Nickname: None
Born: December 29th, 1898 - Munich/Bavaria (German Empire)
Died: July 8th, 1944 - Rogatschew-Babruysk/Mahilyow Oblast, Belarus (Soviet Union)
Battles/Wars: World War I, World War II (Western Front 1940, Eastern Front 1941-1944 including Operation Barbarossa, Battle of Kiev, Battle of Moscow, Battles around Kirowograd, Kanew, Tscherkassy Pocket, Operation Bagration)
Allegiance: German Empire (to 1918), Weimar Republic (to 1933), Nazi Germany
Service/Branch: Heer
Years of Service: 1916-1944
Religion: Unknown
Father: Unknown
Mother: Unknown
Siblings: Unknown
Spouse: Unknown
Children: Unknown
Promotions
00.00.1916 Kriegsfreiwilliger
00.00.1919 Gefreiter
00.00.1923 Obergefreiter
00.00.1928 Feldwebel
00.00.1937 Leutnant der Reserve
00.00.1939 Oberleutnant der Reserve
00.00.1941 Hauptmann der Reserve
00.00.1943 Major der Reserve
00.00.1944 Oberstleutnant der Reserve
08.07.1944 Oberst der Reserve (posthumously)
Career
29.12.1898 born in Munich, German Empire
00.00.1916-00.11.1918 Fusilier then Gefreiter, 5. Kompanie, Königlich Bayerisches Infanterie-Leib-Regiment
00.00.1919-00.00.1928 professional NCO service after demobilization from the Bavarian Army
00.00.1937 recalled to active service and commissioned as Leutnant der Reserve
00.00.1939-00.06.1940 Oberleutnant der Reserve and Chef 6. Kompanie, Infanterie-Regiment 199 List, 57. Infanterie-Division, XXXXIII. Armeekorps, 9. Armee, Heeresgruppe B
00.06.1940 defense of the Abbeville bridgehead against repeated strong enemy armored attacks
12.06.1940 awarded clasp to the Iron Cross 2nd Class 1914 for actions at Abbeville
22.06.1940 awarded Iron Cross 1st Class for continued leadership at Abbeville
21.12.1940 awarded Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross as Oberleutnant and company chief for the Abbeville fighting
00.00.1941 promoted Hauptmann der Reserve, continued service with 57. Infanterie-Division on the Eastern Front
00.00.1941 awarded Infantry Assault Badge
00.00.1942 awarded Eastern Front Medal for winter fighting 1941-42
00.00.1942-02.1943 Kommandeur III. Bataillon, Grenadier-Regiment 217, 57. Infanterie-Division, VII. Armeekorps, 2. Armee, Heeresgruppe Mitte
early 1943 nine-day breakthrough fighting near Voronezh leading a Kampfgruppe, personally assaulting enemy positions three times and re-establishing contact with main forces after three weeks of encirclement battles
21.02.1943 awarded 194th Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross as Hauptmann and battalion commander for the Voronezh actions
00.00.1943 promoted Major der Reserve and transferred to regimental level
summer 1943-02.1944 Kommandeur Grenadier-Regiment 199 List, 57. Infanterie-Division then attached to 4. Panzer-Armee, Heeresgruppe Süd
02.1944 rapid formation of a new security line during the breakout from the Cherkassy pocket and successful river crossing retreat over the Gniloi Tikitsch, holding the position until the entire division had crossed safely
09.06.1944 awarded 70th Swords to the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves as Oberstleutnant der Reserve and regimental commander for continuous defensive operations on the southern sector of the Eastern Front from summer 1943 to winter 1944
00.06.1944-08.07.1944 continued command of Grenadier-Regiment 199 List facing the opening phase of the Soviet summer offensive
08.07.1944 killed in action north of Rogachev near Bobruisk, Belarus, during Operation Bagration while leading his regiment in defensive fighting
Awards & Decorations:
Eisernes Kreuz 2.Klasse (1914) – November 20th, 1918
Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer
Verwundetenabzeichen 1939 in Schwarz
Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen – 1941
Spange zum Eisernes Kreuz 2er Klasse 1914 – June 12th, 1940
Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse – June 22nd, 1940
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (December 21st, 1940) as Oberleutnant der Reserve and Chef 6.Kompanie / II.Bataillon / Infanterie-Regiment 199 "List" / 57.Infanterie-Division. In the chaotic whirlwind of the Battle of France in early June 1940, the division was entrenched in the precarious Abbeville bridgehead position along the Somme River, a critical foothold gained after the rapid German advance through the Low Countries. French forces, desperate to reclaim the area and halt the German blitzkrieg, launched ferocious armored counterattacks with waves of tanks—likely including formidable Char B1 heavies and Somua S35 mediums—supported by infantry and artillery barrages that churned the earth into a muddy hellscape of craters and smoke. König's company bore the brunt of these assaults, positioned at the forward edge where enemy armor rumbled forward under the cover of dawn mists and relentless shelling. With anti-tank guns scarce and his men outnumbered, König orchestrated a tenacious defense, directing machine-gun nests to rake the advancing tanks' flanks while his infantrymen hurled grenades and Molotov cocktails at close range. The air filled with the deafening roar of engines, the crack of rifles, and the explosions of penetrating rounds as French tanks breached wire entanglements, only to be immobilized by concentrated fire or bogged down in the softened ground. König himself moved among his troops under heavy fire, rallying them with shouts and personal example, ensuring that key strongpoints held despite mounting casualties. Over several days, his unit repelled multiple thrusts, inflicting heavy losses on the attackers and preventing a breakthrough that could have unraveled the German line. This heroic stand exemplified the grit of German infantry against superior armored forces, securing the bridgehead and contributing to the overall collapse of French resistance in the sector.
