The 9. SS-Panzer-Division Hohenstaufen was formed, along with its sister
formation 10. SS-Panzer-Division Frundsberg, in France in February 1943.
The division was mainly formed from Reichsarbeitdienst (RAD) conscripts.
Originally, Hohenstaufen was designated as a Panzergrenadier division,
but in October 1943 it was promoted to full Panzer Division status. At
its formation, Hohenstaufen was commanded by SS-Obergruppenführer Willi
Bittrich. The title Hohenstaufen came from the Hohenstaufen dynasty, a
Germanic noble family who produced a number of kings and emperors in the
12th and 13th centuries AD. It is believed that the division was named
specifically after Friedrich II, who lived from 1194-1250.
After the encirclement of Generaloberst Hans-Valentin Hube's
1.Panzerarmee near Kamenets Podolsky in Ukraine, Generalfeldmarschall
Erich von Manstein requested that the Hohenstaufen and Frundsberg
divisions be sent to attempt to link up with the trapped force.
Arriving in the east in late March 1944, the divisions were formed into
the II. SS-Panzerkorps and were sent into the attack near the town of
Tarnopol. After heavy fighting in the horrible conditions caused by the
rasputitsa ("mud season"), the division effected a linkup with Hube's
forces near the town of Buczacz. During these battles, Hohenstaufen had
suffered heavy casualties, and in late April was pulled out of the line
to refit. The II SS Panzerkorps was to act as reserve for Heeresgruppe
Nordukraine, performing "fire brigade" duties for the Army Group. After
the Allied invasion of France on 6 June 1944, the II. SS-Panzerkorps,
including Hohenstaufen, was sent west on 12 June to defend Caen in
Normandy.
NORMANDY
Hohenstaufen suffered losses from Allied fighter bombers during its move
to Normandy, delaying its arrival until 26 June 1944. The original plan
for Hohenstaufen to attack towards the Allied beachhead was made
impossible by a British offensive to take Caen. The II. SS-Panzerkorps
was instead put into the line to support the weakened forces defending
Caen. Hohenstaufen was involved in ferocious fighting until early July,
suffering 1,200 casualties. On 10 July, the division was pulled back into
reserve, to be replaced by the 277 Infanterie-Division.
After the launching of another British offensive aimed at taking Caen,
Hohenstaufen was again put back into the line, this time defending Hill
112, taking over the positions of the battered Frundsberg. After more
heavy fighting, Hohenstaufen was again pulled out of the line on 15 July.
The division's depleted Panzergrenadier regiments were merged to form
Panzergrenadier Regiment Hohenstaufen. The division saw heavy action
defending against British armour during Operation GOODWOOD, suffering
heavy losses, but succeeded in holding the line.
After the launch of the Canadian Operation TOTALISE, Hohenstaufen
performed a fighting withdrawal, avoiding encirclement in the Falaise
pocket, and fighting to keep the narrow escape route from this pocket
open. By 21 August, the battle of Normandy was over, and the German
forces were in full retreat. SS-Obersturmbannführer Walter Harzer was now
placed in command of the division. The division fought several rearguard
actions during the retreat through France and Belgium, and in early
September 1944, the exhausted unit was pulled out of the line for rest
and refit near the Dutch city of Arnhem. By this time Hohenstaufen was
down to approximately 7,000 men, from 15,900 at the end of June.
ARNHEM
Upon arriving in the Arnhem area, the division began the task of
refitting. The majority of the remaining armoured vehicles were loaded
onto trains in preparation for transport to repair depots in Germany. On
Sunday, 17 September 1944, the Allies launched Operation Market-Garden,
and the British 1st Airborne Division was dropped in Oosterbeek, to the
west of Arnhem. Realising the threat, Bittrich (now commander of II.
SS-Panzerkorps) ordered Hohenstaufen and Frundsberg to ready themselves
for combat. The division's armour was unloaded from the trains and
workshop units worked frantically to replace the tanks tracks, which had
been removed for transportation. Of the division's armoured units, only
the division's reconnaissance battalion, SS-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 9,
equipped mostly with wheeled and half-tracked vehicles, was ready for
immediate action.
