|The 28th Infantry Division, later redesignated as the 28th Jäger Division (also known as the Eisernes Kreuz Schlesische Division or "Iron Cross Silesian Division"), was one of the longest-serving units of the German Wehrmacht, formed on 1 October 1936 in Breslau, Silesia (modern-day Wrocław, Poland). Initially structured as a standard infantry division with regiments including the 49th and 83rd, it earned its enduring nickname through veteran leadership and personnel drawing from World War I traditions, such as the Hirschberg Hunters. It saw early combat in the 1939 invasion of Poland as part of the 4th Army, advancing from Katowice toward Kraków, the Vistula, and Lwów, before shifting westward for the 1940 campaign in Belgium and France. Transferred east for Operation Barbarossa in 1941 with the 9th Army, it pushed through Lida toward Smolensk and participated in the drive on Moscow, suffering heavy losses near Yartsevo that necessitated its withdrawal to France for reconstitution. In December 1941, it was reorganized as the 28th Light Infantry Division, then formally redesignated the 28th Jäger Division on 1 July 1942, adopting a lighter, more mobile structure optimized for rough terrain: two Jäger regiments (49 and 83), an artillery regiment, pioneers, Panzerjäger, reconnaissance, and support units, emphasizing elite skirmish tactics, superior training, and coordination suited to forests, hills, and urban fighting rather than massed assaults. Deployed to the Crimea with the 11th Army, it endured brutal fighting in the final assault on Sevastopol before transferring to Army Group North, where it engaged in prolonged operations around the Volkhov River, the Leningrad siege lines (with Finnish and Italian allies), Demyansk, and Lake Ladoga through 1943–early 1944. As Soviet offensives intensified, the division shifted southward through Latvia and Belarus, attempting to relieve encircled forces during Operation Bagration in 1944, then retreated into East Prussia with the rebuilt 4th Army. By late 1944 and early 1945, it fought defensive actions in the Heiligenbeil Pocket, absorbing remnants of other units like elements of the 102nd Infantry Division before being largely destroyed or captured; the survivors under final commander Colonel Hans Tempelhoff surrendered to Soviet forces in the Samland Peninsula in May 1945 after nearly nine years of continuous service across multiple fronts. Commanded successively by figures such as Hans von Obstfelder, Johann Sinnhuber, Friedrich Schulz, Hans Speth, Gustav Heistermann von Ziehlberg, and Ernst König, the division exemplified the Wehrmacht's Jäger ethos—elite light infantry prized for adaptability in adverse conditions—yet ultimately shared the fate of attrition and defeat on the Eastern Front.
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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
General der Infanterie Hans Jordan (1892-1975) entered the Royal Prussian Army in 1912, served through World War I as an Oberleutnant, continued in the Reichswehr, and rose steadily in the Wehrmacht during World War II, commanding Infanterie-Regiment 49 (of the 28. Infanterie-Division) from 1939 to 1941, the 7. Infanterie-Division from December 1941 to November 1942, the VI. Armeekorps from November 1942 until May 1944, and briefly the 9. Armee in the summer of 1944 before being relieved during the opening phase of the Soviet Operation Bagration. As Oberst and Kommandeur of Infanterie-Regiment 49 he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 5 June 1940 for overcoming the fierce defenses of the Maas river with his regiment during the Western Campaign; he then took the necessary measures to exploit this success and complete the victory on that day, personally directing the capture of numerous hostile fortifications whose elimination proved of decisive importance for the overall operation in the Maubeuge sector. On 16 January 1942, still credited in connection with the command of Infanterie-Regiment 49, he was awarded the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes for the regiment’s successful defensive battles near Duchowtschina in August and September 1941 as well as its major contribution to the liquidation of the Vyazma pocket on the Eastern Front. Finally, as General der Infanterie and Kommandierender General of the VI. Armeekorps, he earned the Schwerter on 20 April 1944 for his outstanding leadership throughout the repeated summer and winter battles in the Rzhev salient and the stubborn defensive fighting near Vitebsk in the winter of 1943–1944, during which his corps prevented every Soviet attempt to achieve a breakthrough.
