__NOTOC__ German Division Nr. 188 was raised in late 1939. It consisted of the 136th, 138th and 139th Mountain Replacement Regiments and the 112th Artillery Replacement Regiment, plus supporting units. It began the war on border guard duty in the mountainous region between Austria and Yugoslavia with the primary mission of training reservists and replacements for the regular mountain divisions. In the spring of 1941 it joined the invasion of Yugoslavia, with the three mountain regiments given responsibility of seizing control of

Carniola Carniola ( sl, Kranjska; , german: Krain; it, Carniola; hu, Krajna) is a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. Although as a whole it does not exist anymore, Slovenes living within the former borders of the region sti ...

and

Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...

on the Yugoslav side of the border, which they carried out quickly and effectively against little to no resistance. After the campaign, the division remained in reserve at

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

. On 8 October 1943 it was redesignated as the 188th Reserve Mountain Division and reorganized with Reserve Mountain Regiments 136, 137, 138, and 139, each with two battalions, and Reserve Artillery Regiment 112, also with two battalions, and transferred to northern Italy. On 27 February 1944 it was transferred to

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian, Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the larges ...

to conduct security warfare (

Bandenbekämpfung In German military history, ''Bandenbekämpfung'' (German; ), also Nazi security warfare (during World War II), refers to the concept and military doctrine of countering resistance or insurrection in the rear area during wartime through e ...

). A few days later it was again redesignated as the 188th Mountain Division and its regiments were redesignated as Mountain Regiments 901, 902, 903, 904 and Mountain Artillery Regiment 1088. It surrendered in Istria when the war ended in 1945.

Commanders

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 ...

z.V.

Hans von Hößlin Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi ...

(26.08.1939 - 08.05.1945) : condemned for war crimes in Yugoslavia and hanged in Ljubljana on 18 August 1947.

Area of operations

* Austria (August 1939 - April 1941) * Yugoslavia - as Division Nr. 188 (April 1941 - April 1943) * Austria (April 1943 - October 1943) * Italy & Slovenia - as 188. Reserve-Gebirgs-Division (October 1943 - March 1944) * Italy & Slovenia - as 188.Gebirgs-Division (March 1944 - May 1945)Lexikon der wehrmacht
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References

Bibliography

*George F. Nafziger - The German Order of Battle: Infantry in World War II * * Tessin, Georg. ''Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945; Band 7'' Osnabruck: Biblio, 1973 {{DEFAULTSORT:188th Reserve Mountain Division (Wehrmacht) Mountain divisions of Germany in World War II Military units and formations established in 1939 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 1939 establishments in Germany