__NOTOC__ Max-Josef Pemsel (15 January 1897 – 30 June 1985) was a ''Generalleutnant'' in the German Army during

Second World War 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 opposi ...

. After the war he became one of the very few senior officers who served in the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

to serve in the West German Army.

Life and career

Born on 15 January 1897 in Regensburg,

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, Pemsel entered the

Bavarian Army The Bavarian Army was the army of the Electorate (1682–1806) and then Kingdom (1806–1919) of Bavaria. It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereignty (''Wehrhoheit'') of Bavaria into that of ...

during the

First World War 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 ...

in April 1916 as a volunteer. He was assigned to the 11th Reserve Infantry Regiment, with which he saw action at the Western Front. On 30 April 1918 Pemsel was promoted to lieutenant. After the Armistice, Pemsel remained in the shrunken German

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 reshape ...

. In 1935 Pemsel became a staff officer in the 1st Mountain Division. During the

he fought in various theaters. In 1941 during the Invasion of Yugoslavia he was the chief of staff of the XVIII Gebirgskorps. By 1944 he had been promoted to lieutenant-general and made chief of staff of the 7th Army under ''Generaloberst''

Friedrich Dollmann Friedrich Karl Albert Dollmann (2 February 188228 June 1944Reynolds, M: ''Steel Inferno'', p. 163. Dell Publishing, 1997.D'Este, C: ''Decision in Normandy'', pp. 241–242. Penguin Books, 2004.) was a German general during World War II who comma ...

, during which coordinated the first German response to Operation Overlord. In August 1944 Pemsel was transferred to Finland and given command of the 6th Mountain Division, a command he held until 19 April 1945. On 9 December 1944 Pemsel was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. In April 1945 Pemsel was transferred to Italy, where he became chief of staff of the '' Ligurien Armee''. He surrendered on 26 April 1945 and remained a prisoner of war until April 1948. On 26 April 1956 Pemsel entered the ''

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

'' in the rank of a major-general and was given command of ''Wehrbereich VI'' ("6th Military District") based at

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

. On 1 April 1957 he was promoted to commanding general of the II Corps, stationed in

Ulm Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...

. On 30 January 1958 he was promoted to lieutenant-general. Pemsel retired on 30 September 1961 and died on 30 June 1985 in Munich. Pemsel was a military consultant to the makers of the 1962 film '' The Longest Day'', in which he was portrayed by

Wolfgang Preiss Wolfgang Preiss (27 February 1910 – 27 November 2002) was a German theatre, film and television actor. The son of a teacher, Preiss studied philosophy, German, and drama in the early 1930s. He also took private acting classes with Hans Schlen ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pemsel, Max 1897 births 1985 deaths People from the Kingdom of Bavaria German Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from Regensburg Lieutenant generals of the German Army (Wehrmacht) Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Burials at the Nordfriedhof (Munich) Lieutenant generals of the German Army