A panzer corps (german: Panzerkorps) was an

armoured corps An armoured corps (also mechanized corps or tank corps) is a specialized military organization whose role is to conduct armoured warfare. The units belonging to an armoured corps include military staff, and are equipped with tanks and other armou ...

type in

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 ...

's ''

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 ...

'' 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The name was introduced in 1941, when the motorised corps (''Armeekorps (mot)'' or ''AK(mot)'') were renamed to panzer corps. Panzer corps were created throughout the war, and existed in the

Army 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 ...

, the

Waffen-SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...

and even the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

. Those renamed from ordinary motorised corps retained their numbering.

Purpose

Panzer corps underwent transformation as the war went on. Initially they were the main strike force of the ''Wehrmacht'', and consisted of motorised infantry divisions (''ID (mot)'') and

panzer division A Panzer division was one of the armored (tank) divisions in the army of Nazi Germany during World War II. Panzer divisions were the key element of German success in the blitzkrieg operations of the early years of World War II. Later the Waff ...

s. Later in the war it was possible to find panzer corps that consisted solely of infantry divisions. During the initial period of the war the panzer corps predecessor, the motorised corps, were grouped into various

panzer group ''Panzerwaffe'', later also ''Panzertruppe'' (German for "Armoured Force", "Armoured Arm" or "Tank Force". ''Waffe'': ombat"arm") refers to a command within the Heer of the German Wehrmacht, responsible for the affairs of panzer (tank) a ...

s (''Panzergruppen''). Panzer groups were named (i.e. not designated with numbers) during the campaigns in Poland, France, and Greece, they were not used at all in Norway and Denmark in 1940, and numbered 1-4 during the first half year of the war against the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. In the last case, a panzer group normally consisted of two or three motorized corps. They were the operational movement element of

Army Group North Army Group North (german: Heeresgruppe Nord) was a German strategic formation, commanding a grouping of field armies during World War II. The German Army Group was subordinated to the ''Oberkommando des Heeres'' (OKH), the German army high comman ...

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 for ...

and

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 So ...

. The motorized corps served as the tactical command element in the command structure, with the individual divisions serving as tactical combat elements.

List of panzer corps

The following corps were ''AK(mot)'' and later ''Panzerkorps'' or were set up as ''Panzerkorps''.The following list is based on www.lexikonderwehrmacht.de (list is not complete) Wehrmacht formations were designated either with

Roman numeral Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, ea ...

s or names:

Army

III Panzer Corps III Army Corps was a corps level formation of the German Army during World War II. III Army Corps The III Corps was formed in October 1934 as III. Armeekorps. The corps took part in Fall Weiss, the 1939 invasion of Poland as a part of Army Gro ...

* IV Panzer Corps *

VII Panzer Corps The VII Panzer Corps (''VII Panzerkorps'', 7th Armoured Corps) was a panzer corps of Nazi Germany during World War II. History The headquarters were formed in East Prussia from the disbanded 49th Infantry Division under Army Group Centre on ...

XIV Panzer Corps XIV Panzer Corps (also: XIV Army Corps or XIV. ''Armeekorps'') was a corps-level formation of the German Army which fought on both the Eastern Front and in the Italian Campaign. History The XIV Panzer Corps was originally formed as the XIV Mot ...

* XIX Panzer Corps *

XXIV Panzer Corps The XXIV Army Corps (german: XXIV. Armeekorps) was a unit of the German Army during World War II. The unit was re-designated several times; originally being ''Generalkommando der Grenztruppen Saarpfalz'', later ''Generalkommando XXIV. Armeekorps'', ...

XXXVIII Panzer Corps The German XXXVIII Corps (''XXXVIII Armeekorps'') was a German army corps during World War II.'' On 8 January 1945, the XXXVIII Corps was redesignated as the XXXVIII Tank Corps (''XXXVIII Panzerkorps''). Commanders * Field Marshal (''Generalfe ...

XXXIX Panzer Corps The XXXIX Panzer Corps (german: XXXIX.Panzerkorps, also previously designated the ''XXXIX.Armeekorps (mot)'') was a German panzer corps which saw action on the Western and Eastern Fronts during World War II. Operational history The Corps whos ...

XL Panzer Corps XXXX Panzer Corps was a tank corps in the German Army during World War II. History The XXXX. Armeekorps was formed on 26 January 1940 in Lubeck in the Wehrkreis X. It took part in the invasions of France and Greece before being sent to the East ...

* XXXXI Panzer Corps * XLVI Panzer Corps *

XLVII Panzer Corps XLVII Panzer Corps (also: 47th Panzer Corps or XXXXVII. ''Panzerkorps'' or XXXXVII Panzer Corps) was a panzer corps of the German Army in World War II that was formerly designated as XLVII Corps. Various formations of the corps fought in the Fren ...

XLVIII Panzer Corps XXXXVIII Panzer Corps (also: XXXXVIII Army Corp or XXXXVIII. Armeekorps), was a corps-level formation of the German Army which saw extensive action on both the Eastern and Western Fronts during World War II. History The corps was originally ...

* LVI Panzer Corps * LVII Panzer Corps * LVIII Panzer Corps (Germany) *

LXXVI Panzer Corps The LXXVI Panzer Corps (''LXXVI Panzerkorps'', 76th Armoured Corps) was a panzer corps of Nazi Germany during World War II. The headquarters were formed in France under Army Group D on 29 June 1943 as LXXVI Army Corps but renamed a month later. ...

Panzer Corps Feldherrnhalle The Panzerkorps ''Feldherrnhalle'' was a German panzer corps that fought on the Eastern Front during the Second World War. History The Panzerkorps Feldherrnhalle was formed on 27 November 1944 by redesignating ''IV. Armeekorps'' which had b ...

* Panzer Corps Grossdeutschland

Waffen-SS

I SS Panzer Corps The I SS Panzer Corps (german: I.SS-Panzerkorps) was a German armoured corps of the Waffen-SS. It saw action on both the Western and Eastern Fronts during World War II. Formation and training The corps was raised on 26 July 1943 in Berlin ...

II SS Panzer Corps The II SS Panzer Corps was a German Waffen-SS armoured corps which saw action on both the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern and Western Front (World War II), Western Fronts during World War II. It was commanded by Paul Hausser during the Thir ...

III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps The III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps (''III. (germanisches) SS-Panzerkorps'') was a German Waffen-SS armoured corps which saw action on the Eastern Front during World War II. The ''(germanische)'' (lit. Germanic) part of its designation was granted ...

IV SS Panzer Corps The IV SS Panzer Corps was a panzer corps of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany which saw action on the Eastern Front and in the Balkans during World War II. History The Panzerkorps was formed in August 1943 in Poitiers, France. The formation wa ...

VII SS Panzer Corps The VII SS Panzer Corps was an armoured corps of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany which never took part in hostilities. On 30 June 1944, the corps was merged into the IV SS Panzer Corps. History The headquarters of the VII SS Armored Corps were esta ...

Luftwaffe

* Parachute Panzer Corps Hermann Göring

References

{{Reflist * http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/KorpsPz/PzKprps.htm * http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/KorpsSS/Gliederung.htm * http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/KorpsSonstige/FallPzKorpsGliederung.htm * de Beaulieu, Charles 'Der Vorstoss der Panzergruppe 4 auf Leningrad'

Panzer This article deals with the tanks (german: panzer) serving in the German Army (''Deutsches Heer'') throughout history, such as the World War I tanks of the Imperial German Army, the interwar and World War II tanks of the Nazi German Wehrma ...