Full name:
Karl-Lothar SchulzNickname: No information
Date of Birth: 30 April 1907 - Königsberg, East Prussia (German Empire)
Date of Death: 26 September 1972 - Wiesbaden, Hesse (West Germany)
Battles and Operations: Western Campaign 1940 (Fall Gelb, including capture of Waalhaven airfield near Rotterdam), Battle of Crete 1941 (Unternehmen Merkur), Eastern Front 1941-1943, Italian Campaign 1943-1945 (including defense of Monte Cassino and Bologna)
NSDAP-Number: No information
SS-Number: No information
Religion: No information
Parents: Hermann Schulz (Mittelschullehrer) and unknown mother
Siblings: No information
Spouse: No information
Children: No information
Promotions:01 April 1927 Polizei-Wachtmeister
01 August 1930 Polizei-Oberwachtmeister
20 April 1934 Polizei-Leutnant
01 September 1935 Polizei-Oberleutnant
01 October 1935 Oberleutnant
01 March 1937 Hauptmann
19 July 1940 Major
26 October 1942 Oberstleutnant
21 October 1943 Oberst
17 January 1945 Generalmajor
Career:01 June 1924 - 31 August 1925 Soldat im 1. Artillerie-Regiment (Reichswehr)
13 October 1925 - 24 February 1933 Polizeiaspirant, später Polizei-Oberwachtmeister bei der Schutzpolizei Berlin (Polizeischule Brandenburg/Havel)
25 February 1933 - 31 May 1933 Zugführer in der Polizei-Abteilung Wecke
01 June 1933 - 16 July 1933 Zugführer in der Polizei-Gruppe Wecke
17 July 1933 - 11 January 1934 Zugführer in der Landespolizei-Gruppe Wecke
12 January 1934 - 31 March 1935 Zugführer in der Landespolizei-Gruppe "General Göring"
01 April 1935 - 30 September 1935 Kompanieführer in der Landespolizei-Gruppe "General Göring"
01 October 1935 - 31 August 1937 Chef der 15. (Pionier-)Kompanie im Luftwaffen-Regiment "General Göring"
10 August 1936 - 26 September 1936 Fallschirmjäger-Lehrgang in Stendal
01 September 1937 - 31 March 1938 Chef der 15. (Fallschirm-Pionier-)Kompanie im Luftwaffen-Regiment "General Göring"
01 April 1938 - 31 December 1939 Kompaniechef im Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1
01 January 1940 - 17 April 1942 Kommandeur III. Bataillon/Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1
18 April 1942 - 03 June 1942 Ia (1. Generalstabsoffizier) im Stab der 7. Flieger-Division (i.V.)
04 June 1942 - 17 November 1944 Kommandeur Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1
18 November 1944 - 02 May 1945 mit der Führung der 1. Fallschirmjäger-Division beauftragt
02 May 1945 - 17 October 1947 in US-Kriegsgefangenschaft
17 October 1947 entlassen
Awards and Decorations:Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse (12 May 1940)
Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse (12 May 1940)
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (24 May 1940) as Hauptmann and Kommandeur III.Bataillon / Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1 / 7.Flieger-Division. At first light on 10 May 1940, during the opening hours of Fall Gelb, Schulz led his battalion in one of the war’s first major airborne assaults. Ju-52 transports droned low over the Dutch countryside and released roughly six hundred paratroopers directly onto Waalhaven airfield south of Rotterdam. The airfield was a fortified strongpoint ringed by concrete bunkers, a battery of 7.5 cm anti-aircraft guns, light armoured vehicles and machine-gun nests manned by a full Dutch battalion.
As the paratroopers drifted down under silk canopies the Dutch opened a withering fire. Bullets tore through chutes and men; yet casualties remained surprisingly light. The moment boots hit the ground Schulz’s Fallschirmjäger stormed forward in small assault groups, grenades exploding among the bunkers and sub-machine guns chattering at point-blank range. Within minutes they had seized sections of the perimeter. Elements of Infanterie-Regiment 16 from the air-landed 22. Infanterie-Division arrived in follow-up waves and joined the fight.
Dutch counter-attacks came quickly: gunboats on the nearby river shelled the airfield while RAF light bombers swooped in. German fighters drove off most of the British aircraft, shooting down all but one. By mid-morning the last Dutch positions fell. Schulz sent the code word that the field was secure. The capture of Waalhaven opened the door for the rapid landing of thousands more troops and supplies, shattering Dutch resistance in the Rotterdam area and proving the value of airborne forces in seizing key objectives deep behind enemy lines.
Deutsches Kreuz in Gold (26 February 1942) as Major and Kommandeur III./Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub #459 (20 April 1944) as Oberst and Kommandeur Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1. By early 1944 Schulz commanded his regiment in the rugged hills south of Rome. During the First Battle of Monte Cassino (5–18 February 1944) his regiment formed the backbone of the German defence. On the critical height known as Hill 435, Schulz’s Kampfgruppe faced repeated Allied assaults by British, Indian and New Zealand troops supported by massed artillery and tanks.
