Josef Harpe

Infobox Military Person
name=Josef Harpe
born=birth date|1887|9|21|df=y
died=death date and age|1968|3|14|1887|9|21|df=y
placeofbirth=Buer
placeofdeath=Nuremberg


caption=Josef Harpe
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|German Empire German Empire (to 1918)
flagicon|Germany Weimar Republic (to 1933)
flagicon|Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
serviceyears=1909-1945
rank=Generaloberst
branch=Heer
commands=9. Armee
12. Panzer-Division
XXXXI.Panzerkorps
unit=
battles=World War I
World War II
awards=Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
laterwork=

Josef Harpe (21 September 1887 – 14 March 1968) was a German Generaloberst who served during World War I and World War II.

Harpe was born in Buer which is near Recklinghausen, Province of Westphalia, and died in Nuremberg, Bavaria.

Military career

Harpe joined the Prussian Army on September 28, 1909 as Fahnenjunker and was transferred to the Infantry Regiment 56 in 1911. Here he was promoted to Leutnant on March 20 and participated with this regiment in World War I. By the end of World War I he held the position of company commander.

After the war Harpe remained in the Reichswehr military service. In 1931, under the pseudonym "Direktor Hacker", he held a leading position in the secret German-Russian Tank-School ("Organisation Kama") in Kazan, Soviet Union. He was promoted to Oberstleutnant on August 1, 1934 and became commander of Panzer-Regiment 3 on October 15, 1935. Again promoted on January 1, 1937, he was put in charge of the 1st Panzerbrigade holding the rank of Oberst. After serving on the Eastern Front, by 1945 he ended up as the General Officer Commanding 5th Panzer Army, Western Front, with the rank of Generaloberst and was held as a prisoner of war by the United States until 1948. [http://www.generals.dk/general/Harpe/Josef/Germany.html]

Awards

* Iron Cross (1914) 2nd and 1st Class
* Wound Badge (1914) in Black
* Cross of Honor
* "Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung" 4th to 1st Class
* Clasp to the Iron Cross 2nd and 1st Class
* Panzer Badge in Silver
* Eastern Front Medal
* Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
** Knight's Cross (13 August 1941)
** 55. Oak Leaves (31 December 1941)
** 36. Swords (15 September 1943)
* German Cross in Gold (19 February 1943)
* Order of the Crown (Romania)
* Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 1 January 1944

References

* Berger, Florian. "Mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern. Die höchstdekorierten Soldaten des Zweiten Weltkrieges". Wien, Austria: Selbstverlag Florian Berger, 2006. ISBN 3-9501307-0-5.
* Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. "Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945". Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas, 2000. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
* Patzwall, Klaus D. and Scherzer, Veit. "Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 - 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II". Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, 2001. ISBN 3-931533-45-X.

External links

* [http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Personenregister/H/HarpeJ.htm Josef Harpe @ Lexikon der Wehrmacht]
* [http://www.das-ritterkreuz.de/index_search_db.php4?modul=search_result_det&wert1=2127&searchword=harpe Josef Harpe @ das-ritterkreuz.de]
* [http://www.geocities.com/~orion47/WEHRMACHT/HEER/Generaloberst/HARPE_JOSEF.html Josef Harpe @ Axis Biographical Research]