Generalleutnant Hartwig von Ludwiger (1895-1947) was born on 29 June 1895 in Beuthen in Silesia and entered the Preußische Armee on 19 August 1914 as a Fahnenjunker, receiving his commission as Leutnant on 30 July 1915 in the Grenadier-Regiment „König Friedrich III.“ (2. Schlesisches) Nr. 11. During the First World War he served on the Western Front in the battles of Champagne, Arras, the Somme, Flanders and the Meuse-Argonne, earning both classes of the Eisernes Kreuz, the Ritterkreuz des Königlichen Hausordens von Hohenzollern mit Schwertern and the Verwundetenabzeichen in Silber for repeated wounds. Retained in the Reichswehr after 1918, he participated in the suppression of the Silesian Uprisings and advanced steadily through the ranks to Oberstleutnant by 1938 while commanding battalions in various infantry regiments. On 1 March 1940 he assumed command of Infanterie-Regiment 83 of the 28. Infanterie-Division and led it through the campaign in France. Following the start of Operation Barbarossa he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 15 July 1941 as Oberstleutnant and Kommandeur of Infanterie-Regiment 83 for his personal leadership and the regiment’s determined advances during the initial phase of the offensive on the Eastern Front. Promoted to Oberst on 1 September 1941, he continued to command the unit after its conversion into Jäger-Regiment 83 of the 28. Jäger-Division. For his outstanding direction of the regiment during the Crimean campaign, including the fighting for the Kerch Peninsula, and especially for the successful defensive actions near the Sinyavino Heights in September 1942 where his men blunted major Soviet assaults and destroyed several enemy battalions in difficult forest and marsh terrain, he received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 23 December 1942 as the 163rd recipient. Later promoted to Generalmajor and Generalleutnant, he commanded the 104. Jäger-Division in the Balkans until the end of the war and was executed in Belgrade on 3 or 5 May 1947 after conviction by a Yugoslav military court.
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RITTERKREUZTRÄGER
Generalmajor Franz Scheidies (1890-1942) was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes along with its Eichenlaub for outstanding personal bravery and decisive leadership in major combat operations. After earlier service in the Prussian Army and police, he rejoined the military in 1935 and rose through the ranks; during the 1940 Western Campaign in France, as Oberstleutnant and Kommandeur of Infanterie-Regiment 127 within the XII. Armee-Korps of the 1. Armee under Heeresgruppe C, he commanded the division’s Vorausabteilung in the pursuit battles from the Maginot Line to the Mosel river, where he was always at the forefront of the fiercest fighting and repeatedly guided his detachment through the most trying situations thanks to his personal courage, bold initiative, and clear orders, actions especially distinguished during the engagements at Languimberg on 17 June 1940, at Bého and Gélacourt on 18 June 1940, and the assault on Azerailles on 19 June 1940, when he was severely wounded while personally leading the foremost riflemen, for which he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 5 August 1940. After recovering from his wounds and promotion to Oberst, he took command of Infanterie-Regiment 22 of the 1. Infanterie-Division under the XXXVIII. Armee-Korps; on 9 September 1941 his regiment advanced as far as Kainelaisi during the breakthrough that made the 1. Infanterie-Division the first German unit to penetrate the outer defensive ring around Leningrad, enabling the corps to thrust to the Gulf of Finland and tighten the encirclement of the city, for which he was awarded the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 31 December 1941 as the 43rd recipient. He subsequently led Infanterie-Regiment 22 in heavy defensive battles near Ladoga during the winter of 1941/42 before being appointed commander of the 61. Infanterie-Division in late March 1942, a post he held until he was killed by a Soviet sniper near Gluschitza on 7 April 1942.
Source :
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/Infanteriedivisionen/28ID.htm
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