Ludwig Kübler
Date of Birth: 02.09.1889 - Hopferau, Münich (German Empire)
Date of Death: 18.08.1947 - executed at Ljubljana Miklasicera (Yugoslavia)
Nickname: Limping Nurmi
Parents: Wilhelm Kübler and Rosa Braun
Siblings: Six brothers and two sisters
Promotions:
16.10.1908 Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier
20.02.1909 Fähnrich
23.10.1910 Leutnant
09.07.1915 Oberleutnant
18.08.1918 Hauptmann
01.08.1928 Major
01.04.1932 Oberstleutnant
01.07.1934 Oberst
01.01.1938 Generalmajor
01.12.1939 Generalleutnant
01.08.1940 General der Infanterie
24.11.1941 General der Gebirgstruppe
Career:
20.07.1918 Entered Army Service
20.07.1908 - 01.04.1913 Fahnenjunker in the 15. Königlich Bayerisches Infanterie-Regiment "König Friedrich August von Sachsen" in Neuburg an der Donau
01.10.1909 - 14.10.1910 Detached to the Kriegsschule Münich
15.01.1913 - 04.02.1913 Detached to the Machinegun Company of the Bavarian 3. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Karl von Bayern and for riding training with the Bavarian 4. Chevaulegers [Light Cavalry]-Regiment König.
05.02.1913 - 18.03.1913 Detached for machinegun training at the Camp Lechfeld Troop Training Area.
01.04.1913 Detached to the Machinegun Company of the Bavarian 15th Infantry Regiment.
01.10.1913 Transferred to the Machinegun Company of the Bavarian 15th Infantry Regiment.
21.09.1914 Regimental Adjutant of the Bavarian 15th Infantry Regiment.
24.09.1914 Severely wounded in the face and jaw by a grenade during the engagement at Lassigny on the Western Front.
01.10.1917 - 31.10.1917 Detached to the Bavarian 2nd Infantry Division for the purpose of training in General Staff service.
25.01.1918 Relieved from the position of Regimental Adjutant and Leader of the Machinegun Company of the Bavarian 15th Infantry Regiment.
31.03.1918 Deputy Leader of the Bavarian Machinegun Sharp Shooting Battalion 2.
11.04.1918 - 25.06.1918 Deputy Leader of the II. Battalion of the Bavarian 15th Infantry Regiment.
03.05.1918 Wounded in the right shoulder and right knee by artillery fire south of Villers aux Erables on the Western Front/treated at the front and remained with the troops.
09.07.1918 - 10.08.1918 Deputy Leader of the II. Battalion of the Bavarian 15th Infantry Regiment.
10.08.1918 Sick with respiratory and heart trouble.
15.08.1918 Operation at the Surgical Clinic in München and the Erlangen Reserve Hospital School and again on 15 February 1919.
16.02.1919 Leader of the Home Defense Company of the Bavarian 15th Infantry Regiment.
01.06.1919 Adjutant of Bavarian Infantry Leader 22.
01.10.1919 Ordnance Officer of Infantry Leader 21.
15.10.1919 Company Leader in Reichswehr Schützen [Rifle]-Regiment 42.
01.10.1920 Transferred to the 19th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment.
01.10.1921 Transferred to the Reich Defense Ministry – 1923-1925 in the Army Department (T 1) of the Troop Office.
01.10.1925 Transferred to the General Staff of Group Command 1.
01.10.1927 Transferred to the staff of the 1st Division.
01.07.1930 - 23.07.1930 At the same time, sent to the XXV Course for Physical Education in Wünsdorf.
01.06.1931 Commander of the I. Battalion of the 19th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment.
05.10.1931 - 23.10.1931 Detached to Firing Course A for Heavy Infantry Weapons at Döberitz.
01.10.1933 Transferred to the staff of the 7th Division carrying the Uniform of a Leadership Staff Officer.
01.11.1933 Chief of Staff of the 7th Division.
01.10.1934 Chief of Staff of Wehrkreis Command VII.
01.06.1935 Commander of the Mountain Brigade, München carrying the Uniform of the 19th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment.
01.04.1938 - 24.10.1940 Kommandeur 1. Gebirgs-Division
17.10.1940 - 21.10.1940 Detached to the Army High Command (Army General Staff).
25.10.1940 - 20.01.1942 Kommandierender General XXXXIX. Gebirgskorps
17.12.1941 - 20.01.1942 Commander-in-Chief of the 4th Army (other documents state with immediate effect from 19 December 1941).
