 1872 in Stuttgart – 8 August 1930 in Berlin) was a German officer who served as the last Prussian Minister of War and the first head of the army command (''Chef der Heeresleitung'') within the newly created ...

(1 October 1920 - 1 January 1925) *General of the Infantry Ernst Hasse (1 January 1925 - 1 February 1927) *General of the Infantry Hermann Reinicke (1 February 1927 - 30 September 1929) *General of the Infantry Hans Freiherr Seutter von Lötzen (1 October 1929 - 1 December 1931) *

Generalleutnant is the Germanic variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries. Austria Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO rank of O ...

Curt Liebmann Kurt is a male given name of Germanic or Turkish origin. ''Kurt'' or ''Curt'' originated as short forms of the Germanic Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor. In Turkish, Kurt means "Wolf" and i ...

(1 December 1931 - 1 August 1934) Notable Infantrieführer : * Generalmajor

Hermann Geyer __NOTOC__ Hermann Geyer (7 July 1882 – 10 April 1946) was a German general during World War II who commanded the IX Army Corps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Geyer retired in 1943 and committed suic ...

(1 October 1931 - 30 September 1932).Axis History
/ref> Notable Artillerieführers : * Oberst

Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb Wilhelm Josef Franz Ritter von Leeb (5 September 1876 – 29 April 1956) was a German field marshal and war criminal in World War II. Leeb was a highly decorated officer in World War I and was awarded the Military Order of Max Joseph which gra ...

(1 March 1928 - 31 January 1929) * Generalmajor

Leonhard Kaupisch Leonhard Kaupisch (1 September 1878 – 26 September 1945) was a German general during World War II who served as Supreme Military Commander of occupied Denmark. World War I and interwar period Kaupisch entered the army in 1898; from 1907 to 1909 ...

(1 February 1930 - 30 September 1932) In the course of the expansion of the army in 1934, the divisional staff was transferred and renamed to the "Generalkommando" of the V. Armee-Korps.

Garrisons

The divisional headquarters was in Stuttgart. The subordinate units were located in

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...

and

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

References

Feldgrau.com
{{Divisions of the Reichswehr Infantry divisions of Germany Military units and formations established in 1920 Military units and formations disestablished in 1934