Rudolf Joachim von Ribbentrop
Date of Birth: 11.05.1921 - Wiesbaden, Hessen (Germany)
Date of Death: 20.05.2019 - Ratingen, Nordrhein-Westfalen (Germany)
Battles and Operations: Battle of the Netherlands (1940), Battle of France (1940), Operation Barbarossa (1941), Third Battle of Kharkov (1943), Battle of Kursk (1943), Battle of Prokhorovka (1943), Normandy Campaign (1944), Falaise pocket (1944), and Battle of the Bulge (1944-1945)
NSDAP-Number: 4 187 517 (01.09.1939)
SS-Number: 400 121 (01.05.1939)
Parents: Joachim von Ribbentrop (30.04.1893 - 16.10.1946) and Annelies Henkel (12.01.1896 - 05.10.1973)
Siblings: Bettina von Ribbentrop (20.07.1922), Ursula von Ribbentrop (29.12.1932), Adolf von Ribbentrop (02.09.1935), and Barthold von Ribbentrop (19.12.1940 - 05.06.2018)
Spouse: Ilse-Marie Frein von Münchhausen (24.04.1914 - 10.02.2010), married 13.08.1960
Promotions:
01.09.1939 SS-Schütze
00.05.1940 SS-Sturmman
20.04.1941 SS-Untersturmführer
20.04.1943 SS-Obersturmführer
30.01.1945 SS-Hauptsturmführer
Career:
18.04.1940 11.Kompanie / SS-Infanterie-Regiment "Deutschland", WIA - campaign in the West
00.07.1940 SS-Junkerschule Braunschweig
00.06.1941 Zugführer in 1.Kompanie / SS-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 6 / SS-Kampfgruppe "Nord"
02.09.1941 WIA to the forearm and evacuated
00.09.1941 - 00.02.1942 SS-Lazarett Hohenlychen
00.02.1942 Zugführer 1.Zug / 3.Kompanie / SS-Panzer-Abteilung 1 / SS-Panzergrenadier-Division LSSAH
00.02.1943 Zugführer in 6.Kompanie / SS-Panzer-Abteilung 1 / SS-Panzergrenadier-Division LSSAH
13.02.1943 Zugführer 2.Zug / 3.Kompanie / I.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 / SS-Panzergrenadier-Division LSSAH
13.02.1943 WIA for the 3rd time to the lung, the right shoulder and the left shoulder
00.02.1943 O2 SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 / SS-Panzergrenadier-Division LSSAH
00.02.1943 Zugführer 1.Zug / 6.Kompanie / II.Abeilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 / SS-Panzergrenadier-Division LSSAH
03.03.1943 Führer 7.Kompanie / II.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 / SS-Panzergrenadier-Division LSSAH (RDA 01.03.1943)
00.04.1943 Adjutant SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 / SS-Panzergrenadier-Division LSSAH
15.06.1943 Führer 6.Kompanie / II.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 / SS-Panzergrenadier-Division LSSAH
01.08.1943 Chef 3.Kompanie / I.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 12 / 12.SS-Panzer-Division „Hitlerjugend"
03.06.1944 WIA by a Spitfire in Le Neubourg and evacuated
09.06.1944 Chef 3.Kompanie / I.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 12 / 12.SS-Panzer-Division „Hitlerjugend"
01.09.1944 Adjutant SS-Panzer-Regiment 12 / 12.SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend"
20.12.1944 WIA for the 6th time to the mouth
00.12.1944 Führer I.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 12 / 12.SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend"
00.03.1945 Führer Kampfgruppe Ribbentrop - battle of Vienna
08.05.1945 surrendered to the US troops - US POW
Awards and Decorations:
00.00.19__ SA-Sportabzeichen in Bronze
00.00.19__ DRL Sportabzeichen in Bronze
18.04.1940 Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz
19.06.1940 Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
01.10.1940 Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen in Bronze
00.00.1941 Ehrendegen des Reichsführers-SS
00.00.1941 SS-Ehrenring
02.09.1941 Finnish Vapaudenristin 4.luokka (VR 4)
01.10.1941 Finnish Vapaudenristin 1.luokka (VR 1)
00.10.1941 Allgemeines-Sturmabzeichen
18.03.1943 Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse
01.05.1943 Verwundetenabzeichen in Silber (WIA 18.04.1940, 30.05.1941, 02.09.1941, 05.02.1943)
15.07.1943 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, as SS-Obersturmführer and Führer 6.Kompanie / II.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 / SS-Panzergrenadier-Division “Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler”. Here follows a recommendation for the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold for Rudolf von Ribbentrop, who would instead be awarded the Ritterkreuz: "SS-Obersturmführer von Ribbentrop was himself a Zugführer in the winter fighting this year and now serves as Führer of a Panzer Kompanie in the present break-in fighting. In both roles he has especially distinguished himself through outstanding courage, coldblooded bravery and circumspect leadership. After successful close combat in the area Nowaja Wodolaga, he was awarded the Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse on the 01.03.1943 for proven and outstanding courage. In the hard fighting north of Kharkov, on the 12.03.1943, he penetrated the enemy defenses in street fighting and made a connection with the other Grenadiers around Red Square, which provided further jump-off points for the advance into the city. After the occupation of the city of Kharkov, the resulting push on Belgorod placed him in the lead Kompanie. He penetrated into the city on 18.03.1943 at the head of his Kompanie in a personal, bold action. He thus holds an outstanding share of the success of the attack on Belgorod. On the 07.07.1943 the II./SS-Pz.Rgt. 1 LAH, following a successful attack on Teterewino, was attacked numerous times in the flanks by strong Russian tank forces. From a favourable attack position a Russian armoured group of 40 T-34s drove right in front of the Kompanie of SS-Obersturmführer von Ribbentrop. He immediately took charge of the situation, attacked the enemy with his smaller force and with this shot up 6 enemy tanks without loss. This courage and boldness resulted in the failure of the enemy attack, also forcing them to retreat. On the 08.07.1943 the Abteilung attacked Rylski. SS-Obersturmführer von Ribbentrop once again took part in the deliberate attack, within the framework of the Abteilung. The village are was occupied by 80 enemy tanks. He himself shot up numerous tanks and forced the remainder to flee. A large amount of these remained stuck in the swamp. Of the 30 tanks destroyed by the Abteilung by far the largest share fell to the Kompanie of SS-Obersturmführer von Ribbentrop. On the 12.07.1943, the Russians penetrated near Prochorowka with about 150 tanks of the type T-34 in the early morning, threatening the security of the positions of the Grenadiers. The combat-ready Kompanie of SS-Obersturmführer von Ribbentrop threw itself toward this enemy and became engaged in battle with the much stronger foe. The whole Abteilung fought through a hard 3-hour tank battle and the most important share of the success was on account of the decisiveness and fearlessness of SS-Obersturmführer von Ribbentrop. In this fight he destroyed 14 enemy tanks. The awarding date varies on different primary sources, the date of July 15th, 1943 is reported on the Verleihungsvorschlag and on the Ritterkreuzträgerkarteikarte.
00.07.1944 Panzerkampfabzeichen
25.08.1944 Deutsches Kreuz in Gold
00.12.1944 Verwundetenabzeichen in Gold (WIA 18.04.1940, 30.05.1941, 02.09.1941, 05.02.1943, 03.06.1944, 20.12.1944)
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In February 1943, 21-year-old Waffen/Armed SS tank commander Rudolf von Ribbentrop was outside a Russian village when he spied a horse-drawn vehicle approaching in the distance, as he noted later in his wartime combat diary.
“I realized that the sleigh was occupied by about 10 Russians, all armed to the teeth. I wasn’t even carrying a pistol, as it hindered me getting into and out of the tank quickly. Instinctively, I struck the driver in the face as hard as I could, and began to beat the Russian, who was as shocked as I, with my bare fists. I did this only because I believed that the Russians would have no time to shoot at me in the confusion.
