Panzer-Division Müncheberg
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History | |||||||||||||||
| Orders to form Panzer-Division Müncheberg were issued on 3.05.45,and it was offically formed on 3.08.45 in the Müncheberg area. Recordsindicate that a “Panzerbrigade Müncheberg” existed prior to March,1945, being formed one month earlier in February, 1945, although manysources are not able to confirm this fact (Wolfgang Schneider).Initially, Panzer-Abteilung Kummersdorf was transfered to the newlyforming Division. On 03.14.45, Panzer-Abteilung Kummersdorf was fullyintergrated into I./Panzer-Regiment 29 (Some sources seem to indicatethat this unit was also known as “Panzer-Abteilung Müncheberg”), themain armored unit of the Division. The Stab (HQ) of the Division wasformed from parts of the Stab Pz.Brig.103.In total, the Division formed a total of 4 Kompanien in theI./Panzer-Regiment 29, the only fully armored unit of the entire Division.Records indicate that orders were given to send to the Division 2Kompanien of infrared equiped tanks, but no there is no indication ifthese units actually reached the Division. Panzer-Division Müncheberg was quickly sent to the collapsingEastern Front and would see action in a series of swift and fierceoperations that would drive it westward from the Oder River into Berlinin a little under a month and a half. The Panzer-Division first saw action as a part of 9.Armee underArmeegruppe Weichsel, fighting against the Soviet forces attacking acrossthe Oder River near Küstrin, taking part in the fight against theadvance spearheads of Soviet Armor. The Division managed to fight theSoviet armor spearhead to a virtual stand-still on the hills west of theOder River, and later fought in the Seelow Heights region. The Divisionthen saw action in the area of the city of Müncheberg. Constantlypushed back by the Soviets, new defensive lines were taken up in the”Hardenberg Positions”. Pushed back once more by the Soviet onslaught, the Division made its waytowards Berlin where it took part in the bloody and bitter fighting forthe city itself. The operation to defend Berlin consisted inpart of dividing the city into 10 defensive sectors A-H and number 9, eachof which was defended by specific units and groups of troops and auxiliaryforces. Panzer-Division Müncheberg was at first located in thesoutheastern suburbs of Berlin, but on the night of April 26th, wasforced into the city in the eastern defensive sectors of A and B.Panzers of the Division fought near the Zoobunker and theTiergarden, and the last Panzer of the Division – a Tiger Tank – is saidto have been abandoned a few hundred meters from the Brandenburg gate.Most of the crew of the Panzers fought on as infantry in the fiercebattles for the city. Panzer-Division Mücheberg was never fully formed, and those unitsthat were formed, were finally destroyed in bloody fighting in thecity of Berlin. Those few suriviors of the fighting surrendered to theRussians. | |||||||||||||||
Organization | |||||||||||||||
The Panzer-Division did not fully form, and many of its organic units werenever completed. | |||||||||||||||
Commanders | |||||||||||||||
| Generalmajor der Reserve Werner Mummert 3.09.45 – 5.08.45 | |||||||||||||||
War Service | |||||||||||||||
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