XIII Army Corps (German: ''XIII. Armeekorps'') was a corps of the German Army during World War II. Made up of several divisions, which varied from time to time, it was formed in Nuremberg on 1 October 1937. Soon after the general mobilisation of August, 1939 the corps was engaged in the

Polish campaign 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 afte ...

. Made up of the 10th, 17th, and 221st Infantry, it was part of the 8th Army. After the decisive German victory at the

Battle of the Bzura The Battle of the Bzura (or the Battle of Kutno) was the largest Polish counter-attack of the German invasion of Poland and was fought from 9 to 19 September.''The Second World War: An Illustrated History '', Putnam, 1975, Google Print snippet ...

, the Corps was transferred to the 16th Army in the

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

area of western Germany. During the

Invasion of France France has been invaded on numerous occasions, by foreign powers or rival French governments; there have also been unimplemented invasion plans. * the 1746 War of the Austrian Succession, Austria-Italian forces supported by the British navy attemp ...

the following year the corps advanced to the

River Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a ...

through Luxembourg in May, 1940. Reassigned to the 16th Army in the Champagne district they had reached Chalons-sur-Saône by the time of the Armistice. In July XIII Corps was moved to northern France to take a leading role in the planned, and then abandoned,

Operation Sealion Operation Sea Lion, also written as Operation Sealion (german: Unternehmen Seelöwe), was Nazi Germany's code name for the plan for an invasion of the United Kingdom during the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. Following the Battle ...

, the invasion of England. Instead they were moved to the Netherlands. In May 1941 they were transferred to East Prussia to take part in

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 mass invasion of Soviet Russia. Comprising the 17th and the 78th Infantry Divisions, they formed a unit of the 4th Army in

German Army Group Center Army Group Centre (german: Heeresgruppe Mitte) was the name of two distinct strategic German Army Groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created on 22 June 1941, as one of three German Army f ...

. By July they had crossed the

River Dnieper } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...

Chernigov Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative ...

. In December, faced by Soviet counterattacks, they had to retreat back across the Ugra River. In April 1942 the Corps was transferred to the 4th Panzer Army. In January 1943 a Soviet counter-offensive pushed XIII Corps back to the Olym river. After the Soviet victory at 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. ...

in July 1943 further retreat back to the River Dneiper was necessary. More Soviet attacks in December forced more retreat. In January 1944 they were pushed back to Galicia on the border of Poland and Ukraine. In March 1944 the Corps was surrounded and crushed by the Soviet 4th Tank Army near

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

in western Ukraine and subsequently dismantled by 5 August. Remnants of the Corps were absorbed into the

Grossdeutschland Panzer Corps Pan-Germanism (german: Pangermanismus or '), also occasionally known as Pan-Germanicism, is a pan-nationalist political idea. Pan-Germanists originally sought to unify all the German-speaking people – and possibly also Germanic-speaking ...

. In January 1945 a newly formed XIII Corps was created from the Vosges Commando and stationed on the Western Front as part of

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 ...

. An Allied attack in April pushed the Corps back to

Günzburg Günzburg (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Genzburg'') is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is a ''Große Kreisstadt'' and the capital of the Swabian Günzburg (district), district Günzburg. This district was constituted in 1972 by combining the city ...

and, no longer operational, it retreated to the northern Alps.

Commanders

* Cavalry General ''(

General der Kavallerie General of the Cavalry (german: General der Kavallerie) was a General officer rank in the cavalry in various states of which the modern states of German and Austria are successors or in other armies which used the German model. Artillery officers ...

)''

Maximilian von Weichs Maximilian Maria Joseph Karl Gabriel Lamoral Reichsfreiherr von und zu Weichs an der Glon (12 November 1881 – 27 September 1954) was a field marshal in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. Born into an aristocratic family, Weichs ...

, 12 October 1937 – 26 October 1939 * Colonel-general ''(

Generaloberst A ("colonel general") was the second-highest general officer rank in the German ''Reichswehr'' and ''Wehrmacht'', the Austro-Hungarian Common Army, the East Germany, East German National People's Army and in their respective police services. ...