“While the Russians were trying to escape from the tangle of arms and legs and get clear, I dove away from the milling throng to avoid being hit by my own tanks, which had meanwhile opened fire on the Russians. I fell into the snow. One of the Russians stopped and fired two bursts from his submachine gun. I felt a heavy blow in the small of my back, which completely knocked the wind out of me.”
This performance was typical of the brave, resourceful, and aggressive “Rudi” von Ribbentrop, a man who’d enlisted as a simple volunteer in the Waffen SS on Sept. 1, 1939---the first day of Adolf Hitler’s invasion of Poland---even though his father, Joachim, was the foreign minister of the Third Reich under the Nazi Fuhrer/Leader, whom the youngster had gotten to know at his own family dinner table before the war.
His father---a veteran of the First World War---had married his mother, Anneliese Henkell, the daughter of a wealthy German wine tycoon whose family business flourishes in Germany’s Fifth Reich to this day. Rudi was born to them in Wiesbaden on May 11, 1921, and later served as a member of Baldur von Schirach’s HitlerYouth before joining the Waffen SS, considered to be the elite of the Nazi Party and Reichsfuhrer/National Administrator SS Heinrich Himmler’s embryonic armed forces that would grow into Nazi Germany’s second army by the end of the war.
When his father was German Ambassador to the Court of St. James in London in 1936, Britisher Sir Robert Vansittart tried to get Rudi into “Eton for the coming half,” according to Joachim von Ribbentrop biographer Michael Bloch: “Ribbentrop was particularly keen on this idea since he believed…that Eton would show Rudolf ‘how English boys live, and he will be able to teach the Hitler Youth.’ …The Eton authorities rejected Rudolf on the grounds that he was too old and had been put down far too late, which Ribbentrop naturally interpreted as a snub by the British establishment.
“Rudolf was enrolled as a day-boy at Westminster School in London, where he made himself unpopular by giving Nazi salutes and extolling the glories of the new Germany.” Adds von Ribbentrop biographer John Weitz, “Annelies and Joachim von Ribbentrop were devoted to their firstborn,” who as an adult possessed movie star quality good looks for both those times and these.
Rudolf von Ribbentrop began his military career as a recruit in the Replacement Battalion of the Germany Standard unit, and for the Polish campaign was transferred to the 11th Company, based at Munich. Its commander was the legendary Standarten Leader SS Gen. Felix Steiner, and in October 1939, young von Ribbentrop was transferred again, to the field regiment, located in the Nazi protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia that Hitler had proclaimed when he occupied Czechoslovakia the previous March.
On Apr. 30, 1940, he left Berlin on an unauthorized one-day trip to celebrate his father’s birthday at a meal that included the Fuhrer’s presence as well, and Hitler spoke of the coming German Blitzkrieg/Lightning War in the West, as Rudi recalled in his diary: “I myself hoped that the attack would begin soon, as I had heard…that all suitable leadership candidates were being sent on to the next course at the officer candidate school in Braunschweig…”
Rudi wanted to go fight in the West instead, and for the valid, simple reason: “It was not our intention to go to an officers’ candidate course without frontline experience and then have to command men who had such experience.” Impulsive and forthright, he brought the matter up personally to his father’s strong supporter within the ranks of the Nazi Party, Himmler, who “Clapped me on the shoulder and declared dryly, ‘You will do as you are ordered.’”
Undeterred, von Ribbentrop went to see his regimental commander, Gen. Steiner, who slapped him on the back and said, “Believe me, son, you will have plenty of time to get into this war! When you are an officer, come back and see me, because I will probably be forming a new division,” and then entered his command car to head off for the Western Front in France. When his father’s intervention with Himmler failed to change his status, Rudi simply called a taxi and took off for the front to find his regiment, which he did on May 10-11, 1940, just as the attack in the West was launched.
