Arthur Mülverstedt (30 June 1894 – 10 August 1941) was a German SS and police (

Ordnungspolizei The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (), abbreviated ''Orpo'', meaning "Order Police", were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organisation was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction w ...

) official during the

Nazi era Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

who served on the personal staff of Heinrich Himmler. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he commanded of the SS Division Polizei; he was killed in action in 1941.

Police and SS career

Mülverstedt was born on 30 June 1894. He joined the army in March 1914 served during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After the war, Mülverstedt joined the ''

Sicherheitspolizei The ''Sicherheitspolizei'' ( en, Security Police), often abbreviated as SiPo, was a term used in Germany for security police. In the Nazi era, it referred to the state political and criminal investigation security agencies. It was made up by the ...

'' (security police) on 15 September 1919 (later redesignated the '' Schutzpolizei''), and was assigned to posts in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, Eiche, and

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

. Mülverstedt joined the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

on 30 July 1932. He was transferred from the ''Schutzpolizei'' to the ''

Landespolizei ''Landespolizei'' (; ) is a term used to refer to the state police of any of the states of Germany. History The ''Landespolizei'' of today can trace its origins to the late 19th century, when Germany united into a single country in 18 ...

'' in 1933. In March 1935 he left the ''Landespolizei'' and joined the ''Reichsheer''. Mülverstedt returned to the ''Schutzpolizei''; he joined the SS on 20 April 1938 and was attached to

Personal Staff Reichsführer-SS The Personal Staff Reichsführer-SS (german: Hauptamt Persönlicher Stab Reichsführer-SS) was a main office of the SS which was established in 1933 by Heinrich Himmler to serve as a personal office coordinating various activities and projects sub ...

, command staff of Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS. In 1938 he became the Commander of ''Schutzpolizei Abschnitt III'' for the annexations of

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and the

Sudetenland The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and sk, Sudety) is the historical German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the ...

. Mülverstedt served as the Commander of ''Polizeigruppe 5'' which was attached to the 4th Army for the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

. On 9 November 1940 he was promoted to the rank of SS-Gruppenfuhrer and was appointed the divisional commander of the SS Division Polizei after

Karl Pfeffer Wildenbruch Karl Pfeffer-Wildenbruch (12 June 1888 – 29 January 1971) was a German SS and police (Ordnungspolizei) official during the Nazi era, who served on the personal staff of Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS. During World War II, he commanded the ...

had returned to Himmler's staff. In this period the division was transferred from Police to SS administration. Mülverstedt led the division during

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

, the invasion of the Soviet Union, attached to the Army Group North. Mülverstedt was killed in action by artillery fire on 10 August 1941 during the Battle of Luga–Kingisepp.

References

General * Mark C. Yerger (1999) "Waffen-SS Commanders, Kruger to Zimmermann" Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. * Muelverstedt's SS personnel file on microfilm at the US National Archives, College Park, Maryland. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mulverstedt, Artur 1894 births 1941 deaths People from Sömmerda (district) German Army personnel of World War I German police chiefs SS-Gruppenführer Military personnel from the Province of Saxony Waffen-SS personnel killed in action Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class Ordnungspolizei