Bittrich ordered Hohenstaufen to occupy Arnhem and secure the vital
Arnhem Bridge. Harzer sent the division to the city, encountering stiff
resistance from the Roten Teufel (Red Devils), as the Germans came to
call the British paratoopers. The Aufklärungs Abt, commanded by
SS-Hauptsturmführer Paul Gräbner, was sent south over the bridge to scout
the area around Nijmegen. Gräbner had that day received the Knight's
Cross for his actions in Normandy.
While the Aufklärungs Abt was scouting to the south of Arnhem, Colonel
John Frost's 2nd Battalion of the British 1st Airborne Division had
advanced into Arnhem and prepared defensive positions at the northern end
of the bridge. Gräbner returned from his scouting mission to the south on
the morning of 18 September, and ordered his reconnaissance unit to
attack north across the bridge.
Gräbner's exact intentions remain a mystery, but he apparently either
hoped to recapture the bridge or to race through the British defences to
assist the rest of the division in its defence of Arnhem. Either way, the
attack was a complete disaster. The Paras were ready, and after allowing
the first four vehicles to pass, they opened up with PIAT anti-tank
launchers, flamethrowers and small arms fire. In two hours of fighting,
the Aufklärungs Abt was virtually annihilated, losing 22 vehicles and
around 70 men, including Gräbner.
Throughout the eight-day battle, the division operated mostly in and to
the west of Arnhem, fighting with Frost's battalion and reducing the
pocket containing the remainder of the 1st Airborne, which had become
encircled near Oosterbeek. The battle of Arnhem was a victory for
Hohenstaufen. With the assistance of other German units, the division had
destroyed an elite British airborne unit, which was badly outnumbered and
only lightly armed. Despite the intensity of the fighting, the soldiers
of Hohenstaufen and Frundsberg treated the captured paratroopers
courteously, although there are reports of cold-blooded executions by
some SS members , and Bittrich remarked that the tenacity and fighting
prowess of the Red Devils was not to be matched, even by the Soviets.
THE ARDENNES
After the battle of Arnhem, Hohenstaufen moved to Paderborn for a
much-needed rest and refit. On 12 December 1944, the division moved south
to the Munstereifel. It was to act as a reserve for Sepp Dietrich's
6.Panzerarmee, a part of the Ardennes offensive (Unternehmen: Wacht am
Rhein). 6.Panzerarmee was tasked with attacking in the north, along the
line St. Vith - Vielsalm. Initially, only the divisional reconnaissance
and artillery units were involved in fighting, but on the 21st the entire
division was committed.
When the attack in the north stalled, the division was sent south to
assist in the attacks on Bastogne. Hohenstaufen was involved in the
fighting around Bastogne, taking heavy casualties from the American
defenders, and losing much equipment to the incessant attacks of Allied
ground attack aircraft. On 7 January 1945, Hitler called off the
operation and ordered all forces to concentrate around Longchamps, and
the division was involved in holding this area, as well as keeping lines
of communication open with the 5.Panzerarmee to the south.
OPERATION: FRüHLINGSERWACHEN
Throughout the rest of January 1945, Hohenstaufen was involved in a
fighting withdrawal to the German border. At the end of the month, the
division was transferred to the Kaifenheim-Mayen area to be refitted.
At the end of February, the division was sent east to Hungary as a part
of the reformed 6.SS-Panzerarmee under Sepp Dietrich. The division, along
with the majority of the SS Panzer units available, was to take part in
Operation Frühlingserwachen ("Spring Awakening"), the offensive near Lake
Balaton aimed at securing the Hungarian oilfields and relieving the
forces trapped in Budapest by the Soviets.
The attack got under way on 6 March 1945 despite the terrible ground
conditions. Due to the condition of the roads, the division had not
reached its jump-off position when the attack began. A combination of mud
and stiff Soviet resistance brought the offensive to a halt, and on 16
March a Soviet counter-offensive threatened to cut off the
6.SS-Panzerarmee. Hohenstaufen was involved in the ferocious fighting to
escape the Soviet encirclement, and on 6 April the tattered remnants of
the division emerged from the trap.
On 1 May, the greatly depleted division was moved west to the
Steyr-Amstetten area. It was ordered to stop the American advance without
using force, and not to endanger the ongoing negotiations between the
Germans and the Western Allies. On 8 May 1945, the survivors of
Hohenstaufen surrendered to the Americans.
formation 10. SS-Panzer-Division Frundsberg, in France in February 1943.
