Landstreitkräfte

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 Chief of the Land Forces

The **Land Forces** (German: *Landstreitkräfte*) are the ground-based military branch of the German People's Army, the armed forces of the Free Socialist Republic of Germany. They are the largest branch of the military, numbering 660,000 troops as of 1931.

## Organisation

The Land Forces are led by the *Oberkommando der Landstreitkräfte* (OKL), the high command structure, whose current Chief Commander is Albert Schreiner.

The highest level of organisation is the Land Forces Group, of which there are three: West, South and Centre. Each Land Forces Group is composed of a number of Armies, of which there are a total of seven. Each Army is composed of a number of Corps, of which there are a total of eighteen. Each Corps is composed of Divisions, of which there are a total of sixty-one.

### Order of Battle

Note that the three divisions of the Red Guard are not subordinated to the Land Forces in peacetime, but would be attached to the listed corps in the event of war.

#### **Land Forces Group West** (HQ: Osnabrück)

Formed through the merger of the Army Front Elbe, Army Front Rhine and part of the Army Front Spree in 1921.

Commander: Field Marshal Ludwig Renn

**1st Army** (HQ: Dortmund)
Commander: Colonel General Hans Marchwitza

**I Corps** (HQ: Essen)
3rd Infantry Division (Wesel)
5th Cavalry Division (Dinslaken)
6th Infantry Division (Essen)
29th Infantry Division (Bocholt)
**III Corps** (HQ: Oberhausen)
28th Infantry Division (Duisburg)
33rd Infantry Division (Mülheim)
2nd Motorized Rifle Division (Oberhausen)
1st Cavalry Division (Bochum)
**VI Corps** (HQ: Solingen)
22nd Infantry Division (Düsseldorf)
26th Infantry Division (Solingen)
3rd Red Guard Division 'Yakov Sverdlov' (Dortmund)
1st Panzer Division (Düsseldorf)
**Reserve**
2nd Infantry Division (Wuppertal)
**3rd Army** (HQ: Siegen)
Commander: Colonel General Max Hoelz

**II Corps** (HQ: Bergisch Gladbach)
27th Infantry Division (Ost-Köln)
31st Infantry Division (Bergisch Gladbach)
4th Motorized Rifle Division (Leverkusen)
**IV Corps** (HQ: Altenkirchen)
30th Infantry Division (Siegburg)
35th Infantry Division (Neuwied)
36th Infantry Division (Lahnstein)
**VIII Corps** (HQ: Gießen)
34th Infantry Division (Hanau)
32nd Infantry Division (Wiesbaden)
3rd Motorized Rifle Division (Frankfurt)
**Reserve**
40th Infantry Division (Altenkirchen)
**6th Army** (HQ: Hamburg)
Commander: Major General Erich Wollenberg

**V Corps** (HQ: Oldenburg)
24th Infantry Division (Osnabrück)
25th Infantry Division (Bremen)
4th Cavalry Division (Lingen)
**IX Corps** (HQ: Kiel)
18th Infantry Division (Rendsburg)
20th Infantry Division (Kiel)
#### **Land Forces Group South** (HQ: Bamberg)

Succeeded the Army Front South in 1921.

Commander: Field Marshal Ernst Thälmann

**2nd Army** (HQ: München)
Commander: Lieutenant General Hans Beimler

**VII Corps** (HQ: Bad Kissingen)
41st Infantry Division (Aschaffenburg)
19th Infantry Division (Schweinfurt)
16th Infantry Division (Iphofen)
**X Corps** (HQ: Nürnberg)
38th Infantry Division (Ansbach)
2nd Cavalry Division (Nürnberg)
2nd Panzer Division (Ansbach)
**XII Corps** (HQ: Augsburg)
5th Infantry Division (Nördlingen)
17th Infantry Division (Neu-Ulm)
39th Infantry Division (Memmingen)
**Reserve**
14th Infantry Division (München)
**5th Army** (HQ: Regensburg)
Commander: Major General Wilhelm Zaisser

**XI Corps** (HQ: Amberg)
23rd Infantry Division (Weiden)
42nd Infantry Division (Passau)
**XIII Mountain Corps** (HQ: Rosenheim)
1st Mountain Division (Markt Oberdorf)
2nd Mountain Division (Rosenheim)
#### **Land Forces Group Centre** (HQ: Berlin)

Formed through the merger of the Army Front East and part of the Army Front Spree in 1921.

Commander: Colonel General Albert Schreiner

**4th Army** (HQ: Berlin)
Commander: Major General Willi Budich

**XIV Corps** (HQ: Berlin)
1st Infantry Division (Berlin)
1st Red Guard Division 'Friedrich Engels' (Berlin)
21st Infantry Division (Stettin)
**XVI Corps** (HQ: Leipzig)
4th Infantry Division (Karlsbad)
2nd Red Guard Division 'Jean Jaurès' (Leipzig)
1st Motorized Rifle Division (Leipzig)
**XVII Corps** (HQ: Dresden)
9th Infantry Division (Glatz)
11th Infantry Division (Aussig)
15th Infantry Division (Reichenberg)
**Reserve**
7th Infantry Division (Dresden)
**7th Army** (HQ: Bromberg)
Commander: Major General Hans Kahle

**XV Corps** (HQ: Friedrich-Engels-Stadt)
10th Infantry Division (Friedrich-Engels-Stadt)
12th Infantry Division (Tilsit)
13th Infantry Division (Danzig)
3rd Cavalry Division (Goldap)
**XVIII Corps** (HQ: Breslau)
8th Infantry Division (Zabrze)
37th Infantry Division (Breslau)