Leonhard Kaupisch (1 September 1878 – 26 September 1945) was a German general 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 ...

who served as Supreme Military Commander of

occupied Denmark At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Soverei ...

World War I and interwar period

Kaupisch entered the army in 1898; from 1907 to 1909 he attended the war academy in

Lichterfelde Lichterfelde may refer to: * Lichterfelde (Berlin), a locality in the borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf in Berlin, Germany * Lichterfelde West, an elegant residential area in Berlin * Lichterfelde, Saxony-Anhalt, a municipality in the Stendhal Distric ...

. From 1911 he served with the

German General Staff The German General Staff, originally the Prussian General Staff and officially the Great General Staff (german: Großer Generalstab), was a full-time body at the head of the Prussian Army and later, the German Army, responsible for the continuou ...

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 ...

. 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 ...

, Kaupisch served on the General Staff and rose gradually in the ranks and in 1917 promoted to ''

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

''. He also received the Iron Cross 2nd Class and the Knight's Cross of House Order of Hohenzollern in the same period. After World War I, Kaupisch moved into the new

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 ...

and was assigned to the ''Gruppenkommando 2'' at

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 ...

. In 1923 he took command of an artillery regiment. From there he moved to artillery school in

Jüterbog Jüterbog () is a historic town in north-eastern Germany, in the Teltow-Fläming district of Brandenburg. It is on the Nuthe river at the northern slope of the Fläming hill range, about southwest of Berlin. History The Slavic settlement of ' ...

. He continued his career in artillery until he departed in 1932 from his post with the level of

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 ...

. On 1 April 1934, he joined the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

where in December 1935 he was appointed

General der Flieger ''General der Flieger'' ( en, General of the aviators) was a General of the branch rank of the Luftwaffe (air force) in Nazi Germany. Until the end of World War II in 1945, this particular general officer rank was on three-star level ( OF-8), e ...

. By the end of March 1938 he departed from the Luftwaffe, but in early 1939 he again joined the army.

World War II

In mid-September 1939, Kaupisch was military governor of Danzig-West Prussia. In late 1939, his staff was adopted to ''

Höheres Kommando z.b.V. XXXI The Höheres Kommando z.b.V. XXXI (en : Higher Command for Special Duties XXXI) was a special Corps in the German Army during World War II. History The Corps was formed on 15 October 1939 in Deutsch-Krone from the Border Protection Unit "Grenzs ...

''. It was as head of this command that he April 9, 1940 led Operation Weserübung Süd, forcing the

occupation of Denmark At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark declared itself neutral. For most of the war, the country was a protectorate and then an occupied territory of Germany. The decision to occupy Denmark was taken in Berlin on 17 December ...

. The OPROP! leaflets with a call to refrain from resistance which German planes dropped during the early morning were signed by Kaupisch. Until 1 June 1940, he was Supreme Commander of the German troops in Denmark. He then continued in the army reserve as general of artillery until his retirement on April 10, 1942.

Post war

Anticipating the imminent defeat of Germany, Kaupisch and his family left their home in

Westend, Berlin Westend () is a locality of the Berlin borough Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf in Germany. It emerged in the course of Berlin's 2001 administrative reform on the grounds of the former Charlottenburg borough. Originally a mansion colony, it is today a qu ...

and settled in Bad Berka, a

spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath in 1668. H ...

lying approximately 10 km south of

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

.Letter
Margarete Oldenburg to Heidi Teckenberg from 1 October 1976 at the Kaupisch family website. (Retrieved 24 February 2014). In May 1945, the city was captured by the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. That summer, he was also interviewed by a Danish journalist who noted that the retired General had adapted to the peacetime lifestyle.Haller, Virginia: ''Neumond über Kopenhagen''. Bergstadtverlag Korn, Munich 1961, p. 56. When the region of Weimar became part of the Soviet zone of occupation, Kaupisch was arrested and marched to an internment camp at Weimar. Kaupisch died there on 26 September 1945.

Awards and decorations

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...

of 1914, 2nd class *

of 1914, 1st class *

The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 (german: Das Ehrenkreuz des Weltkrieges 1914/1918), commonly, but incorrectly, known as the Hindenburg Cross or the German WWI Service Cross was established by Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, Presiden ...

* Knight's Cross of the

Royal House Order of Hohenzollern The House Order of Hohenzollern (german: Hausorden von Hohenzollern or ') was a dynastic order of knighthood of the House of Hohenzollern awarded to military commissioned officers and civilians of comparable status. Associated with the various ...

with Swords

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaupisch, Leonhard 1878 births 1945 deaths People from Bitterfeld-Wolfen People from the Province of Saxony Luftwaffe World War II generals German Army personnel of World War I German Army generals of World War II Lieutenant generals of the Reichswehr Recipients of the Hanseatic Cross (Bremen) Prussian Army personnel Generals of Aviators Generals of Artillery (Wehrmacht) German prisoners of war in World War II held by the Soviet Union German people who died in Soviet detention