The hill itself was a barren, rocky spine swept by machine-gun fire and mortar barrages. Paratroopers dug shallow scrapes among the stones, laid mines on the forward slopes and waited. Wave after wave of attackers climbed the steep approaches under a hail of defensive fire. Schulz moved constantly among his men, directing counter-attacks, shifting machine-gun teams and calling down precise artillery support from the division’s guns. In hand-to-hand fighting that often came down to bayonets and entrenching tools the Fallschirmjäger held every metre of ground. When the smoke cleared after nearly two weeks of continuous combat, Hill 435 remained in German hands. The successful defence prevented a breakthrough that could have unhinged the entire Cassino front.
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern #112 (18 November 1944) as Oberst and Führer 1. Fallschirmjäger-Division. The official citation highlights Schulz’s personal initiative and battlefield presence as the turning point. As U.S. forces pressed forward and looked poised to seize Bologna, Schulz—then still officially an Oberst—took direct charge of all available defensive forces in the sector (not just his own division but coordinating ad-hoc Kampfgruppen). He raced from Bologna itself to the threatened front-line positions in his distinctive red Fiat staff car, personally exposing himself to enemy fire to rally the defending paratroopers.
In the chaos of the muddy, rain-soaked foothills and shattered villages south of the city, the Fallschirmjäger were dug into foxholes, ruined farmhouses, and hastily prepared trench lines. American artillery and mortars pounded their positions relentlessly, while infantry waves advanced under cover of smoke and close air support. Paratroopers—many veterans of Crete, the Eastern Front, Cassino, and Anzio—fought with machine guns, Panzerfausts, and rifles, but they were exhausted, low on ammunition, and facing coordinated assaults that threatened to overrun their lines. Scattered companies were on the brink of being cut off or forced into a disordered withdrawal that could have collapsed the entire sector.
Schulz’s arrival turned the tide through sheer force of leadership. He jumped from his red Fiat (a vehicle that became legendary in division lore for its bold color standing out amid the camouflage), moved among the men under fire, issued rapid, clear orders, repositioned machine-gun nests and anti-tank teams, and organized immediate counterattacks or counter-pressure actions. He rallied fragmented units, restored command cohesion, and inspired the elite paratroopers—who prided themselves on their tenacity—to hold firm. Through his example and decisive reorganization, the division checked the U.S. advance roughly 10 km short of Bologna. The Allies, unable to achieve a breakthrough despite their superiority, suspended the offensive on 27 October 1944, allowing the Germans to stabilize the line.
This was classic “Führerprinzip” in action at the divisional level: one commander’s personal intervention in a critical hour prevented a potential disaster and preserved a key defensive anchor in the Gothic Line. The fighting was brutal close-quarters work—grenade duels in the mud, desperate hand-to-hand stands in rubble-filled positions, and relentless American probes met by determined German counter-thrusts. The paratroopers’ discipline and Schulz’s inspirational presence turned what could have been a rout into a stubborn, successful defense.
Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung IV. und III. Klasse
Fallschirmschützen-Abzeichen
Verwundetenabzeichen 1939 in Schwarz
Ärmelband "Kreta"
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Karl-Lothar Schulz was a German paratroop general of Nazi Germany during World War II who rose to command elite Fallschirmjäger units and became one of the most highly decorated officers in the Luftwaffe's airborne forces. Born on 30 April 1907 in Königsberg, East Prussia, in the German Empire, he served from 1924 until the end of the war in 1945, reaching the rank of Generalmajor. Schulz earned the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords for extraordinary leadership in key campaigns, including the rapid seizure of strategic objectives in the West, grueling defensive stands in Italy, and critical interventions that stabilized collapsing fronts. His career exemplified the aggressive spirit and tenacity of the German paratroopers, transitioning from pioneering airborne assaults to prolonged infantry-style defenses as the war turned against Germany. He commanded Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1 and later the 1st Fallschirmjäger Division in Italy, where his personal interventions repeatedly turned the tide against superior Allied forces before the final German surrender in May 1945. Schulz died of natural causes on 26 September 1972 in Wiesbaden, West Germany.
Schulz's path to military prominence began in the interwar years after a brief stint in the Reichswehr. Leaving school, he enlisted in the army on 1 June 1924 as a soldier in the 1st Artillery Regiment, where he received training as a pioneer before retiring from active service on 31 August 1925. He then joined the police in 1925, rising steadily through the ranks amid the political upheavals of the Weimar Republic and early Nazi era. In 1933 he was transferred to the newly formed Polizei Abteilung z.b.V. Wecke, an elite unit that served as the forerunner of the Hermann Göring Division. Commissioned as a police lieutenant in 1934, he remained with the formation as it evolved into the Landespolizeigruppe General Göring. By September 1935 the unit had been absorbed into the Luftwaffe as Regiment General Göring, marking Schulz's entry into the air force. When Hermann Göring called for volunteers to form a paratrooper contingent within his elite troops, Schulz was among the first to respond, undergoing rigorous airborne training and serving as company commander of the 15th (Pioneer) Company in the parachute-trained IV Battalion of the regiment.
