Chevallerie, Gustav Hans Erdmann Hellmuth von der, born on 09-11-1896 in Berlin
, Josef Goebbel
the son of the Royal Prussian Prime Leutnant in the Guard Pioneer Battalion of the Guard Corp
The Corps was headquartered in Berlin, with its units garrisoned in the city and nearby towns (Potsdam, Jüterbog, Döberitz). Unlike all other Corps of the Imperial German Army, the Guards Corps did not recruit from a specific area, but from throughout Prussia and the “Imperial Lands” of Alsace-Lorraine. Later Generalmajor of Huguenot descent, Friedrich Wilhelm Karl Erdmann Hans von Chevallerie (1857-1946) and his wife Margret, born von Schulz (1866-1945). On 18-12-1918 Hauptmann von der Chevallerie married his fiancee the teacher Dorothea Adelaide Luise Anna Charlotte Zander (born 03-05-1895 in Rybnik/died 14-10-1957 in Göttingen), the daughter of the secret medical councilor Dr. med Rudolf Zander and his wife Charlotte, born Exss. The couple had a son, leutnant Hans -Rudolf von der Chevallerie (born 11-11-1919 in Koberg on 11-06-1940 in battle) and three daughters including Erika Margarete Charlotte, who was born in Kolberg in 1921 and who would marry in Buckow in 1942 with Hans Rudolph. His corpse, he died of his wounds in the Cologne Nippes reserve hospital, was transferred to Kolberg instead of to the war cemetery at the request of his parents. Kurt von der Chevallerie’s brother is a Knight Cross bearer Generalleutnant Gustav Hans Erdmann Hellmuth von der Chevallerie.
Kurt died in battle on 14-01-1944, in Biala Podlaska, Lublin, and is buried at the Polish war cemetery Pulawy, in Section 2.





Helmut’s sister was Anna Julia Barbara Else from the Chevallerie (born 09-08-1893 in Berlin and died 22-02-1983 in Oberstdorf)
Hellmut came from the old Huguenot and noble family of the Chevallerie, who came to Prussia in 1660
. Chevallerie joined the Army, as a volunteer, on 04-08-1914, one month after the outbreak of World War I. He came with 5th Garde Grenadier Regiment
, his brother Kurt was the commander, on the front. Kurt was missed in action on 18-04-1945 near Kolberg in World War II and Kurt’s only son Hans Rudolf died on the Western Front. Helmut was twice wounded
during the battles, in captivity and received both the Iron Crosses.
After returning to his homeland in November 1918, Gustav joined the volunteer Garde-Grenadier battalion of the Freikorps Hindenburg









Chevallerie was involved in the invasion of Russia and as an Oberst and commander of the 10th Schützen Brigade, Gustav landed in the Führer Reserve, in 1942. In October 1942, he was assigned as commander of the 22nd Panzer Division
, he succeeded Generalleutnant der Panzertruppe, Commander of the 22nd Panzer Division, Wilhelm von Apell
and in November promoted to Generalmajor. He is seriously wounded
and has to give up his command until 30-04-1943. Awarded with the Ritterkreuz
and promoted to Generalleutnant. Apell was placed in the Führerreserve (Leader’s Reserve) until March 1943. He was made the Replacement Army Inspector in Vienna and, having received a promotion to Generalleutnant, served in this role for the remainder of the war. He died in the village of Varnhalt, near Baden-Baden, on 07-03-1969, age 77.




Chevallerie reactivated as commander of the 13th Panzer Division
in Mai 1943, former commander Generalleutnant der Artillerie, Commander of the 20th Panzer Division
, Walter Düvert.










Schörner was said to be devoted to Adolf Hitler, a view that is seen as confirmed by Hitler’s appointment of Schörner as his replacement as Commander-in-Chief of the German Army on his suicide in the Last will and testament of Adolf Hitler. Schörner did not hesitate to second Hitler’s fantasy in the last weeks of the war, agreeing that the Red Army’s main objective would be Prague instead of Berlin (in itself a colossal strategic blunder) and so leading him to weaken the critically thin defense lines in front of Berlin.
Ferdinand Schörner was arrested in Austria by American troops on 18-05-1945. In February 1952, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison in a Soviet court. In April of the same year, that sentence was reduced to 12 years. In January 1955, Schörner was released from captivity and left for Dresden in the DDR. His release caused a commotion in the Federal Republic, Bundes Republiek. The later defense minister, the conservative Franz-Josef Strauß,


Franz-Josef Strauss studied at the University of Munich and was an active member of a Roman Catholic youth organization/”Katholische junge Gemeinde” (short: “KjG“) is a major German Catholic youth organization that clashed with the Nazi Party of Adolf Hitler. Called up for military service in 1939, he was captured by U.S. forces near the end of World War II. After his release in 1945, he served as councillor to the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior and in 1946 was appointed deputy county director in the Schongau district by the American occupation authorities. Strauss helped found the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) in 1945 and was elected to the Bundestag (parliament) in August 1949. After being reelected in September 1953, he was appointed minister without portfolio by Chancellor Konrad Adenauer.
In 1955 he became minister for atomic affairs and deputy chairman of the Defense Council. In October 1956 Adenauer appointed him minister of defense. As defense minister until 1962, Strauss oversaw West Germany’s rearmament and played a major role in building up the Bundeswehr (armed forces). Strauss died 03-10-1988,, age 73. Adenauer died 19-04-1967, of heart failure, age 91, in Rhöndorf.


Another famous member of this Roman Catholic youth organization was the later pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Alois Ratzinger.





The Red Army offensive of August 1944 resulted in the deaths or imprisonment of most of the division. Panzer Division. In the spring of 1945, the division was reformed under the name Feldherrnhalle 2
. The last engagements with the Soviets were fought on the Austro-Hungarian border. The Division surrendered in Austria in May 1945.

Von der Chevallerie again wounded on 25-10-1943, is in the Führer Reserve (see Adolf Hitler) (did you know) and in November 1943 assigned as commander of the 273rd Reserve Panzer Division. His son Lieutenant Udo was killed in action in Russia, age 21 on 14-07-1943. His division is disbanded in the spring of 1943 and he lands for the third time in the Reserve. Temporary replaced commander of the 233rd Reserve Panzer Division, he replaced Generalleutnant der Infanterie, Kommandeur 29th Infanterie Division
, Max Fremery



Hellmuth married his fiancée Ruth Schwarzenberger in 1921, and their children included Udo (born 02-02-1922 in Biere), who had remained in front of the enemy at Tereben on the eastern front as a lieutenant in the army on 24-7-1943.
Death and burial ground of Chevallerie, Gustav Hans Erdmann Hellmuth von der.












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