)'' Heinrich von Vietinghoff-Scheel, 26 October 1939 – 25 October 1940 * Infantry General ''(

General der Infanterie General of the Infantry is a military rank of a General officer in the infantry and refers to: * General of the Infantry (Austria) * General of the Infantry (Bulgaria) * General of the Infantry (Germany) ('), a rank of a general in the German Imper ...

)'' Hans-Gustav Felber, 25 October 1940 – 13 January 1942 * Lieutenant-general ''(

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 ...

)''

Otto-Ernst Ottenbacher __NOTOC__ Otto-Ernst Ottenbacher (18 November 1888 – 7 January 1975) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded several corps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Ottenbacher was wounded durin ...

, 14 Januar – 21 April 1942 * Infantry General ''(

)''

Erich Straube __NOTOC__ Erich Straube (11 December 1887 – 31 March 1971) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II who held several corps level commands. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germ ...

, 21 April 1942 – 20 February 1943 * Infantry General ''(

)''

Friedrich Siebert __NOTOC__ Friedrich Siebert (7 July 1888 – 13 May 1950) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany who commanded the XIII Corps during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Siebert was a member of the Nazi ...

, 20 February – 7 September 1943 * Infantry General ''(

)''

Arthur Hauffe Arthur Hauffe (20 December 1892 – 22 July 1944) was a German general during World War II and commanded the XIII Army Corps. He was recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Role in Romania during World War II While ...

, 7 September 1943 – 25 April 1944 * Lieutenant-general ''(

)''

Johannes Block __NOTOC__ Johannes Block (17 November 1894 – 26 January 1945) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II who held commands at division and corps level. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Bl ...

, 25 April – 5 June 1944 * Infantry General ''(

)''

, 5 June – 22 July 1944 After reformation * Infantry General ''(

)'' Hans-Gustav Felber, 8 January – 11 February 1945 * Lieutenant-general ''(

)''

Ralph Graf von Oriola __NOTOC__ Ralph Graf von Oriola (9 August 1895 – 28 April 1970) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded the XIII. Armeekorps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Awards and ...

, 12 February – 31 March 1945 * Lieutenant-general ''(

)''

Max Bork Max Hermann Bork (1 January 1899 – 4 July 1973) was a German general during World War II who commanded the XIII Army Corps. He may have been a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Bork was born in Lasdehnen, East ...

, 31 March 1945 – 15 April 1945 * Infantry General ''(

)''

Walther Hahm __NOTOC__ Walther Hahm (21 December 1894 – 11 August 1951) was a German general during World War II who held several commands at division and corps level. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi German ...

, 15 – 20 April 1945 * SS

Obergruppenführer ' (, "senior group leader") was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissio ...

Felix Steiner Felix Martin Julius Steiner (23 May 1896 – 12 May 1966) was a German SS commander during the Nazi era. During World War II, he served in the Waffen-SS, the combat branch of the SS, and commanded several SS divisions and corps. He was awarded t ...

Area of Operation

* Poland : September 1939 - May 1940 * France : May 1940 - June 1941 * Eastern Front southern sector : June 1941 - July 1944 * Western Front : January 1945 - April 1945

References

* Article based on a translation of the equivalent articles on German and French Wikipedia. *Georg Tessin: Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939–1945, Volume 3, Frankfurt/Main und Osnabrück 1966, S. 260–261. *Percy Ernst Schramm (Hrsg.): Kriegstagebuch des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht, Bernard & Graefe Verlag für Wehrwesen, Frankfurt am Main 1965. ** Volume I: 1940/41 written by Hans-Adolf Jacobsen. ** Volume II: 1942 written by Andreas Hillgruber, Bernard & Graefe Verlag für Wehrwesen, Frankfurt am Main 1965. ** Volume III: 1943 written by Walther Hubatsch, Bernard & Graefe Verlag für Wehrwesen, Frankfurt am Main 1965. * Manfried Rauchensteiner: Der Krieg in Österreich 1945, Österreichischer Bundesverlag, Vienna 1985. {{Authority control Army,13 Military units and formations established in 1937 1937 establishments in Germany Military units and formations disestablished in 1944 Military units and formations established in 1945 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945