Vollrath Lübbe (4 March 1894 – 4 April 1969) was a German general 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 previous ...

. A veteran of

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 ...

, he rose to command several

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

s 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 was a recipient of the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight' ...

, awarded by

Nazi Germany 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 ...

to recognise successful military leadership.

Biography

Born in 1894, Lübbe joined the army of

Imperial Germany The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

in 1912 and was posted to the 103rd Infantry Regiment. He served in World War I and then in the postwar

Reichsheer ''Reichswehr'' () was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first years of the Nazi Germany, Third Reich. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order t ...

which in turn became the

. Having led the 13th Cavalry Regiment since 1939, Lübbe was posted to the

2nd Panzer Division The 2nd Panzer Division ( en, 2nd Tank Division) was an armoured division in the German Army, the Heer, during World War II. Created as one of the original three German tank divisions in 1935, it was stationed in Austria after the Anschluss an ...

's 2nd Rifle Brigade (2nd ''Schuetzen'' Brigade) in 1941. He was appointed to temporary command of the division itself on 16 January 1942 for a few weeks. He was promoted to ''

generalmajor is the Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and Royal Danish Air Force. As a two-star ...

'' on 1 October 1942, shortly after he resumed command of 2nd Panzer Division which took part in many defensive actions during the 1942–43 period as well as the

Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk was a major World War II Eastern Front engagement between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in the southwestern USSR during late summer 1943; it ultimately became the largest tank battle in history. ...

. On 17 August 1943 he was awarded the

and two months later was promoted to ''

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 ...

''. Transferred to the infantry in early 1944, on 5 April 1944, Lübbe was appointed commander of 81st Infantry Division, which had been heavily depleted in the fighting retreat from

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. His period of command was brief, a period of two months, before being replaced. After a few months he took over the 462nd ''Volksgrenadier'' Division on 15 October 1944. Shortly after taking command, the division was shifted to the town of

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

. Under siege from the United States Third Army from early November, Lübbe suffered a stroke on 8 November and had to be relieved. Lübbe was captured by Soviet troops at the end of the war and remained a prisoner of war until October 1955.

Notes

;Footnotes ;Citations

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Luebbe, Vollrath 1894 births 1969 deaths Lieutenant generals of the German Army (Wehrmacht) German Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class Recipients of the Military Merit Cross (Mecklenburg-Schwerin), 1st class Recipients of the Gold German Cross Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross German prisoners of war in World War II held by the Soviet Union People from Rostock (district) People from the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin