Bio of Generalmajor Max Lemke (1895-1985)

Max Lemke

Date of Birth: 07.04.1895 - Schwedt/Oder, Brandenburg (German Empire)
Date of Death: 29.05.1985 - Hannover, Niedersachsen (West Germany)
Buried: Stadtfriedhof Seelhorst beigesetzt; Feld A 20, Grab 162/163

Battles and Operations: Battle of France (1940), Operation Barbarossa (1941), Battle of Białystok–Minsk (1941), Battle of Smolensk (1941), Battle of Moscow (1941), Battle of Kursk (1943), Operation Bagration (1944), Bobruysk Offensive (1944), Courland Pocket (1944), East Prussian Offensive (1944-1945), Battle of the Oder-Neisse (1945), and Battle of Bautzen (1945)

Promotions:
00.01.1918 Leutnant der Reserve
01.07.1936 Oberleutnant der Reserve
01.03.1937 Rittmeister (E)
01.07.1940 Major
01.09.1942 Oberstleutnant
01.09.1943 Oberst
20.04.1945 Generalmajor

Career:
01.08.1914 Entered Army Service (Reserves)
01.08.1914 - 00.00.1914 War Volunteer in the Königs-Ulanen-Regiment (1. Hannoversches) Nr. 13
00.00.1914 - 00.00.1918 Platoon-Leader & Ordinance-Officer with the Regiment-Staff with Cavalry, Infantry & Mortar Units
18.12.1918 Retired from the military
00.02.1935 Entered Army Service (Reserves)
00.02.1935 - 01.03.1937 Reserve-Officer-Exercise with the 8th Motor-Transport-Battalion
01.03.1937 Supplemental-Officer
01.03.1937 - 26.08.1939 Adjutant Ausbildungsleiter Berlin 3 / Landwehrkommandeur Berlin
26.08.1939 - 01.12.1939 Adjutant Infanterie-Regiment 386 / 218.Infanterie-Division
01.12.1939 Active-Officer
01.12.1939 - 00.03.1941 Kommandeur Aufklärungs-Abteilung 218
00.03.1941 - 26.01.1943 Kommandeur Aufklärungs-Abteilung 17
26.01.1943 - 19.10.1944 Kommandeur Panzergrenadier-Regiment 25
19.10.1944 - 15.11.1944 15. Divisionsführer-Lehrgang in Hirschberg
15.11.1944 - 05.01.1945 Führerreserve
05.01.1945 - 22.01.1945 Führer 7. Panzer-Division
09.02.1945 - 12.05.1945 Führer Fallschirm-Panzer-Division 1 "Hermann Göring"
12.05.1945 - 18.06.1945 In Captivity
18.06.1945 Released

Awards and Decorations:
00.00.191_ 1914 Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
00.00.191_ 1914 Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse
00.00.193_ Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer 1914-1918
00.00.193_ Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung IV.Klasse (4 jahre)
00.00.1939 Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938 (Sudetenland Medal)
00.00.19__ 1939 spange zum 1914 Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
00.00.19__ 1939 spange zum 1914 Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse
00.00.194_ Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen in Silber
18.10.1941 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, as Major and Kommandeur Aufklärungs-Abteilung 17 / 17.Infanterie-Division
00.00.1942 Medaille "Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42" (Ostmedaille)
23.06.1942 Deutsches Kreuz in Gold

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Max Lemke joined the cavalry as a military volunteer on May 12, 1914 in the Uhlan Regiment 13 (Hannover) and served as an officer in the First World War. In January 1918 he became a lieutenant in the reserve and left the army on December 18, 1918.

In March 1937 he was reactivated as a captain (E) (patented on May 1, 1934) and became an adjutant to the Berlin 3 training manager at the Berlin Landwehr commander. On September 1, 1939, he joined the 386 Infantry Regiment in the 218th Infantry Division as an adjutant. In December 1939 he took over Aufklärungs-Abteilung 218, which had been set up by the Landwehr Commander in Berlin. With the dissolution of Aufklärungs-Abteilung 218 on March 17, 1942, he became head of Aufklärungs-Abteilung 17. On September 1, 1942, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel.