21.01.1942 - 21.07.1943 Army High Command Leader Reserve – Duties determined by the Deputy Commanding General of the VII Army Corps and Commander of Wehrkreis VII.
22.07.1943 - 04.09.1943 Delegated with the post of Commanding General of Security Troops and Commander of Army Area Center.
05.09.1943 - 30.09.1943 Commanding General of Security Troops and Commander of Army Area Center.
01.10.1943 Commander of Security Area, then Operations Zone Adriatic Coastland.
28.09.1944 Commanding General of the LXXXXVII Army Corps for Special Employment (through renaming) (also seen as 5 October 1944).
08.05.1945 Prisoner of war in Yugoslavian captivity; war crimes trial.
18.08.1947 Died in Ljubljana (per WASt) (other sources state he was tried and shot for war crimes against the Yugoslavian people).
00.11.1964 The Pioneer Barracks in Mittenwald was named “General Kübler-Kaserne” in his honor.
Awards and Decorations:
03.03.1911 Königlich Bayerische Prinz-Regent-Luitpold Jubiläums-Medaille
16.09.1914 1914 Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
05.11.1911 Königlich Bayerische Militär-Verdienstorden IV.Klasse mit Schwertern
17.11.1914 1914 Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse
12.05.1916 Ritterkreuz II.Klasse des Königlich Sächsische Albrechts-Ordens mit Schwertern
23.07.1917 Königlich Bayerische Militär-Verdienstorden IV.Klasse mit Schwertern und mit der Krone
07.06.1918 Verwundetenabzeichen 1918 in Schwarz
15.12.1934 Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer 1914-1918
02.10.1936 Dienstauszeichnung der Wehrmacht IV.Klasse 4 Jahre
02.10.1936 Dienstauszeichnung der Wehrmacht III.Klasse 12 Jahre
02.10.1936 Dienstauszeichnung der Wehrmacht II.Klasse 18 Jahre
02.10.1936 Dienstauszeichnung der Wehrmacht I.Klasse 25 Jahre
30.11.1936 Deutsches Olympia Ehrenzeichen Erster Klasse
21.11.1938 Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 13. März 1938
00.00.19__ Heeresbergführer-Abzeichen
15.09.1939 1939 spange zum 1914 Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
20.09.1939 1939 spange zum 1914 Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse
27.10.1939 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, as Generalmajor and Kommandeur 1. Gebirgs-Division
23.08.1942 Medaille "Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42" (Ostmedaille)
00.00.194_ Slovenský vojenný víťazný kríž (Slovakian Order of the War Victory Cross), 3rd Class
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Ludwig Kübler (2 September 1889 – 18 August 1947) was born on 2 September 1889 in the village of Hopferau near Munich in the Kingdom of Bavaria. His father was the physician Wilhelm Kübler and he had six brothers and two sisters. In 1895 he enrolled in elementary school in Forstenried which he left after three years, he then attended the Gymnasium in Rosenheim and the humanist Ludwig Gymnasium in Munich. He graduated in 1908 with top grades and turned down a place at the prestigious Maximilianeum for a career in the military. On 20 July 1908, he joined the 15th Royal Bavarian Infantry Regiment "King Friedrich August of Saxony" as a cadet. At the time, the regiment was garrisoned at Neuburg an der Donau. On 26 October of that year, he was appointed as a Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier (cadet non-commissioned officer). From 1 October 1909 until 14 October 1910 he attended the War School (German: Kriegsschule) in Munich, at which he was placed fifth out of 166 students in his year. On 23 October 1910, he was commissioned as a Leutnant. On 15 January 1913 he was posted to the machine gun company of the 3rd Royal Bavarian Infantry Regiment "Prince Karl of Bavaria", then conducted riding training with the 4th Royal Bavarian Chevaulegers Regiment. He spent February and March 1913 conducting machine gun training courses in the field, before taking command of the machine gun company of the 15th Royal Bavarian Infantry Regiment on 1 April.
At the beginning of World War I, Kübler was serving with 15th Bavarian Infantry Regiment, on the Western Front. He was involved in September 1914 fighting in Lorraine and around St Quentin as commander of a machine gun platoon. On 16 September he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class. On 21 September he was appointed as the regimental adjutant. On 24 September a serious injury from shell splinters left a conspicuous large scar on his face. Although the injury had not completely healed he returned on 13 January 1915 to his regiment, which took part in the Battle of the Somme. While recuperating, on 17 November he was awarded the Iron Cross 1st class. On 9 July 1915 he was promoted to Oberleutnant, and on 18 August 1918 he was promoted to the rank of Hauptmann.