By March 1938 organizational changes had separated the battalion, which became part of the newly established Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1, setting the stage for Schulz's rapid advancement. Promoted to Hauptmann, he took command of the III Battalion by 1940 and led it into action during the invasion of the Netherlands as part of Fall Gelb. On 10 May 1940 his paratroopers executed a daring low-level drop onto the heavily fortified Waalhaven airfield near Rotterdam, a critical objective intended to secure a bridgehead for air-landed reinforcements from the 22nd Infantry Division. Dutch defenders, numbering a full battalion supported by 7.5 cm guns, light armored vehicles, and anti-aircraft platoons, opened intense fire on the descending Ju-52 transports and the men spilling from their doors. Despite the hail of bullets and shells, casualties remained relatively light as the Fallschirmjäger quickly assembled under fire, overran bunkers in close-quarters fighting with grenades and small arms, and secured the perimeter. Elements of Infantry Regiment 16 arrived to bolster the position, repelling counterattacks that included Dutch gunboat bombardments and a daylight raid by six RAF light bombers, five of which were shot down by Luftwaffe fighters. A nighttime Dutch armored thrust was smashed before it could develop, and even a large-scale RAF Wellington bomber raid inflicted only limited damage. Schulz's leadership enabled the all-clear signal for mass airlandings, and his battalion later shifted to support bridge seizures at Dordrecht amid further skirmishes until Dutch capitulation. For this action he received the Knight's Cross on 24 May 1940, along with both classes of the Iron Cross.
Following his promotion to Major on 19 July 1940, Schulz participated in the costly Battle of Crete in May 1941, where Fallschirmjäger units suffered heavy losses in brutal close combat against determined Allied and Greek defenders. He subsequently transferred to the Eastern Front, serving first as a battalion commander and then rising to regimental command with Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1. There he distinguished himself in sustained defensive and counteroffensive operations against Soviet forces, earning the German Cross in Gold on 26 February 1942 for his contributions amid the harsh winter campaigns and attritional fighting. By late 1943, now an Oberst, Schulz had assumed command of the entire regiment, which was redeployed to Italy as the war in the Mediterranean intensified. His unit became heavily engaged in the grueling battles around the Anzio-Nettuno bridgehead and the heights of Monte Cassino, where the Fallschirmjäger fought as elite infantry in static positions under relentless Allied artillery and air superiority.
The defense of Hill 435 during the first Battle of Monte Cassino from 5 to 18 February 1944 earned Schulz the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross on 20 April 1944. His Kampfgruppe held the key elevation against repeated Allied assaults in freezing mud and rubble-strewn terrain, where paratroopers in foxholes and ruined stone positions repelled wave after wave of infantry supported by tanks and massed barrages. Grenade duels and hand-to-hand clashes in the shattered landscape turned the hill into a charnel house, but Schulz's tactical repositioning of machine guns, anti-tank teams, and reserves prevented any breakthrough, preserving the German line at enormous cost to the attackers. His regiment's tenacity in these attritional fights exemplified the division's reputation for unbreakable defense even when reduced to conventional roles due to the scarcity of transport aircraft.
In October 1944 Schulz assumed effective command of the 1st Fallschirmjäger Division along the Gothic Line in northern Italy, facing mounting pressure from the U.S. Fifth Army. On 27 October, as American infantry threatened to overrun positions south of Bologna and capture the city, he personally intervened in the crisis. Racing forward from Bologna in his distinctive red Fiat staff car under artillery fire and through rain-soaked foothills, Schulz reached the collapsing front lines where scattered companies of exhausted paratroopers were dug into muddy foxholes and ruined farmhouses. With U.S. forces advancing under smoke screens and close air support, he rallied the men with rapid orders, repositioned defensive strongpoints, and organized immediate counterthrusts, restoring cohesion amid grenade-thrown chaos and small-arms duels in the rubble. His presence inspired the elite troops to hold firm, checking the advance roughly ten kilometers short of Bologna and forcing the Allies to suspend their offensive. For this decisive leadership he was awarded the Swords on 18 November 1944 as the 112th recipient, and he was promoted to Generalmajor on 17 January 1945. Schulz continued to lead the division through the final bitter defensive battles in northern Italy until the German capitulation on 2 May 1945. Released from captivity in October 1947, he lived quietly in West Germany until his death.
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl-Lothar_Schulz
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/26672/Schulz-Karl-Lothar.htm
http://www.geocities.ws/orion47.geo/WEHRMACHT/LUFTWAFFE/Generalmajor/SCHULZ_KARL-LOTHAR.html
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Personenregister/S/SchulzKL.htm
https://rk.balsi.de/index.php?action=list&cat=300
https://forum.axishistory.com/
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/
https://www.geni.com/
https://www.unithistories.com/units_index/index.php?file=/officers/personsx.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20091027052912fw_/http://geocities.com/orion47.geo/index2.html
https://grokipedia.com/
https://www.ww2.dk/lwoffz.html
https://books.google.com/ (various references to Luftwaffe Fallschirmjäger units and biographies)
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