Medaille "Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42" (Ostmedaille) – 1942
Dienstauszeichnung der Wehrmacht 3.Klasse, 12 Jahre
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub #194 (February 21st, 1943) as Hauptmann der Reserve and Kommandeur III.Bataillon / Grenadier-Regiment 217 / 57.Infanterie-Division. Following the German evacuation of Voronezh in late January amid the brutal Russian winter, Soviet forces—emboldened by their victory at Stalingrad—sought to exploit the retreat, deploying numerically superior infantry and armor to encircle and annihilate withdrawing German units. König's Kampfgruppe, a battered mix of grenadiers, engineers, and support elements, found itself repeatedly cut off during a grueling nine-day ordeal of mobile warfare across snow-swept plains and frozen rivers, likely in the Don River bend area where temperatures plummeted below -30°C, turning the landscape into a white wasteland punctuated by burning villages and the wreckage of vehicles. In vivid scenes of desperation, König spearheaded three daring breakthroughs through Soviet rings. Each time, as Red Army troops closed in with T-34 tanks grinding through the drifts and infantry charging with bayonets fixed under artillery cover, he fought rifle in hand at the forefront, storming enemy positions in hand-to-hand combat amid swirling blizzards that reduced visibility to mere meters. His men, inspired by his unflinching courage—perhaps shouting "Vorwärts!" as they advanced—used panzerfausts and captured weapons to knock out tanks at point-blank range, while engineers blasted paths through minefields under machine-gun fire. The fighting was ferocious: close-quarters brawls in trenches filled with the screams of the wounded, the acrid smell of cordite, and the constant threat of frostbite or encirclement. Over three weeks of relentless defensive actions and counterattacks, König's leadership maintained unit cohesion, preventing panic and enabling the Kampfgruppe to link up with main German forces after inflicting severe casualties on the pursuers. This sequence of escapes not only saved his men but disrupted Soviet momentum in the sector, highlighting König's tactical acumen in fluid, high-stakes retreat operations.
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern #70 (June 9th, 1944) as Oberstleutnant der Reserve and Kommandeur Grenadier-Regiment 199 "List" / 57.Infanterie-Division. This period encompassed grueling defensive battles around Kirowograd, Kanew, and the infamous Tscherkassy (Cherkassy) Pocket, where Soviet offensives trapped tens of thousands of German troops in a cauldron of mud, snow, and unyielding artillery fire. The pocket, formed in late January 1944 along the Dnieper River bend, became a nightmarish arena of encirclement, with Red Army forces pounding the trapped divisions— including elements of the 57. Infanterie and Waffen-SS units like Wiking—from all sides, their T-34s and SU-85 assault guns probing for weaknesses amid constant aerial strafing and partisan ambushes. König's crowning action occurred during the desperate breakout on February 17, 1944, as German forces retreated across the swollen Gniloi Tikitsch River under pouring rain that turned the ground into a quagmire. Spotting a breach in the German security line where Soviet infantry and armor had infiltrated, threatening to cut off the division's withdrawal, König swiftly improvised a new frontline with his regiment's depleted companies—scarcely a few hundred exhausted men armed with rifles, MG-42s, and whatever anti-tank weapons remained. Positioning them in hasty defenses along riverbanks and ruined farmsteads, he orchestrated a stubborn hold against wave after wave of Soviet assaults: enemy troops advancing in human waves, supported by Katyusha rocket barrages that lit the sky with fire and filled the air with shrapnel and the stench of explosives. König moved dynamically along the line, directing fire, plugging gaps with reserves, and personally engaging in firefights as bullets whizzed overhead and grenades exploded in the muck. His regiment repelled multiple attacks, buying precious time for the rest of the 57. Infanterie-Division to cross the raging river on makeshift bridges or by swimming through icy waters, laden with equipment and the wounded. Only after the last elements had escaped did König order a fighting withdrawal, ensuring minimal losses in the chaos. This act of selfless leadership not only facilitated the division's survival but exemplified the raw determination that allowed some 35,000 Germans to break out of the pocket, albeit at great cost.