Roaring across invaded Holland, volunteer Ribbentrop led a bayonet charge against a French patrol that surrendered to him. When his regiment entered the Dutch town of Bergen op Zoom, they encountered some enemy soldiers about to withdraw. “I entered a farmhouse that was full of Dutch soldiers. I suddenly found myself facing a Dutch lieutenant….I shouted to him, ‘Hands up!’ He answered my bluff in fluent German…and ordered his men to lay down their weapons.”
Volunteer von Ribbentrop was to serve in the 11th Company throughout the campaign in the West, winning the Iron Cross Second Class and a promotion to Sturmann/Acting Corporal for bravery in the face of the enemy. He also received his first wound---a bullet fragment in his upper right arm, “Which had originated from a bullet which shattered on striking the gravel. My two comrades, who had been pinned down with me by the motorcycle, had both been killed. Sadly, I stood before them. They had been killed to my left and right. Fate had spared me.”
Later, he made an inflatable boat attack under enemy machine gun fire that he survived, only to be greeted by an irate Himmler on an inspection tour of his unit: “So, you managed to get your own way after all, but then see to it that you go to Braunschweig!”
He arrived there on May 31, 1940 with his Iron Cross and Wound Badge in Black, ready to attend classes at the SS Officer Candidates School: “I had done it. No one can say of me that I had been transferred to the Junkerschule instead of seeing action because I was the son of a minister. The problem of ‘kinship liability,” as I called it, began not after 1945, but was already then, and had to be met with skill and---on occasion---with stolidity”
He completed the course successfully, and was commissioned on Apr. 20, 1941 (Hitler’s 52nd birthday) as an Untersturmfuhrer/Second Lieutenant and was given the command of a platoon in the 1st Company, Reconnaissance Battalion North, which was sent to join Alpenkorps/Alpine Corps Gen. Eduard Dietl’s Mountain Corps Norway. On the invasion of Russia on June 22, 1941, the unit was sent to Finland as an aide to Nazi Germany’s ally in the new war against the Soviet Union, the Finnish Army.
His service in SS Battle Group North gained him Finland’s Freedom Cross, Fourth Class, and on Sept. 2, 1941, von Ribbentrop received his second wound when a bullet fractured a bone in his left forearm. He was sent to Himmler’s personal SS hospital at Hohenlychen in the Reich to recuperate, and left for a short home leave in February 1942, after he was reassigned to the newly formed Panzer Regiment of the Lifeguard SS Adolf Hitler, the Fuhrer’s own elite bodyguard unit, founded in 1933.
He began his service with the LSSAH as a motorcycle reconnaissance platoon leader, and transferred to the 3rd Company as a platoon leader. After a brief period on the regimental staff as an operations officer, von Ribbentrop was posted to the 6th Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Panzer/Armored Regiment commanding a tank platoon during SS Gen. Paul Hausser’s unauthorized first retreat from the Russian city of Kharkov in 1943.
During this series of battles, von Ribbentrop was wounded for the third time: shot in the right shoulder blade as well as the left shoulder, plus a minor lung wound.
The ardent young Nazi tank leader was never happier than when leading his panzers across the snow covered steppes of Russia from the open turret of what was always his,the lead armored vehicle. Indeed, after this third wounding, he strenuously objected to being flown out by a light Storch/Stork aircraft for recovery back home in the Reich because he felt that a private soldier had more right to that space than he. The medical officer, calling him a “stubborn ox” (according to author Franz Kurowski in his work Panzer Aces), did as Rudi wished in the end.
Once, when his tank turret was unserviceable, the so-called “stubborn ox” helped stave off a Red Army infantry attack by utilizing his panzer’s still working machine gun only. He was promoted to the rank of company commander on March 1, 1943, and Kurowski provides a vivid account of why: “Through his field glasses, von Ribbentrop could see that the Soviets were assembling for their final assault. ‘Maximum speed! Everyone follow me!’ ‘Everyone’ was two panzers that had joined the platoon leader, whose tank was already rolling toward the main body of the enemy. ‘Spread out and open fire at your discretion!’ ordered von Ribbentrop.
