The XVI Army Corps (16th Corps) was a corps in the German Army during World War II. The XVI (motorized) Corps (german: Generalkommando XVI. (mot.) Armeekorps) was activated as a headquarters for motorized units in February 1938 in Berlin. The XVI Corps was assigned to the 10th Army in the German invasion of Poland and to Army Group B during the invasion of France. During the French campaign, the corps fought at the battles of

Hannut Hannut (; wa, Haneu; nl, Hannuit, ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Hannut had a total population of 14,291. The total area is 86.53 km² which gives a population dens ...

and Gembloux. On February 17, 1941, the corps headquarters was inactivated in order to form the

4th Panzer Group The 4th Panzer Army (german: 4. Panzerarmee) (operating as Panzer Group 4 (german: 4. Panzergruppe) from its formation on 15 February 1941 to 1 January 1942, when it was redesignated as a full army) was a German panzer formation during World War ...

. In July 1944, ''Generalkommando z.b.V. Kleffel'' was organized as an ''ad hoc'' corps headquarters subordinated to the 16th Army in northern Russia. On October 30, 1944, this headquarters was made permanent and designated the XVI Army Corps. As such, the corps remained under 16th Army command until the surrender of the 16th Army in

Courland Courland (; lv, Kurzeme; liv, Kurāmō; German and Scandinavian languages: ''Kurland''; la, Curonia/; russian: Курляндия; Estonian: ''Kuramaa''; lt, Kuršas; pl, Kurlandia) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. ...

in May 1945.

Area of operations

* XVI motorized Corps: ** Poland - September 1939 ** Belgium and northern France - May to June 1940 * XVI Army Corps: ** Northern Russia - 1944 ** Latvia (Courland) - 1945

Commanders

* Generaloberst

Erich Hoepner Erich Kurt Richard Hoepner (14 September 1886 – 8 August 1944) was a German general during World War II. An early proponent of mechanisation and armoured warfare, he was a Wehrmacht army corps commander at the beginning of the war, leading hi ...

, February 1938 to February 1941 * General der Kavallerie Philipp Kleffel, July to October 1944 * Generalleutnant

Horst von Mellenthin __NOTOC__ Horst von Mellenthin (31 July 1898 – 8 January 1977) was a German general during World War II who commanded several corps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany. Awards and decoratio ...

, October 1944 to November 1944 * General der Kavallerie Philipp Kleffel, November 1944 to December 1944 * General der Infanterie Ernst-Anton von Krosigk, December 1944 to March 1945 * Generalleutnant

Gottfried Weber Jacob Gottfried Weber (March 1, 1779 – September 21, 1839) was a prominent German writer on music (especially on music theory), composer, and jurist. Biography Weber was born at Freinsheim. From 1824 to 1839, he was the editor of ''Cäcilia'', ...

, March 1945 to May 1945lexicon-der-wehrmacht.de
/ref>

Notes and sources

* Georg Tessin. ''Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS 1939-1945'', Volume 4. Osnabrück: Biblio Verlag, 1975. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Xvi Panzer Corps (Germany) Army,16 Military units and formations established in 1938 Military units and formations disestablished in 1941 Military units and formations established in 1944 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945