The division was mainly formed from Reichsarbeitdienst (RAD) conscripts.
Originally, Hohenstaufen was designated as a Panzergrenadier division,
but in October 1943 it was promoted to full Panzer Division status. At
its formation, Hohenstaufen was commanded by SS-Obergruppenführer Willi
Bittrich. The title Hohenstaufen came from the Hohenstaufen dynasty, a
Germanic noble family who produced a number of kings and emperors in the
12th and 13th centuries AD. It is believed that the division was named
specifically after Friedrich II, who lived from 1194-1250.
After the encirclement of Generaloberst Hans-Valentin Hube's
1.Panzerarmee near Kamenets Podolsky in Ukraine, Generalfeldmarschall
Erich von Manstein requested that the Hohenstaufen and Frundsberg
divisions be sent to attempt to link up with the trapped force.
Arriving in the east in late March 1944, the divisions were formed into
the II. SS-Panzerkorps and were sent into the attack near the town of
Tarnopol. After heavy fighting in the horrible conditions caused by the
rasputitsa ("mud season"), the division effected a linkup with Hube's
forces near the town of Buczacz. During these battles, Hohenstaufen had
suffered heavy casualties, and in late April was pulled out of the line
to refit. The II SS Panzerkorps was to act as reserve for Heeresgruppe
Nordukraine, performing "fire brigade" duties for the Army Group. After
the Allied invasion of France on 6 June 1944, the II. SS-Panzerkorps,
including Hohenstaufen, was sent west on 12 June to defend Caen in
Normandy.
NORMANDY
Hohenstaufen suffered losses from Allied fighter bombers during its move
to Normandy, delaying its arrival until 26 June 1944. The original plan
for Hohenstaufen to attack towards the Allied beachhead was made
impossible by a British offensive to take Caen. The II. SS-Panzerkorps
was instead put into the line to support the weakened forces defending
Caen. Hohenstaufen was involved in ferocious fighting until early July,
suffering 1,200 casualties. On 10 July, the division was pulled back into
reserve, to be replaced by the 277 Infanterie-Division.
After the launching of another British offensive aimed at taking Caen,
Hohenstaufen was again put back into the line, this time defending Hill
112, taking over the positions of the battered Frundsberg. After more
heavy fighting, Hohenstaufen was again pulled out of the line on 15 July.
The division's depleted Panzergrenadier regiments were merged to form
Panzergrenadier Regiment Hohenstaufen. The division saw heavy action
defending against British armour during Operation GOODWOOD, suffering
heavy losses, but succeeded in holding the line.
After the launch of the Canadian Operation TOTALISE, Hohenstaufen
performed a fighting withdrawal, avoiding encirclement in the Falaise
pocket, and fighting to keep the narrow escape route from this pocket
open. By 21 August, the battle of Normandy was over, and the German
forces were in full retreat. SS-Obersturmbannführer Walter Harzer was now
placed in command of the division. The division fought several rearguard
actions during the retreat through France and Belgium, and in early
September 1944, the exhausted unit was pulled out of the line for rest
and refit near the Dutch city of Arnhem. By this time Hohenstaufen was
down to approximately 7,000 men, from 15,900 at the end of June.
ARNHEM
Upon arriving in the Arnhem area, the division began the task of
refitting. The majority of the remaining armoured vehicles were loaded
onto trains in preparation for transport to repair depots in Germany. On
Sunday, 17 September 1944, the Allies launched Operation Market-Garden,
and the British 1st Airborne Division was dropped in Oosterbeek, to the
west of Arnhem. Realising the threat, Bittrich (now commander of II.
SS-Panzerkorps) ordered Hohenstaufen and Frundsberg to ready themselves
for combat. The division's armour was unloaded from the trains and
workshop units worked frantically to replace the tanks tracks, which had
been removed for transportation. Of the division's armoured units, only
the division's reconnaissance battalion, SS-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 9,
equipped mostly with wheeled and half-tracked vehicles, was ready for
immediate action.
