Date of Birth: 17.05.1898 - Plön, Holstein (Germany)
Date of Death: 09.02.1959 - Hamburg-Wandsbek (Germany)
Battles and Operations: Polish Campaign 1939, Western Campaign 1940, Operation Barbarossa 1941, Vyazma pocket, defensive battles central sector 1941-1942, Kursk offensive sector 1943, battles around Tarnopol 1944, defensive actions in Lithuania and Latvia 1944, East Prussian and Pomeranian campaigns 1945
NSDAP-Number: No information
SS-Number: No information
Religion: Protestant
Parents: Karl Mauss and Wilhelmine Minna Mauss née Lohoff
Siblings: Brother Wilhelm Mauss and sister Anneliese Mauss
Spouse: Minna Lohoff (first marriage, mother of three children, deceased shortly after the war), remarried 1949
Children: Three children from first marriage, son Dietrich Mauss from second marriage
Promotions:
20.05.1915 Leutnant
01.04.1922 Charakter als Oberleutnant
01.09.1934 Hauptmann
01.04.1938 Major
01.04.1941 Oberstleutnant
01.04.1942 Oberst
01.04.1944 Generalmajor
01.10.1944 Generalleutnant
Career:
08.08.1914-1918 Kriegsfreiwilliger, Lauenburger Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 9 and Infanterie-Regiment 162, Western Front then Eastern Front
1919-1920 Freikorps Oberland and Marinebrigade Ehrhardt, fighting in Silesia
1922-1929 studied dentistry at University of Hamburg, doctorate Dr. med. dent. 1929, private dental practice in Hamburg
01.09.1934 re-entered Reichswehr as Hauptmann, assigned to II. Bataillon, Infanterie-Regiment 69
11.09.1939-01.03.1942 Kommandeur II. Bataillon, Infanterie-Regiment 69 (mot.), 20. Infanterie-Division (mot.) then 10. Panzer-Division
01.03.1942-30.01.1944 Kommandeur Panzergrenadier-Regiment 33, 4. Panzer-Division
30.01.1944-02.05.1944, 09.09.1944-31.10.1944, 30.11.1944-05.01.1945, 23.01.1945-23.03.1945 Kommandeur 7. Panzer-Division (multiple periods of command)
05.05.1945-1947 prisoner of war in British captivity
1947 onwards private dental practice in Hamburg
Awards and Decoartions:
1939 Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz 2. Klasse 28.09.1939 as Major and Kommandeur II./Infanterie-Regiment 69 (mot.)
1939 Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz 1. Klasse 25.05.1940 as Major and Kommandeur II./Infanterie-Regiment 69 (mot.)
Deutsches Kreuz in Gold 11.03.1943 as Oberst and Kommandeur Panzergrenadier-Regiment 33, 4. Panzer-Division
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 26.11.1941 (694. Verleihung) as Oberstleutnant and Kommandeur II. Bataillon, Schützen-Regiment 69, 10. Panzer-Division, for the night action of 6-7 October 1941 near Vyazma where after the panzer breakthrough he captured key bridges and exits out of the city, personally cleared Vyazma of Soviet forces with his weak battalion and established a provisional defensive line to the west thereby sealing the southern part of the Vyazma pocket
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub on 24.11.1943 (335. Verleihung) as Oberst and Kommandeur Panzergrenadier-Regiment 33, 4. Panzer-Division, for outstanding leadership of major elements of the 4. Panzer-Division throughout 1943, in particular saving the VII. Armeekorps from annihilation in February 1943 and the decisive contribution to the attack from Novgorod-Sewerskij to Ssewsk between 8-27 March 1943 including the capture of Ssewsk and closing the gap between 2. Armee and 2. Panzer-Armee
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern on 23.10.1944 (101. Verleihung) as Generalmajor and Kommandeur 7. Panzer-Division, for distinguished leadership in 1944 including the breakout on 23 March 1944 from encirclement at Satanowka by taking command of Panthers from 1. SS-Panzer-Division and linking up with 1. Panzer-Armee as well as subsequent defensive fighting near Lida and in Lithuania that prevented a Soviet breakthrough toward Tilsit
