The XXIX Army Corps () was an infantry corps of the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

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 ...

, active from 1940 to 1945.

Operational history

The corps was formed on 20 May 1940 in ''

Wehrkreis The military districts, also known in some English-language publications by their German name as Wehrkreise (singular: ''Wehrkreis''), were administrative territorial units in Nazi Germany before and during World War II. The task of military distr ...

'' IV with a home station at

Naumburg Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNES ...

, which was changed to

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Budis ...

on 8 June. It was initially part of the ''

Oberkommando des Heeres The (; abbreviated OKH) was the Command (military formation), high command of the German Army (1935–1945), Army of Nazi Germany. It was founded in 1935 as part of Adolf Hitler's German rearmament, rearmament of Germany. OKH was ''de facto'' t ...

'' Reserve, becoming part of 9th Army of

Army Group A Army Group A (Heeresgruppe A) was the name of several German Army Groups during World War II. During the Battle of France, the army group named Army Group A was composed of 45½ divisions, including 7 armored panzer divisions. It was responsible ...

in northern France by July. It transferred to the 17th Army of

Army Group B Army Group B (German: ') was the title of three German Army Groups that saw action during World War II. Operational history Army Group B first took part in the Battle of France in 1940 in Belgium and the Netherlands. The second formation of ...

in the

General Government The General Government (german: Generalgouvernement, pl, Generalne Gubernatorstwo, uk, Генеральна губернія), also referred to as the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (german: Generalgouvernement für die be ...

during March and April 1941 in preparation for

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 German invasion of the Soviet Union. The corps transferred to the 6th Army with Army Group B in May, fighting with the army as part of

Army Group South Army Group South (german: Heeresgruppe Süd) was the name of three German Army Groups during World War II. It was first used in the 1939 September Campaign, along with Army Group North to invade Poland. In the invasion of Poland Army Group Sou ...

when the invasion began on 22 June. It Included the 111th, 299th, and 56th Infantry Divisions on 1 May. The corps participated in actions along the

Bug River uk, Західний Буг be, Захо́дні Буг , name_etymology = , image = Wyszkow_Bug.jpg , image_size = 250 , image_caption = Bug River in the vicinity of Wyszków, Poland , map = Vi ...

, the Battle of Kiev, and at

Belgorod Belgorod ( rus, Белгород, p=ˈbʲeɫɡərət) is a city and the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River north of the border with Ukraine. Population: Demographics The population of Be ...

between June and December, continuing to fight at Belgorod until July 1942. In August the corps was transferred to the reserve of Army Group B, then assigned to the

8th Italian Army The 8th Army ( it, 8ª Armata) was a field army of the Royal Italian Army, which fought in World War I and on the Eastern Front during World War II. World War I After the disastrous defeat at Caporetto (November 1917) the Italian Army was compl ...

of the army group between September and December, fighting on the

Don River The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire. Its ...

during the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...

. Following the destruction of the 8th Italian Army the corps was assigned to

Army Detachment Hollidt An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

in January 1943, fighting on the Don and the

Donets The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets, is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv, Don ...

until February with

Army Group Don Army Group Don was a short-lived army group of the German Army during World War II. On 20 November 1942 Hitler again ordered the reorganization of the southern front in the Soviet Union. The order was following: "Between the Army Group A and B a ...

. The XXIX Army Corps continued to serve with Army Detachment Hollidt on the

Mius-Front The Mius-Front was a heavily fortified German Nazi defensive line along the Mius River in the Donbas region of the Soviet Union and Ukraine during World War II. It was created by the Germans in October 1941, under direction of General Paul Ludwi ...

in March, part of Army Group South. It transferred to the recreated 6th Army in April, and retreated during the

Battle of the Dnieper The Battle of the Dnieper was a military campaign that took place in 1943 in Ukraine on the Eastern Front of World War II. One of the largest operations of the war, it involved almost 4,000,000 troops at a time stretched on a front. Over four ...

in October with the army as part of

. The corps fought on the

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 ...

and at

Krivoi Rog Kryvyi Rih ( uk, Криви́й Ріг , lit. "Curved Bend" or "Crooked Horn"), also known as Krivoy Rog (Russian: Кривой Рог) is the largest city in central Ukraine, the 7th most populous city in Ukraine and the 2nd largest by area. Kr ...

from November as part of the

1st Panzer Army The 1st Panzer Army (german: 1. Panzerarmee) was a German tank army that was a large armoured formation of the Wehrmacht during World War II. When originally formed on 1 March 1940, the predecessor of the 1st Panzer Army was named Panzer Group ...

, transferring back to the 6th Army in January 1944. The 6th Army transferred back to Army Group A along with the corps in March as it retreated southwest to

Uman Uman ( uk, Умань, ; pl, Humań; yi, אומאַן) is a city located in Cherkasy Oblast in central Ukraine, to the east of Vinnytsia. Located in the historical region of the eastern Podolia, the city rests on the banks of the Umanka River ...

, fighting against the Soviet Uman–Botoșani Offensive. With

Army Group South Ukraine __NOTOC__ Army Group South Ukraine (german: Heeresgruppe Südukraine) was a German army group on the Eastern Front during World War II. Army Group South Ukraine was created on 5 April 1944 by renaming Army Group A. This army group saw action dur ...

the corps and 6th Army retreated to the Bug and the

Dniester The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and th ...

during April and May. In June and July it held positions around Kishinev as part of the Romanian 3rd Army, retreating into

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

during the Jassy–Kishinev Offensive as part of 6th Army in August. After 6th Army was destroyed the corps was directly assigned to Army Group South Ukraine in September, then retreated into

Upper Hungary Upper Hungary is the usual English translation of ''Felvidék'' (literally: "Upland"), the Hungarian term for the area that was historically the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary, now mostly present-day Slovakia. The region has also been ...

with the 8th Army of Army Group South in October. Between January and March it fought on the

Hron The Hron ( sk, Hron; german: Gran; hu, Garam; la, Granus) is a long left tributary of the Danube Army Group Centre 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 fo ...

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The me ...

, surrendering there at the end of the war.

Corps commanders

* From May 20, 1940 - infantry general

Hans von Obstfelder __NOTOC__ Hans von Obstfelder (6 September 1886 – 20 December 1976) was a German general ( General of the Infantry) in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. I ...

* From May 21, 1943 - General of the tank forces

Erich Brandenberger __NOTOC__ Erich Brandenberger (15 July 1892 – 21 June 1955) was a German general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Biography In World War I Br ...

* From July 2,1944 - Artillery General

Anton Reichard von Mauchenheim genannt Bechtolsheim Anton Reichard von Mauchenheim genannt Bechtolsheim (9 July 1896 – 9 February 1961) was a German army officer. He was born in Würzburg, and was a brother of Theodor von Bechtolsheim. From 1937 he served as military attaché in London. In 19 ...

* From September 1, 1944 - infantry general

Kurt Röpke Kurt Röpke (29 November 1896 – 21 July 1966) was a German general during World War II who commanded several divisions. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany. Awards and decorations * Iron ...

Notes

; Footnotes ; Citations

References

* * * * {{Subject bar, portal1=Military of Germany, portal2=World War II Army,29 Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945

Operational history

Corps commanders

See also

Notes

References