Baron Gottfried Heinrich von VietinghoffRichard Otto, genannt von Scheel, born on December 6, 1887, in Mainz and died on February 23, 1952, in Pfronten-Ried, was a German general of the Wehrmacht of World War II. He commanded the 10th German Army in Italy.
Heinrich Von Vietinghoff - Biography
Heinrich Richard Gottfried Otto von Vietinghoff came from the ancient family von Vietinghoff, a branch of Scheel native of Westphalia, with branches throughout northern Europe. His parents, the future Generalleutnant artillery of the army of Prussia Hans-Hermann von Vietinghoff and his mother, née Countess von Leona Schmettow (1861-1942), strongly supported his military career. His early contact with military life made him join the army at age 15; he had to lie about his age in the early years of his service.
November 24, 1938, Vietinghoff was appointed as commander of the 5th Panzer Division and took part in the invasion of Poland under the command of General Wilhelm von Leeb. He was promoted to general in June 1940 and then directed the 46th Panzer Corps in Yugoslavia and took a decisive role in the invasion of the Balkans.
During Operation Barbarossa, he joined the Army Group Centre under the command of General Fedor von Bock. At that time, he had an accident, which earned him the nickname “Panzerknacker” (char crusher). Vietinghoff also served later under the command of General Guderian in the 2nd Panzer Army.
From December 1942 until August 1943, he was commander of the Fifteenth German army, whose headquarters was in Tourcoing (now the Museum June 5, 1944). The Fifteenth Army opposed the forces of General Mark Clark, and Allied troops landed at Salerno in September 1943. It took a variety of commands in Italy since 1943.
On the Gustav Line, the Americans exhausted required the replacement of February 12, 1944, fresh troops from the New Zealand Corps. 15 February 1944, the U.S. Air Force destroyed the Abbey of Monte Cassino. General Harold Alexander led the assault in May during the absence of Vietinghoff, who was in Germany to receive the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves from Hitler.
It would require the support of the troops of General Juin and General Anders for Abbey Falls on May 18. Vietinghoff succeeded General Kesselring when he was hospitalized for three months after a crash on Oct. 25, 1944. Vietinghoff in Prussia in January 1945, then he was the supreme commander in Italy on March 23, 1945. He went on 2 May 1945 and remained a prisoner of war until 1946 May 23, 1945, at special camp No. 11 of Bolzano.
Heinrich Von Vietinghoff Family
Heinrich von Vietinghoff, on January 6, 1920, wife Elfriede Wagner (1892-1989), daughter of Colonel Ludwig Wagner, widow (in 1912) after sixteen months of marriage to the Alsatian industrialist Adolf Schwarzmann.
Specials
- Photograph of General von Vietinghoff1.Fähnrich: March 6, 1906
- Leutnant - January 27, 1907
- Hauptmann - June 24, 1915
- Primary - 1 March 1926
- Oberstleutnant - February 1, 1931
- Oberst - April 1, 1933
- Generalmajor - 1st April 1936
- Generalleutnant - 1 March 1938
- General der Panzertruppen - 1st June 1940
- Generaloberst - 1st September 1943