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub, Schwerter und Brillanten on 15.04.1945 (26. Verleihung) as Generalleutnant and Kommandeur 7. Panzer-Division, for continued outstanding bravery and leadership since the Swords including defensive combat in Latvia and Lithuania May-October 1944 where he smashed multiple Soviet armored breakthroughs in tank battles near Tryskiai-Telsche and south of Plunge destroying large numbers of enemy tanks and holding the line toward Memel, key actions around Elbing and Konitz January-February 1945 where he personally led attacks with the reconnaissance battalion firing a machine gun to relieve the Elbing garrison and evacuate wounded, blocking a major Soviet breakthrough east of Kamin near Konitz on 12 February 1945 destroying 34 enemy tanks and 24 guns in close combat, and the fierce defense of the Gotenhafen bridgehead in March 1945 despite being severely wounded on 25 March 1945
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Karl Mauss, the one-legged dentist who rose to become one of the most respected panzer commanders of the Wehrmacht, volunteered for service at the age of sixteen in August 1914 and quickly distinguished himself as the best scout in his sector during the Battle of the Somme earning the Iron Cross 2nd Class in 1915 while still not yet seventeen. Transferred to the Eastern Front he received the Iron Cross 1st Class in 1916 and was commissioned Leutnant on 20 May 1915 becoming one of the youngest officers in the German Army. After the armistice he fought with Freikorps units in Silesia before retiring in 1922 to study dentistry in Hamburg where he earned his doctorate and opened a successful private practice. Reactivated in 1934 he commanded an anti-tank company and then a battalion through the Polish and French campaigns before earning the Knight's Cross in November 1941 for his decisive action at Vyazma that helped close the pocket. Promoted rapidly he led Panzergrenadier-Regiment 33 during the heavy fighting of 1943 earning the Oak Leaves for saving a corps and closing critical gaps in the line. Taking command of the famous 7. Panzer-Division in early 1944 he repeatedly demonstrated aggressive leadership and personal bravery in the defensive battles of 1944-1945 including multiple breakouts and counterattacks that delayed Soviet advances toward East Prussia. Seriously wounded in the Gotenhafen bridgehead in March 1945 his left leg was amputated above the knee yet he continued to inspire his men until the final days. After British captivity he returned to his dental practice in Hamburg and remained there until his death from illness in 1959.
Unique and interesting facts include that Mauss was trained as a fighter pilot in 1918 but suffered a crash injury ending that career, he was mentioned three times in the Wehrmachtbericht for his defensive successes east of Tarnopol, north of Tilsit and around Elbing, he personally led assaults firing a machine gun even after losing his leg, the Diamonds were awarded on paper on 15 April 1945 but never physically presented due to the collapse of the Reich, he rejected comfortable quarters throughout the war preferring to stay with his troops, and after the war he resumed his dental practice while his son Dietrich also became a dentist.
Source:
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/209/Mauss-Dr-med-dent-Karl.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Mauss
https://generals.dk/general/Mauss/Karl/Germany.html
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/
https://grokipedia.com/page/Karl_Mauss
https://rk.balsi.de/index.php?action=list&cat=300
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://forum.axishistory.com/
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/
https://www.bundesarchiv.de/en/
https://www.geni.com/
https://ww2gravestone.com/people/mauss-dr-karl/
http://de.metapedia.org/
Riaud, Xavier. General-leutnant Dr Karl Mauss (1898-1959). Journal of Dental Problems and Solutions, 2017.
Fraschka, Günter. L’honneur n’a pas de frontières. Paris: France-Empire.
Additional cross-referenced data from Bundesarchiv personnel files and related military archives.
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