The 6th 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 6th Division was formed in January 1921 out of the Reichswehr-Brigaden 7 and 10, both part of the former ''Übergangsheer'' (Transition Army).
It consisted of 3 infantry regiments, the 16th, 17th and 18th Infantry Regiments. It also included the 6th (Prussian) 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 VI was simultaneously the commander of the 6th Division.
For the leadership of the troops, an ''Infanterieführer'' and an ''Artillerieführer'' were appointed, both subordinated to the commander of the Division.
Divisional commanders
*
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 ...
Friedrich von Lossberg 1 October 1920 - 1 January 1925
*General of the Infantry Leopold Freiherr von Ledebur 1 January 1925 - 28 February 1928
*General of the Artillery Max Föhrenbach 1 March 1928 - 1 May 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 ...
Wolfgang Fleck 1 May 1931 - 30 September 1934
Infantrieführers
*Generalleutnant Otto Haas (1 Oct 1920 - 2 Aug 1921)
*Generalleutnant Erwin Voigt (3 Aug 1921 - 30 Sep 1923)
*Generalmajor Ernst Freiherr von Forstner (1 Oct 1923 - 31 Mar 1927)
*Generalmajor Lothar Fritsch (1 Apr 1927 - 31 Jan 1929)
*Generalleutnant
Max von Schenckendorff
Max von Schenckendorff (24 February 1875 – 6 July 1943) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was the commander of Army Group Rear Area behind Army Group Centre from March 1941 until his death. He is best known ...
(1 Feb 1929 - 31 Jan 1930)
*Generalmajor
Hans Schmidt (1 Feb 1930 - 31 Jan 1931)
*Generalleutnant
Franz von Roques __NOTOC__
Franz von Roques (1 September 1877 – 7 August 1967) was a German general during World War II. He was the commander of Army Group North Rear Area behind Army Group North from March 1941 to April 1943.
Biography
Roques was the descendan ...
(1 Feb 1931 - 30 Sep 1933)
*Oberst
Erwin von Witzleben
Job Wilhelm Georg Erdmann Erwin von Witzleben (4 December 1881 – 8 August 1944) was a German field marshal in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War. A leading conspirator in the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, he was designated to ...
(1 Oct 1933 - 31 Jan 1934)
*Generalmajor Konrad von Gossler (1 Feb 1934 - 30 Sep 1934)
*Generalmajor
Wilhelm Keitel
Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel (; 22 September 188216 October 1946) was a German field marshal and war criminal who held office as chief of the '' Oberkommando der Wehrmacht'' (OKW), the high command of Nazi Germany's Armed Forces, duri ...
(1 Oct 1934 - 30 Sep 1935)
*Generalleutnant
Adolf Strauss (1 Oct 1935 - 15 Oct 1935).
Axis History
/ref>
The unit ceased to exist as such after October 1934, and its subordinate units were transferred to the 21 Divisions newly created in that year.
Garrisons
The divisional headquarters was in Münster
Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...
.
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