Constantly exposing himself to enemy fire not only from mobile and dug in Red Army tanks, von Ribbentrop also was subject to the fate that befell many “open turret” commanders: Russian snipers hidden in buildings and trees. Moreover, when he won an honor or a military decoration, he believed in sharing the credit with his men whenever possible, asserting that they’d earned the honors as much as he had.
By the end of the war, his awards included the Iron Cross 1st Cross (March 18, 1943), the Wound Badge in Silver (May 1st), the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross (July 15th), and the German Cross (Aug. 25, 1944.)
Of his comrades he was to write, “These were the men in our tanks, each and every one a soldier through and through---and all completely fearless.”
His most successful day of the war came on July 13, 1943 during the epic tank Battle of Kursk, when he and his unit helped stop a Red Army tank assault with their own brand new Tiger tanks from Germany. He would later receive high praise from another famed SS tanker, Jochen Peiper: “I would gladly take your company into our bunch!”
Kurowski reported that von Ribbentrop’s command had knocked out 14 Russian T-34 tanks in a single engagement, leading SS Gen. Hausser later to come in person to inspect the scene: “It was later reported that he had marked the knocked out tanks with a piece of chalk and counted them in disbelief,” as von Ribbentrop noted in his diary
Having commanded 6th Company since March 13, 1943 (except for a brief period while training Luftwaffe/Air Force men as instant tankers), von Ribbentrop on Aug. 1st was transferred to the newly formed 12th SS Panzer Division Hitler Jugend/Youth, and was posted to the command of training two junior officer courses. Four months later, he was named commander of the 3rd Company, 1st Battalion, Panzer Regiment 12, and on June 3, 1944, heading back to Le Neubourg in France following a training exercise, his light Volkswagen/People’s Car command vehicle was strafed by a Royal Air Force Spitfire.
He described the harrowing incident in his diary thus: “I felt a light blow in my back…I realized that I must have suffered a spinal injury. I could feel nothing below my shoulder blades, resulting in a partial paralysis…The fighter was on us again. It was not only most
impressive to lay on the asphalt road and see and hear the enemy’s machine gun fire pass about a meter from my head and spatter into the car and the road, but it was also a helpless feeling to face the attack while totally defenseless. Fortunately we were not hit again. The Volkswagen had been riddled, but did not catch fire.”
Completely paralyzed by now and with a lung wound as well, von Ribbentrop believed that he was going to die, but incredibly survived yet again. His feeling returned, as his spinal column had only been grazed, not severed, as he’d feared.”
From a hospital bed at the Luftwaffe facility at Bernay (where a wounded Field Marshal Erwin Rommel would be brought after a similar incident on July 17th), von Ribbentrop learned the news that the D-Day invasion had begun on June 6th, and immediately returned to his unit and helped saved its command post in a fierce fight against the Allies. In a remarkable battle on July 8th against the Canadians, his 3rd Company destroyed 27 tanks, eight Bren gun carriers, and four anti-tank guns, which he was personally decorated for having led “at least” 25 known tank assaults in his career thus far.
On Sept. 1, 1944---during the breakout Battle of the Falaise Gap---von Ribbenrtop served as regimental adjutant once more, and it was in this capacity that he saw renewed action as well in the Battle of the Bulge against the Americans. On Dec. 20, 1944, he received his fifth wound when he was hit in the mouth by a shell fragment and was presented with the Wound Badge in Gold. In all, his panzers destroyed 24 American tanks before the offensive ground to a halt on Jan. 8, 1945 east of the Belgian town of Bastogne.
His unit was withdrawn from the line for a rest period and formed part of the 1st SS Panzer Corps under Hitler’s favorite Waffen SS field lord, Gen. Josef “Sepp/Joe” Dietrich. The men fought as tank-less infantry in both Hungary and Austria in the final desperate weeks of the war against their old foe, the Red Army. In late April 1945, he was honored further by receiving the command of Battle Group von Ribbentrop.
He surrendered his unit to the Americans on May 8, 1945, telling his men, “We can say with pride that at no moment during the war years or in those that awaited us afterward, did we surrender our dignity. The following words have been true for us and our dead comrades right up to the present day: They can treat us like dogs, but they cannot degrade us.”
