Karl Rothenburg

Karl Eduard August Rothenburg (8 June 1894 – 28 June 1941) was a highly decorated German officer in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was a recipient of both the Pour le Mérite (of World War I) and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Between wars he served as a commander in the police force, before returning to the Wehrmacht in 1934. During World War II he was the commander of a Panzer Regiment of the 7th Panzer Division. Rothenburg was killed six days into the invasion of the Soviet Union on 28 June 1941 near Minsk, Belarus and was posthumously promoted to Generalmajor.

Early career and World War I

Karl Rothenburg was born on 8 June 1894 in Fürstenwalde, German Empire as the son of high school teacher Georg Rothenburg and his wife Alwina (néé Sittmann). Following the Abitur, young Karl became a teacher as well, but was drafted into the German Imperial Army as One-year volunteer on 1 April 1914. He was assigned to the 3rd Company of the 5th Guards Foot Regiment (5. Garde-Regiment zu Fuß) located in Spandau near Berlin and underwent his basic training there.

Rothenburg spent following months with the training on Czechoslovak Panzer 38(t) tanks and developed a kind relationship with new divisional commander, then-Generalmajor Erwin Rommel. During the Battle of France in May and June 1940, Rothenburg's regiment broke through the Allies' Meuse River defenses, smashed through Belgium and France, and overran French 1st Armoured Division, destroying more than 100 tanks and some 30 armored cars in the process.

Then Rothenburg and his tanks helped to repel British counterattack to Arras, overran the French 31st Motorized Infantry Division and then helped destroy French 1st Army at Lille. The 25th Panzer Regiment then turned south and captured the city of Cherbourg and pushed almost to the Spanish border by the time the French surrendered. Rothenburg also rescued Rommel by picking him up from the battlefield, when his command tank was knocked out. For his service in France, Rothenburg received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the highest decoration of Nazi Germany awarded for bravery in combat.

The 25th Panzer Regiment was then engaged in the occupation duties in the area of Bordeaux until February 1941 when it was relocated to East Prussia. During the Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, Rothenburg and his regiment during the capture of Wilna on 24 June 1941. His regiment then became involved in the heavy fighting of Minsk, where Rothenburg was wounded by an explosion from the burning armored train.

Rothenburg was offered to be evacuated by a Fiesler Storch reconnaissance plane or by a panzer escort, but he refused both because he didn't want to weaken his already depleted regiment. He decided to drive with two cars back to the rear. On his way through the enemy occupied land, he was killed on 28 June and his body was discovered the next day. Rothenburg was posthumously promoted to Generalmajor and his regiment received an honorary title "Panzerregiment Rothenburg", which was also commonly accepted by its members.

Awards Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 3 June 1940 as Oberst and commander of Panzer-Regiment 25 Pour le Mérite (30 June 1918) Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (15 September 1939) 1st Class (9 October 1939) Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords (23 May 1918) Prussian Iron Cross (1914) 2nd Class 1st Class Wound Badge (1918) in Black Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 Panzer Badge in Bronze Sudetenland Medal with the Prague Castle bar Wehrmacht Long Service Award, 1st Class