From January 16, 1943 he was commander of the 25th Panzer Grenadier Regiment and became a colonel here on September 1, 1943. From October 8, 1944 to November 15, 1944 he took part in a division commander course.

He commanded the 7th Panzer Division from January 5th to 23rd, 1945. From February 9th until the end of the war he was commander of the parachute tank division “1. Hermann Goering.” In February 1945 the division fought under his leadership first in the Lower Silesian Operation and then from mid to late April 1945 in the Cottbus-Potsdam Operation. On April 20, 1945 he was promoted to major general.

He was a POW from 12 May 1945 until 18 June 1945. After the war he was an active member of the "Ordensgemeinschaft der Ritterkreuzträger" (Association of Knight's Cross Recipients) and a scientific representative in Hanover. Weeks before his death, he celebrated his 90th birthday on Sunday, April 7, 1985 in the Hanover-Kleefeld retirement home in the company of around 130 invited guests, relatives, friends, comrades and acquaintances.

Generalmajor a.D. Max Lemke, the last living member of the King's Uhlan Regiment (1st Hannoversches) No. 13, died in Hanover in 1985 and, like his wife, was buried in the Seelhorst city cemetery; Final grave location: field A 20, grave 162/163. The gravestone has since been removed (as of 2018). A parade of honor from the Bundeswehr marched in front of the big funeral procession, followed by comrades from the OdR Hanover section at the widow's side.

Max Lemke as a Major with the Ritterkreuz.



Max Lemke.



Max Lemke.



At least three Ritterkreuzträger are shown in this picture: Oberst Max Lemke (Kommandeur Panzergrenadier-Regiment 25 / 12.Panzer-Division), Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model (Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe Nord), and General der Infanterie Wilhelm Wegener (Kommandierender General L. Armeekorps). The SS officer behind Lemke is DKiGträger SS-Hauptsturmführer Rudolph Maeker (Adjutant Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe Nord). The picture was probably taken in February 1944 during the visit of Field Marshal model to the operational area of Panzergrenadier-Regiment 25 near Leningrad.


Officers of Fallschirm-Panzer-Division 1 "Hermann Göring". From left to right: unknown, Major Karl Roßmann (Kommandeur Fallschirm-Panzer-Regiment "Hermann Göring"), Oberleutnant Rupert Kraus (Führer 2.Kompanie / I.Abteilung / Fallschirm-Panzer-Regiment "Hermann Göring"), and Oberst Max Lemke (Führer Fallschirm-Panzer-Division 1 "Hermann Göring"). The picture was taken between February 1945 and April 1945.



Retired SS-Obergruppenführer Herbert Otto Gille received the 1957 version of the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub, Schwerter und Brillanten (Knight's Cross with the oak leaves, swords and diamonds) from the OdR (Ordensgemeinschaft der Ritterkreuzträger e. V.) in November 1958. Retired Generalmajor Max Lemke puts on the high order.



The news about the death of retired Generalmajor Max Lemke.

Ritterkreuz action of Max Lemke.

Vorläufiges Besitzzeugnis (Preliminary Certificate) of Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (18 October 1941) and Deutsches Kreuz in Gold (23 June 1942) for Major Max Lemke (Kommandeur Aufklärungs-Abteilung 17 / 17.Infanterie-Division).

Source :
https://www.alexautographs.com/auction-lot/max-lemke_2C54AF3802
https://www.andreas-thies.de/auktionen/70-751582
https://de.metapedia.org/wiki/Lemke,_Max
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Lemke
http://www.geocities.ws/orion47.geo/WEHRMACHT/HEER/Generalmajor2/LEMKE_MAX.html
https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Max_Lemke
https://reibert.info/threads/fotografii-voennosluzhaschix-vermaxta-s-rycarskim-krestom-zheleznogo-kresta.319758/page-86
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/11086/Lemke-Max.htm
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/forum/wehrmacht-uniforms-and-equipment/luftwaffe-flying-corps-uniforms-traditions-and-equipment/675711-interesting-photo-id-officer#post5608633