Post-war Ribbentrop became a wine merchant and wrote his memoirs. These gave fresh insight into the career of his father and also an insight in the final days of Adolf Hitler. His work included previously unpublished photographs of his family and Hitler.
Rudolf von Ribbentrop passed away on 20 May 2019, 9 days after his 98th birthday. After spoken to his maid, he sat down, drunk a cup of tee and fall in a sleep. but never woke up again...
Von Ribbentrop family in 1936. From left to right, back row: Rudolf and
Bettina. Centre: Annelies and Joachim von Ribbentrop. Bottom: Adolf and
Ursula. The von Ribbentrops were great Anglophiles and famous for
employing English nannies. After a stint in London, when he was made
Ambassador, Joachim von Ribbentrop’s love affair with England soured
drastically, and in 1939 he was instrumental in urging Hitler towards
war with Britain. Even so, in the event of conquest, he still planned to
take over Cornwall for his personal domain! Other pictures from this photo session can be seen HERE.
The
fifteen-year old Rudolf von Ribbentrop's first day at Westminster
School, 12 October 1936. Original caption: "Rudi, the eldest son of the
German ambassador in London, Joachim von Ribbentrop, began his first day
of school today as a new student at the famous Westminster School in
London. Rudolf von Ribbentrop in the traditional school uniform of the
Westminster students leaving his London home in Eaton Square on the way
to the Westminister School." Other pictures from this occasion can be seen HERE.
This
picture was taken in May 1940 in Artois, France, during the German
offensive in the West. SS-Sturmman Rudolf von Ribbentrop is facing away
from the camera. He is talking to his father who is sitting in the car
and smiling. At that time, the stubborn young Ribbentrop joined the
11.Kompanie / SS-Infanterie-Regiment "Deutschland" / SS-Verfügungstruppe
and participated in the French campaign. Previously, on the night of 9
May 1940, in order to join the war and postponed the course at the
officer candidate school in Braunschweig, he called his father. His
father replied: "If you want to join the war, I naturally agree with
your decision." When his father’s intervention with Himmler failed to
change his status,
Rudolf simply called a taxi and took off for the front to find his
regiment, which he did on May 10-11, 1940, just as the attack in the
West was launched!
A young but hardened SS-Untersturmführer (Second Lieutenant) Rudolf von Ribbentrop. In addition to the Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse ribbon, he proudly wears a Finnish decoration.
Panzer IV tanks of SS-Panzer-Abteilung 1 / SS-Infanterie-Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" (motorisiert) drove through Champs-Élysées of Paris during the parade on 29 July 1942. The commander in the leading tank is SS-Untersturmführer Rudolf von Ribbentrop (Zugführer 1.Zug / 3.Kompanie / SS-Panzer-Abteilung 1 LSSAH). Pay attention to the symbol in the "Standard Guard" of the front armor: Key in a notched shield.
This picture was taken by SS-Kriegsberichter Franz Roth on 13 February 1943, and it shows
SS-Untersturmführer Rudolf von Ribbentrop (Zugführer 1.Zug / 6.Kompanie / II.Abeilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 / SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler") with his Panzer IV "615" - probably a H or J
model - before the Third Battle of Kharkov (19
February - 15 March 1943). At this time the 6th Panzer Company was attached to Kampfgruppe Meyer. Later in the day Rudolf was wounded by Russian machine gun fire and did not return to the Panzer Regiment until February 21. This photo has been miscaptioned in many books as having been taken in late February, but by then War Correspondent Roth was already badly wounded and not with KG Meyer. In Kharkov, Rudolf von Ribbentrop had especially distinguished himself
through outstanding courage, coldblooded bravery and circumspect
leadership. The combat-ready Company of Kompanieführer von Ribbentrop
threw itself again and again toward the Russians and became engaged in
battle with the much stronger foe. In this fight his tank personally
destroyed 14 enemy tanks. For his achievements he would be recommended
with the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold, but instead be awarded with the
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes!
