Alfred Wünnenberg

Alfred Wünnenberg
Alfred Wünnenberg as Major General of Police
Born	(1891-07-20)20 July 1891 Sarrebourg
Died	30 December 1963(1963-12-30) (aged 72) Krefeld
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Waffen SS Ordnungspolizei
Years of service	1913–1945
Rank	SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS
Unit	4th SS Polizei Panzer Grenadier Division
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross with Oakleaves Iron Cross 1st Class (1914) & (1939) Iron Cross 2nd Class (1914) & (1939) Wound Badge in Gold Eastern Front

Alfred Bernhard Julius Ernst Wünnenberg (20 July 1891 — 30 December 1963) was SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen SS und Polizei and the commander of the 4th SS Polizei Panzer Grenadier Division during World War II who was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves.

World War I

Alfred Wünnenberg was born on 20 July 1891 at Saarburg/ Sarrebourg, Alsace-Lorraine, Germany. In February 1913 he joined the army and served in the 56th Infantry Regiment and was soon promoted to Unteroffizier. He took part in World War I and served on the Western Front and was severely wounded in September 1914. In January 1915 he was promoted to lieutenant, and given command of the 8th Company, 255th Infantry Regiment. He was selected for pilot training in June 1916 which was completed in August 1917, afterwards he was posted to the 47th Flying Division as a reconnaissance pilot.

Between the wars

After the end of the War, he served on the eastern border in Upper Silesia as part of the free corps, after his promotion to captain, he left the army in September 1920, to be a lieutenant of the Prussian police unit. In April 1920 he was in command of the dog platoon at the Police School in Essen and was from February 1920 to April 1921 made an instructor at the police school in Potsdam. Then in February 1924 he took over command of the police dog unit, this was followed by further postings to the police schools in Krefeld (1926) and Cologne (1928). In May 1928 he was in charge of police administration serving in Berlin, Charlottenburg. where in 1929 he married and had a daughter. In May 1933 he joined the NSDAP, and issued the party number 2,222,600. From August 1933 he commanded the guard police in Beuthen, in February 1935 in Saarbrücken, in October 1937 Bremen and Mannheim. In December 1938, he moved to the staff of the police inspector of Stuttgart.

World War II

On 2 October 1939 he became the commander of the 3rd Polizei Schützen Regiment with the rank of Standartenführer and given the SS service number 405 898. With this regiment, he took on the Battle of France and the attack on the Soviet Union in 1941 Operation Barbarossa when on 15 November 1941 he was awarded the Knight's Cross. In December 1941 he took over the command of the 4th SS Polizei Division from Walter Krüger. In recognition of the heavy fighting the unit was involved in on 23 April 1942 he was promoted to SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Polizei and awarded the Oakleaves to the Knight's Cross.

On 10 June 1943, he was moved to command the IV SS Panzer Corps, where he remained until 31 August. Afterwards he became chief of the Ordnungspolizei. This post he held up to the end of the war. Alfred Wünnenberg died on 30 December 1963 in Krefeld.

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross of 1914), 1st and 2nd class
• Wound Badge (1918) in Gold
• Clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st and 2nd class
• Eastern Front Medal
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross on 15 November 1941
  • Oak Leaves on 23 April 1942 (91st award)
• Sword of honour of the Reichsführer-SS
• SS Honour Ring ("Totenkopfring")

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 – Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtsteile (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Ritterkreuzträger 1939 – 1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.

External links

• Media related to Alfred Wünnenberg at Wikimedia Commons