After the war he was retained in the Reichswehr. He was then a staff officer in the Army Department (T1) of Truppenamt for a few years. From 1925–1926 he was at the General Staff of Group Command 1 in Berlin. He was promoted to the rank of Major on 1 August 1928, and Oberstleutnant on 1 April 1932. On 1 November 1933 he was appointed as the chief of staff of the 7th Division based in Munich, and after transferring to the newly created Wehrmacht, he was promoted to the rank of Oberst on 1 July 1934. This was followed by his appointment on 1 October 1934 as the chief of staff of Wehrkreis VII, the Bavarian military district centred on Munich. He was promoted to Generalmajor on 1 January 1938, and exactly three months later was appointed to command the 1st Mountain Division. The 1st Mountain Division was raised from Wehrkreis VII, with its garrison centred on Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It was recruited from Bavarians, with some Austrians included, and was formed on 9 April 1938. Considerably stronger than most German divisions, it had three mountain infantry regiments rather than two.
At the start of World War II, Kübler's division was involved in the invasion of Poland as part of the 14th Army, commencing on 1 September 1939. It fought in the Carpathian Mountains, distinguishing itself during the capture of the Dukla Pass. On 27 October, Kübler was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his role in the Polish campaign. Then on 1 December 1939 he was promoted to Generalleutnant. During the invasion of France and the Low Countries in May 1940, Kübler's division was not heavily committed, fighting on the Franco-Belgian border and crossing the Maas on 15 May. The division was stationed around Arras after the fall of France, as it had been selected to form part of the invasion force for Operation Sealion, the invasion of the United Kingdom. After that operation was postponed, on 25 October 1940 Kübler was appointed to command the XXXXIX Mountain Corps, which included the 1st Mountain Division. His corps was earmarked for Operation Felix, the planned capture of Gibraltar, but that operation was also called off. Due to the disfigurement caused by the wounds he suffered during World War I, Kübler became known to his troops as "Limping Nurmi", a reference to the Finnish long-distance runner Paavo Nurmi.
In April 1941, Kübler's XXXXIX Mountain Corps was allocated to the 2nd Army for the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, and assembled near Klagenfurt prior to the commencement of the invasion on 6 April. By this time, Kübler had been promoted to General der Infanterie. For the Axis attack on the Soviet Union that commenced in 22 June 1941, Kübler's corps was allocated to the 17th Army, itself part of Army Group South. Kübler's rank was redesignated from General der Infanterie to General der Gebirgstruppe. On 19 December 1941, Kübler was appointed commander of the 4th Army. This occurred during the desperate winter defensive fighting when Adolf Hitler would not countenance any withdrawals. Kübler found Hitler's approach "intolerable" and sought relief. On 20 January 1942 he was transferred to the Army Führerreserve (senior officer reserve pool).
From 22 July and 1 October 1943, Kübler was acting commander of the Army Group Centre Rear Area, responsible for security warfare in the territories behind Army Group Centre. On 1 October he was appointed to command the Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral (OZAK), based in Trieste on the northern Adriatic coast. On 28 August 1944, LXXXXVII Army Corps was formed to command all German Army elements in OZAK, and Kübler was appointed as its commander. Shortly before the end of the war he was wounded and captured in Yugoslavia, tried for war crimes and executed after the war. Along with his successor Generalleutant Hans von Hößlin he was sentenced to death in 1947 by a Yugoslav court. He was hanged in Ljubljana on 18 August 1947, like his younger brother, Generalleutnant Josef Kübler, who was hanged in Belgrade on 26 February 1947.
Kübler was considered a "superb soldier" but a hard taskmaster. In 1964, the German Army barracks in Mittenwald, Bavaria were named after Kübler. In November 1995, Volker Rühe, then the German Minister of Defence, changed the name of the barracks from "General-Kübler-Kaserne" to "Karwendel-Kaserne".
Source :
Jim Haley photo collection
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_K%C3%BCbler
https://www.kometmilitaria.com/product-page/press-picture-general-k%C3%BCbler-with-olympia-ehrenzeichen-erster-klasse
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Personenregister/K/KueblerLudwig.htm
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/12422/K%C3%BCbler-Ludwig.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20091027112558fw_/http://www.geocities.com/~orion47/WEHRMACHT/HEER/General2/KUEBLER_LUDWIG.html
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