SS-Untersturmführer Rudolf von Ribbentrop (arm in sling) and SS-Obersturmbannführer Kurt Meyer (with binoculars behind Ribbentrop, Kommandeur SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 1 / SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler") during the Battle of Kharkov, second week of February 1943. That month Ribbentrop arrived in sector near Kharkov and fought with Meyer in his battle group. At the start of the battle Ribbentrop was a Zugführer of 1.Zug in 6.Kompanie / II.Abeilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 / SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler", but on 3 March 1943 he was promoted as Führer of 6.Kompanie in the same Abteilung after SS-Untersturmführer Rolf Janke got wounded. This image itself is a snapshot from the "1943-02-xx-Descheg-monatsschau Nr.1218" propaganda reel.
SS-Untersturmführer Rudolf von Ribbentrop (Zugführer 1.Zug / 6.Kompanie / II.Abeilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 / SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler") during the street fighting in Kharkov in March 1943. Ribbentrop is wearing a fur winter coat in the middle. The Soldier pointing is SS-Unterscharfuhrer Paul Klose (Zugführer in 8.Kompanie / II.Bataillon / SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 1 / SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler"), who went on to serve in schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 501. Ribbentrop's 6th Company of SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 LSSAH was supporting the Kampfgruppe led by SS-Sturmbannführer Max Hansen.
Generaloberst Heinz Guderian (Generalinspekteur der Panzertruppen) shaking hands with SS-Obersturmführer Rudolf von Ribbentrop (Führer 7.Kompanie / II.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 / SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler"), son of the Foreign-Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. Himmler look-alike in the background is General der Panzertruppe Werner Kempf (Befehlshaber Armee-Abteilung Kempf), who is shaking hands with SS-Obersturmbannführer Georg Schönberger (Kommandeur SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 LSSAH). Standing at right is SS-Obersturmbannführer Walther Ewert (Ib SS-Panzergrenadier-Division LSSAH), while the one wearing black Panzer cap in the background is possibly SS-Sturmbannführer Martin Gross (Kommandeur II.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 / SS-Panzergrenadier-Division LSSAH). This picture itself was taken on 27 April 1943 near Kharkov when Guderian visited the HQ of SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 LSSAH.
SS-Sturmbannführer Martin Gross (left, Kommandeur II.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler") reviews a map with SS-Obersturmführer Rudolf von Ribbentrop (wearing glasses, Führer 6.Kompanie / II.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler"). This picture was taken by SS-Kriegsberichter Max Büschel - who was attached to the Leibstandarte during the Battle of Kursk, July 1943 - and shows a moment in time when the company commanders regrouped after an earlier tank battle. Other pictures from this sequence can be seen HERE.
Ritterkreuz award ceremony for SS-Obersturmführer Rudolf von Ribbentrop (Führer 6.Kompanie / II.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 / SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler") which were held at Prochorovka on 15 July 1943, during the Battle of Kursk. Awarded the medal is SS-Oberführer Theodor Wisch (Kommandeur SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler").
SS-Obersturmführer Rudolf von Ribbentrop (Führer 6.Kompanie / II.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 / SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler") in July 1943.
SS-Obersturmführer Rudolf von Ribbentrop.
SS-Obersturmführer Rudolf von Ribbentrop.
SS-Obersturmführer Rudolf von Ribbentrop.
SS-Obersturmführer Rudolf von Ribbentrop.
SS-Obersturmführer Rudolf von Ribbentrop.
SS-Obersturmführer Rudolf von Ribbentrop.
SS-Obersturmführer Rudolf von Ribbentrop.