Nahkampfspange in Gold
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Alfons König was born on 29 December 1898 in Munich in the German Empire and died on 8 July 1944 near Bobruisk in the Soviet Union at the age of 45. A German officer in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II, he served as an infantry commander and rose to the rank of Oberst of the Reserves posthumously while earning one of the highest decorations for bravery, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. His military career spanned both world wars, beginning as a volunteer in the Bavarian forces and culminating in regimental leadership on the Eastern Front where his personal courage and tactical skill repeatedly turned desperate defensive situations into successful withdrawals for his units. König's service reflected the experiences of many reserve officers who transitioned from peacetime to intense combat leadership, ultimately falling in action during the Soviet summer offensive known as Operation Bagration.
König volunteered for service in World War I in 1916 as a Kriegsfreiwilliger and served as a Fusilier in the 5th Company of the Königlich Bayerisches Infanterie-Leib-Regiment. He progressed through the enlisted ranks, becoming a Gefreiter in 1919, an Obergefreiter in 1923, and finally a Feldwebel in 1928 before leaving active duty. For his frontline contributions in the Great War he received the Iron Cross 2nd Class on 20 November 1918 and later the Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer. These early experiences in mountain infantry and close-quarters fighting laid the foundation for his later reserve career, instilling in him the leadership qualities that would prove decisive decades later when he returned to uniform amid the rearmament of the 1930s.
After demobilization König was recalled to the reserves in 1937 and commissioned as a Leutnant der Reserve. He advanced quickly, reaching Oberleutnant der Reserve by 1939 and assuming command of the 6th Company in Infantry Regiment 199 "List" within the 57th Infantry Division. This regiment, part of formations operating under Heeresgruppe B in the West at the outset of World War II, placed him in position for his first major test during the 1940 campaign in France. His steady progression through reserve officer ranks demonstrated the German military's reliance on experienced noncommissioned officers from the previous conflict to fill leadership gaps as the Wehrmacht expanded rapidly.
In the Battle of France König distinguished himself as chief of the 6th Company during the defense of the Abbeville bridgehead position against strong enemy armored attacks at the beginning of June 1940. He earned the Iron Cross 2nd Class on 12 June 1940 and the 1st Class only ten days later on 22 June 1940. For these actions, which helped secure the bridgehead against repeated assaults, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 21 December 1940 while still an Oberleutnant. The citation highlighted his role in repelling armored thrusts that threatened to collapse the German position, marking the first of three escalating honors that would follow as he moved from company to higher command levels in subsequent campaigns.
Transferred to command the III Battalion of Grenadier Regiment 217, still within the 57th Infantry Division now operating on the Eastern Front under Heeresgruppe Mitte, König faced the grueling conditions of the Soviet theater after 1941. Promoted to Hauptmann der Reserve in 1941 and later to Major der Reserve in 1943, he also received the Infantry Assault Badge and the Eastern Front Medal for his participation in the harsh winter fighting of 1941-1942. His most celebrated exploit occurred during the evacuation of Voronezh in early 1943 when Soviet forces repeatedly attempted to encircle and disrupt the orderly withdrawal of German Kampfgruppen. Over the course of nine days his battalion broke through enemy lines three times, with König personally leading assaults weapon in hand at the head of his grenadiers and inspiring his men through exemplary bravery. After three weeks of ferocious breakthrough and defensive combat the unit reestablished contact with the main body of friendly forces, actions that earned him the 194th Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross on 21 February 1943 as battalion commander.
By early 1944 König had been promoted to Oberstleutnant der Reserve and given command of Grenadier Regiment 199 "List" under the 4th Panzer Army on the southern sector of the Eastern Front, operating initially with Heeresgruppe Süd. From summer 1943 through winter 1944 his regiment conducted continuous defensive operations amid relentless Soviet pressure, and his leadership in one critical river-crossing retreat, likely involving the Gniloi Tikitsch during the breakout from the Cherkassy pocket in February 1944, proved decisive. When the German security line was breached, König rapidly formed a new frontline with his limited forces, holding it against every Soviet attack until the entire division had crossed safely before withdrawing himself. These achievements led to the award of the 70th Swords on 9 June 1944 as regimental commander. Promoted posthumously to the full rank of Oberst der Reserve, König was killed in action on 8 July 1944 north of Rogachev in Belarus while his unit faced the opening onslaught of Operation Bagration, bringing to a close a career defined by repeated demonstrations of personal valor and tactical resilience under extreme pressure.
Source:
The Face of Courage: The 98 Men Who Received the Knight's Cross and the Close-Combat Clasp in Gold by Florian Berger (2011)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfons_K%C3%B6nig
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/34544/K%C3%B6nig-Alfons.htm
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Personenregister/K/KoenigA.htm
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=109836
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