Fritz Klingenberg

awards

Iron Cross 2nd Class Iron Cross 1st Class. Knight's Cross (14 May 1941). German Cross in Gold (April 28, 1944).

Career

Rank: SS Standartenführer Part: 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich" On December 1, 1931, he joined the Party (No. 851328), and on November 14, 1932, the troops (No. 51487). In 1934, he joined the SS reinforcement units and completed courses at the SS Junker School in Bad Tölz. On April 20, 1935, he was promoted to SS Untersturmführer. Continued service in the SS Standard "Germania". Participated in the French campaign (May-June 1940). Awarded the Iron Cross of both degrees. Commanded: 17th SS Motorized Division "Goetz von Berlichingen"

"Hero of Belgrade"

situation. He demanded lists of prisoners. Of these, he assigned the most loyal to the German regime to guard the surrendered soldiers. He also demanded reports on the city's food, medicine, and fuel supplies. Klingenberg convinced the garrison commander to provide a map of the minefields and a diagram showing the location of the gun batteries and machine gun nests. On his orders, special markings were made on the Belgrade airfield, clearly visible from the air, turning it into a landing site for German military aircraft. The lucky Hauptsturmführer sent a number of former Belgrade prisoners to restore the railway lines. On the evening of April 12, soldiers from Klingenberg's unit, who had failed to cross the Danube with him, approached the city. According to them, they saw the German flag and were sure that the main German units had entered the city from the other side, and that their commander had long since died. The first combat reconnaissance groups entered the city on the night of April 13. During the day, the main forces of the division entered Belgrade, which had been captured by Hauptsturmführer Klingenberg, without a fight. Two days of radio contacts between Klingenberg and the divisional command forced the German command to puzzle over whether this was the real Hauptsturmführer Fritz Klingenberg, or whether he had been captured and had given up secret radio codes with which he misinformed and lured German soldiers into a trap. Or, worse, whether he was simply a traitor and was voluntarily helping the Yugoslav side. The Supreme Command could not fully believe such a happy outcome and feared a trick. Only the guarantee of Paul Hausser made them believe Klingenberg's information about the capitulation of Belgrade. The regiment commander, who had “lost” Fritz and had not received any intelligence from him for several days, pounced on him with accusations when they met, to which the surprised Klingenberg responded: And I took the city. Should I give it back now!? The capture of Belgrade, in essence, drew a line under the Yugoslav operation as a whole.

"Service after Belgrade"

In 1942 he was transferred as a staff officer to the SS Junker School in Bad Tölz. From 1943 he was the commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 2nd SS Panzer Regiment of the SS Division "Das Reich". From January 21 to March 22, 1945, he commanded the 17th SS Motorized Division "Götz von Berlichingen". was wounded on March 23, 1945 in Herxheim (Bavaria) during the battles against the 15th American Corps of the 7th Army: until the last moments he fired at American tanks from a heavy FlaK 18 gun.

Character

He likes to joke and tease, is charismatic, a polemicist personality type, strict, straightforward, sarcastic, and cunning at work.