This picture was taken in December 1943 at the Mailly-le-Camp training grounds, France, and it shows Panzer officers from SS-Panzer-Regiment 12, part of the newly raised 12. SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend", who were singing in formation. The complete regiment was present for this ceremony. SS-Obersturmführer Rudolf von Ribbentrop (Chef 3.Kompanie / I.Abteilung) is first from the left, followed by SS-Obersturmführer Helmut Schlauss (Nachrichtenoffizier SS-Panzer Regiment 12), SS-Untersturmführer Jürgen Chemnitz (Zugführer I.Zug / 1.Kompanie / I.Abteilung), two unknown SS-Untersturmführer, and SS-Hauptscharführer Robert Maier (Chef Werkstattkompanie / I.Abteilung). In early May 1944, the division was transferred to the Normandy area to further intensify maneuvers. Other pictures from this sequence can be seen HERE.
All members of the 3.Kompanie / I.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 12 / 12.SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend" pose for war reporters at Harcourt in April 1944. Front row on the far left is SS-Unterscharführer Josef Hermani, while third from left is SS-Unterscharführer Krahl followed by SS-Untersturmführer Bernhard Jungbluth. Next were SS-Hauptscharführer Helmut Post (Kompanie-Spieß), Kompaniechef SS-Obersturmführer Rudolf von Ribbentrop (with Ritterkreuz), SS-Oberjunker Kurt Bogensperger, SS-Oberjunker Rudolf Alban, and SS-Untersturmführer Erich Stagge.
SS-Obersturmführer Rudolf von Ribbentrop (Chef 3.Kompanie / I.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 12 / 12.SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend") is in the sidecar of a BMW R75 while driving the motorcycle is SS-Obersturmbannführer Max Wünsche (Kommandeur SS-Panzer-Regiment 12 / 12.SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend") who are going back to the regiment headquarters. This picture was taken by SS-Kriegsberichter Siegfried Woscidlo after both men visited the members of Ribbentrop's company and also soldiers from III.Zug / 15.Kompanie / SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 25 in Rots who just survived the failed attack against the Canadian 2nd Armored Brigade at Norrey-en-Bessin, Normandy, 9 June 1944. the 3rd Company was ambushed by the British army on the way to attack, damaging 7 tanks. Note that Ribbentrop and Wünsche were both wounded. Wünsche received his wound on that day, 9 June, while Ribbentrop since 4 June 1944, two days before D-Day, which made him could not take part in the joint attack carried out by his company. Other pictures from this sequence can be seen HERE.
Von Ribbentrop family after the war, minus Rudolf. From left to right: Bettina von Ribbentrop (born 20 July 1922), Annelies von Ribbentrop nèe Henkel (born 12 January 1896), Barthold von Ribbentrop (born 19 December 1940), and Adolf von Ribbentrop (born 2 September 1935). Source: Münchner Illustrierte, 17 Juli 1954 edition.
Rudolf von Ribbentrop in the 1960s. In the background is The Dolmabahçe Mosque of Istanbul.
Rudolf von Ribbentrop in a press conference in Moscow, 24 October 2015.
Book signing in the hotel in Moscow, October 2015.
Rudolf von Ribbentrop pictured in 2016. The striking photos are included in Rudolf Von Ribbentrop's 'My Father Joachim von Ribbentrop', a frank description of the SS soldier's relationship with his father when he was the German Ambassador in London and during the war years. This is the this first English Language edition of his memoirs which were first published in German in 2008.
Other picture of old Rudolf von Ribbentrop. Post-war Ribbentrop became a wine merchant and wrote his memoirs. These gave fresh insight into the career of his father and also an insight in the final days of Adolf Hitler. His work included previously unpublished photographs of his family and Hitler.
Funeral notice from the family, published in the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” on 25 May 2019. Rudolf von Ribbentrop passed away on 20 May 2019, 9 days after his 98th birthday. After spoken to his maid, he sat down, drunk a cup of tee and fall in a sleep. but never woke up again...
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Obituary from 'The Times' (London), 12 June 2019.
Source :
Bundesarchiv photo archive
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek photo archive
Remy Spezzano photo collection
Sebastian Möller photo collection
"My Father Joachim von Ribbentrop" by Rudolf von Ribbentrop
"The Panzers and the Battle of Normandy" by Georges Bernage
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