Mäder, Hellmuth.

Mäder, Hellmuth, born 05-07-1908 in Rotterode, Thuringia, joined the Army in 1936 and by September 1939 was serving as a junior officer with the  34th Infanterie-Division .. In the spring of 1940, Oberleutnant Mäder commanded the 14^th Company of the 522^nd Infantery-Regiment in the newly formed 297^th Infantery-Division , under command of Generalleutnant Max Heinrich Wilhelm Pfeffer , which was not deployed in the Western campaign. In late 1940 he was appointed commander of III Battalion with the 522th Infanterie-Regiment, and served in that post during the opening phase of Operation Barbarossa. His division fought under Army Group South, under command of Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt

advancing on Kiev and Rostov, and for his gallantry during the defensive action of winter 1941/1942, Mäder was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross on 03-04-1942. In July 1942 he was promoted to Major and took command of 522^nd Infanterie-Regiment, which distinguished itself during 6^th Army’s drive to the Don, fighting at Kharkiv, the Izyum Pocket and Voronezh. Promoted to Oberstleutnant, Mäder led his regiment into Stalingrad, where it was cut off with the rest of the 6^th Army  under command of Fieldmarshall Friedrich Paulus

Hellmuth Mäder led battle groups of his regiment and others during the defensive fighting of December 1942 and January 1943. A serious wound led to his evacuation by air before the final collapse of the 6^th Army at Stalingrad.  German losses of 6th Army and 4th Panzer were over 300,000 men. Romanian casualties were 158,854, 114,520 Italians (84,830 killed, missing and 29,690 wounded) and 143,000 Hungarian (80,000 killed, missing and 63,000 wounded). Losses among Soviet POW turncoats Hiwis, or Hilfswillige range between 19,300 and 52,000.

While recovering from his wounds Mäder was placed on the Führerreserve until early 1944. Promoted to Oberst, he was given command of the Eingreifbrigade Narwa and returned to the northern sector of the Eastern Front. Here he was successful in halting a number of localized Soviet attacks before being severely wounded once more. This time, on recovery from his wounds he was appointed commander of the Heeresgruppen Waffenschule Nord, a weapons training establishment. When the Soviets launched their 1944 summer offensives he returned to the front, having responsibility for organizing the defence of a vital railway junction at Šiauliai, between Königsberg and Riga. He held it open under heavy attack for two days, allowing retreating German units to pass safely through. For this achievement he was awarded the Oak Leaves on 27-08-1944. That autumn Mäder served briefly as commander of the 7^th Panzerdivision , he succeeded Generalleutnant der Panzertruppe, Kommandeur Panzer Grenadier Regiment 33, Dr. Karl Mauss

   again on the northern Russian front. At the end of 1944 he was given command of the elite Führer Begleit Brigade, a part of Panzerkorps Grossdeutschland under command of General Dietrich von Saucken. He led it through Ardennes offensive, and when, early 1945, the brigade was expanded to become the Führer Grenadier Division, the promoted Generalmajor Mäder was put in command, succeeding Oberst Hans-Joachim Kahler . Oberst Kahler died 14-01-2000, aged 91. The new division saw fighting on the Eastern front near Stettin, before being forced to retreat south-west to the outskirts of Vienna. Here, during the final battles for the Austrian capital, Generalmajor Mäder was awarded the Swords to his Knight’s Cross on 18-04-1945. Although Mäder had surrendered to US forces, he was handed over to the Soviets, who held him in captivity until 1955. In 1956 Mäder joined the Bundeswehr, serving with the rank of Brigade General and commanded of the Infantry School, in Hammelburg. His last rank before retirement was Generalleutnant. In 1974 he was arrested and convicted to two years imprisonment for money he embezzled in his position in the Bundeswehr as well as for inconsistencies in his expense reports.

Death and burial ground of Mäder, Hellmuth.

An accusation which he denied until he died on 12-05-1984, age 75, in Konstanz am Bodensee. Mäder is buried on the Hauptfriedhof of Koblenz, but his grave is seriously neglected.

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