About the allusion to the mountain soldier and the edelweiss, the scientific name of the edelweiss is alpine edelweiss, is a plant that grows at an altitude of 2000 to 2900 meters, according to legend, there is an Austrian young man who risked his life to climb the cliff to pick a edelweiss flower and give it to his sweetheart to express his loyal love, which gradually evolved into a symbol of courage, the Austro-Hungarian king Franz Joseph I in 1907 first established the tradition of edelweiss as a symbol of the mountain troops, during the First World War this tradition was introduced to Germany, Earlier, edelweiss often referred to the 1st Mountain Division, and later with the continuous expansion of the scale, the edelweiss became a symbol of pride for the entire Wehrmacht mountain troops, and even affected the mountain troops of the SS system, such as the famous Waffen-SS 6th Northern Mountain Division nicknamed the black edelweiss, and to this day the mountain troops in the German army still regard the edelweiss as a symbol, and is also the national flower of Austria.
Wehrmacht system
The 1st Mountain Division, reorganized on 9 April 1938 from the Wehrkreis VII, was first commanded by Major General Ludwig Kubler (promoted to General of the Army Mountain Army on 24 November 1941) and surrendered to the U.S. army at Furstenfeld, Austria, at the end of the war. Note: The first commander in this article is the first commander after the formation or reorganization of the unit into the Mountain Division.
The 2nd Mountain Division was reorganized on 1 April 1938 from the Wehrkreis XII, with its first commander being Major General Valentin Feurstein (promoted to Army Mountain General on 1 September 1941) and surrendering to the Americans at The end of the war in Wurttemberg, Germany. Note: There is also a theory that Tirol surrendered to the U.S. military in Austria.
The 3rd Mountain Division , formed on 1 April 1938 from the Austrian 5th and 7th Divisions , was first commanded by Major General Eduard Dietl ( promoted to General on 1 June 1942 ) , which surrendered to the Soviets at Silesia , Poland at the end of the war.
The 4th Mountain Division ( formed on 23 October 1940 in Heuberg , Germany ) , was first commanded by Colonel Karl Eglseer ( promoted to General of the Army Mountain Army on 1 March 1944 ) , and surrendered to the Soviets at the end of the war in Olomouc, Czech Republic.
The 5th Mountain Division (formed on 25 October 1940 in Salzburg, Austria) was first commanded by Major General Karl Eglseer (promoted to General of the Army Mountain Army on 1 June 1944) and surrendered to the Americans in Turin, Italy, at the end of the war.
The 6th Mountain Division, formed on 1 June 1940 in Heuberg, Germany, was first commanded by Colonel Ferdinand Schorner (promoted to Field Marshal on 5 April 1945) and surrendered to the British at Troms-Finnmark in Norway at the end of the war.
The 7th Mountain Division ,formed on 22 October 1941 from the 99th Light Infantry Division, was first commanded by Major General Ferdinand Schorner (promoted to General of the Army Mountain Army on 1 March 1942) and ended the war in Lillehammer, Norway. Lillehammer) surrendered to the British.
The 8th Mountain Division, formed on 1 October 1944 from the 157th Infantry Division, was renamed the 157th Mountain Division on 27 February 1945, with the sole commander being Major General Paul Schricker . Promoted to lieutenant general in mid-March 1945), the division surrendered to the Americans at Pasubio, Italy, at the end of the war.
The Steiermark Mountain Division, formed on 25 April 1945 in Steiermark, Austria, was incorporated into the 9th Eastern Cluster of the Mountain Division (see below).
The 9th Mountain Division (10th Mountain Division/Eastern Group), formed in Norway on 6 May 1945 on the orders of the Wehrmacht High Command (OKH), but due to the unconditional surrender of Germany two days later, the unit was not technically really formed, and if successfully formed, it would be composed of the 154th Mountain Regiment, the 155th Mountain Regiment, the 56th Mountain Artillery Regiment, etc. At the end of the war, the Unit was formed by Herribert Reiter ( Heribert Raithel) surrendered to the Soviets under the leadership of Colonel Raithel.
The 9th Mountain Division/Northern Group, formed in Norway on 6 May 1945 on the orders of the Wehrmacht High Command (OKH), but due to the unconditional surrender of Germany two days later, the unit was not technically really formed, and if successful it was formed, it would be composed of the 139th Mountain Regiment, the 112th Mountain Artillery Regiment, the 82nd Mountain Artillery Regiment, etc. At the end of the war, at matthias Krutler ( The army capitulation to the British under the leadership of Colonel Mathias Krautler is sometimes referred to as the 10th Mountain Division, but this claim lacks official documentation.
The 188th Mountain Division, formed on 1 March 1944 from the 188th Reserve Mountain Division, was commanded by Lieutenant General Hans von Hoßlin, who surrendered to the Yugoslav army in Slovenia at the end of the war. Note: Hans von Hollin retired from service in March 1932 with the rank of lieutenant general in the Army, served again in August 1939, became commander of the 188th Reserve Mountain Division on 8 October 1943, reorganized into the 188th Mountain Division and continued to serve as commander until the end of the war, after which he was sentenced to death by the Yugoslav Military Tribunal for war crimes and executed on 18 August 1947.
The 367th Mountain Division, reorganized on 1 March 1944 from the 367th Infantry Division, was first commanded by Major General Georg Zwade, who was annihilated by the Soviets at the Battle of Königsberg in March 1945. Note: There is a theory that the division was simply an ordinary infantry division whose name was changed to a mountain division, and the main purpose was to be used in camouflage.
Waffen-SS system
The Northern Mountain Division, which was reorganized on 17 June 1942 from the Northern Division (actually completed in February), was renamed the 6th Northern Mountain Division in October 1943 and was first commanded by Major General Matthias Kleinheisterkamp (promoted to Wed-SS General on 1 August 1944), which was annihilated by the Americans in April 1945 after a series of fighting in Austria.
The Prince Eugen Volunteer Mountain Division, formed on 1 March 1942 and renamed the 7th Prince Eugen Volunteer Mountain Division on 22 October 1943, was first commanded by Lieutenant General Artur Phleps of the Wilsar SS (promoted to Waffen-SS General on 21 June 1943), and surrendered to the Yugoslav army in Slovenia at the end of the war.
The 13th Sacred Knife Volunteer Mountain Division, formed on 9 October 1943 from the Croatian Volunteer Division, renamed the 13th Sacred Knife Mountain Division on 1 June 1944, was first commanded by Major General Karl-Gustav Sauberzweig of the Armed SS (converted to Major General of the Wehrmacht army in January 1945), and surrendered to the British and Yugoslav armies in Bosnia from 1944 to the winter of 1945.
The 21st Skanderbe Mountain Division, formed on 17 April 1944 on the basis of part of the 13th Sacred Knife Volunteer Mountain Division, was first commanded by Josef Fitzthum, Major General of the Waffen-SS (promoted to Lieutenant General of the Waffen-SS on 1 August 1944), and was disbanded on 1 November 1944.
The 23rd Karma Mountain Division, formed on 19 June 1944 on the basis of part of the 13th Sacred Knife Volunteer Mountain Division, was first commanded by Hellmuth Raithel, Colonel of the WilS, and was disbanded on 31 October 1944.
The 24th Karst Hunter Mountain Division, formed on 18 July 1944 as its first commander, Karl Marx, was a lieutenant colonel in the Waffen-SS, which surrendered to the British in Austria at the end of the war.