Bittrich ordered Hohenstaufen to occupy Arnhem and secure the vital
Arnhem Bridge. Harzer sent the division to the city, encountering stiff
resistance from the Roten Teufel (Red Devils), as the Germans came to
call the British paratoopers. The Aufklärungs Abt, commanded by
SS-Hauptsturmführer Paul Gräbner, was sent south over the bridge to scout
the area around Nijmegen. Gräbner had that day received the Knight's
Cross for his actions in Normandy.
While the Aufklärungs Abt was scouting to the south of Arnhem, Colonel
John Frost's 2nd Battalion of the British 1st Airborne Division had
advanced into Arnhem and prepared defensive positions at the northern end
of the bridge. Gräbner returned from his scouting mission to the south on
the morning of 18 September, and ordered his reconnaissance unit to
attack north across the bridge.
Gräbner's exact intentions remain a mystery, but he apparently either
hoped to recapture the bridge or to race through the British defences to
assist the rest of the division in its defence of Arnhem. Either way, the
attack was a complete disaster. The Paras were ready, and after allowing
the first four vehicles to pass, they opened up with PIAT anti-tank
launchers, flamethrowers and small arms fire. In two hours of fighting,
the Aufklärungs Abt was virtually annihilated, losing 22 vehicles and
around 70 men, including Gräbner.
Throughout the eight-day battle, the division operated mostly in and to
the west of Arnhem, fighting with Frost's battalion and reducing the
pocket containing the remainder of the 1st Airborne, which had become
encircled near Oosterbeek. The battle of Arnhem was a victory for
Hohenstaufen. With the assistance of other German units, the division had
destroyed an elite British airborne unit, which was badly outnumbered and
only lightly armed. Despite the intensity of the fighting, the soldiers
of Hohenstaufen and Frundsberg treated the captured paratroopers
courteously, although there are reports of cold-blooded executions by
some SS members , and Bittrich remarked that the tenacity and fighting
prowess of the Red Devils was not to be matched, even by the Soviets.
THE ARDENNES
After the battle of Arnhem, Hohenstaufen moved to Paderborn for a
much-needed rest and refit. On 12 December 1944, the division moved south
to the Munstereifel. It was to act as a reserve for Sepp Dietrich's
6.Panzerarmee, a part of the Ardennes offensive (Unternehmen: Wacht am
Rhein). 6.Panzerarmee was tasked with attacking in the north, along the
line St. Vith - Vielsalm. Initially, only the divisional reconnaissance
and artillery units were involved in fighting, but on the 21st the entire
division was committed.
When the attack in the north stalled, the division was sent south to
assist in the attacks on Bastogne. Hohenstaufen was involved in the
fighting around Bastogne, taking heavy casualties from the American
defenders, and losing much equipment to the incessant attacks of Allied
ground attack aircraft. On 7 January 1945, Hitler called off the
operation and ordered all forces to concentrate around Longchamps, and
the division was involved in holding this area, as well as keeping lines
of communication open with the 5.Panzerarmee to the south.
OPERATION: FRüHLINGSERWACHEN
Throughout the rest of January 1945, Hohenstaufen was involved in a
fighting withdrawal to the German border. At the end of the month, the
division was transferred to the Kaifenheim-Mayen area to be refitted.
At the end of February, the division was sent east to Hungary as a part
of the reformed 6.SS-Panzerarmee under Sepp Dietrich. The division, along
with the majority of the SS Panzer units available, was to take part in
Operation Frühlingserwachen ("Spring Awakening"), the offensive near Lake
Balaton aimed at securing the Hungarian oilfields and relieving the
forces trapped in Budapest by the Soviets.
The attack got under way on 6 March 1945 despite the terrible ground
conditions. Due to the condition of the roads, the division had not
reached its jump-off position when the attack began. A combination of mud
and stiff Soviet resistance brought the offensive to a halt, and on 16
March a Soviet counter-offensive threatened to cut off the
6.SS-Panzerarmee. Hohenstaufen was involved in the ferocious fighting to
escape the Soviet encirclement, and on 6 April the tattered remnants of
the division emerged from the trap.
On 1 May, the greatly depleted division was moved west to the
Steyr-Amstetten area. It was ordered to stop the American advance without
using force, and not to endanger the ongoing negotiations between the
Germans and the Western Allies. On 8 May 1945, the survivors of
Hohenstaufen surrendered to the Americans.