On 22 April 1945, Kaether briefly replaced General Hellmuth Reymann as commander of the Berlin Defence Area and for the defense of the city of Berlin. Kaether was personally promoted to Generalleutnant by Adolf Hitler for this command. However, Kaether never actually took command of Berlin's defenses for the Battle of Berlin. Before Kaether could take command, Hitler cancelled his promotions, and Kaether was replaced by General Helmuth Weidling. For a brief period between Kaether and Weidling, Hitler himself took personal command of the Berlin defences. Another newly-promoted "Generalmajor", Erich Bärenfänger, was Hitler's "deputy" commander of the Berlin Defense Area during the brief period.