Zimmer, Richard, born 21-06-1893, in Schwäbisch Gmünd, 
was a highly decorated Generalleutnant in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross 
. The Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.
was a highly decorated Generalleutnant in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross . The Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.After the start of the First World War, Richard Zimmer joined the Württemberg Army 
as a volunteer on 08-08-1914. On 18-06-1915 Richard was promoted to Leutenant in the reserve. After the First World War, however, he was not accepted into the new 100.000 men Reichswehr. He resigned from the Reich Army in February 1919. He then joined the police force. 
He then rose to the rank of major in the police force. He was then taken back into the army as a major on 01-10-1935 as part of the expansion of the Reichswehr into the Wehrmacht. On 12-10-1937, he was appointed commander of the 35th Engineer Battalion in Karlsruhe. On 01-06-1938, he was promoted to Leutenant Colonel. He relinquished his command in the fall of 1938. On 10-11-1938, he was appointed commander of the Mountain Pioneer Battalion 54 in Mittenwald as the successor to Oberst Franz Geiger. 
Franz Geiger was born on 19-12-1894 as son to Karl Geiger and Philippine Geiger-Unrein. He married Wilhelmine Pflaum on 07-01-1924. The couple had two daughters. He was reported missing in action near Ostromer between 08-05-1945. On 31-12-1945 he was formally declared dead.
as a volunteer on 08-08-1914. On 18-06-1915 Richard was promoted to Leutenant in the reserve. After the First World War, however, he was not accepted into the new 100.000 men Reichswehr. He resigned from the Reich Army in February 1919. He then joined the police force. He then rose to the rank of major in the police force. He was then taken back into the army as a major on 01-10-1935 as part of the expansion of the Reichswehr into the Wehrmacht. On 12-10-1937, he was appointed commander of the 35th Engineer Battalion in Karlsruhe. On 01-06-1938, he was promoted to Leutenant Colonel. He relinquished his command in the fall of 1938. On 10-11-1938, he was appointed commander of the Mountain Pioneer Battalion 54 in Mittenwald as the successor to Oberst Franz Geiger. Franz Geiger was born on 19-12-1894 as son to Karl Geiger and Philippine Geiger-Unrein. He married Wilhelmine Pflaum on 07-01-1924. The couple had two daughters. He was reported missing in action near Ostromer between 08-05-1945. On 31-12-1945 he was formally declared dead.Zimmer continued to serve in this role when the Second World War began in the summer of 1939. He then led his battalion first into the Polish campaign. Shortly before the western campaign in the spring of 1940, he gave up his command of the Mountain Pioneer Battalion 54 on 30-04-1940. On 01-05-1940, he was appointed commander of the officer course at the Dessau-Roßlau Pioneer School. 
As such, he was promoted to Oberst on 01-08-1940. He was replaced on 31-04-1941. On 01-05-1941, he was appointed commander of the 620 Mountain Pioneer Regiment, again as the successor to Oberst Franz Geiger. He then leads the pioneers at XXXXIX. Mountain Army Corps. In this role he took part in the attack on southern Russia in the eastern campaign at the beginning of the summer of 1941. On 08-06-1942 he was awarded the German Cross in Gold. 
He was relieved on 22-07-1942. For this he was transferred to the leadership reserve.
As such, he was promoted to Oberst on 01-08-1940. He was replaced on 31-04-1941. On 01-05-1941, he was appointed commander of the 620 Mountain Pioneer Regiment, again as the successor to Oberst Franz Geiger. He then leads the pioneers at XXXXIX. Mountain Army Corps. In this role he took part in the attack on southern Russia in the eastern campaign at the beginning of the summer of 1941. On 08-06-1942 he was awarded the German Cross in Gold. He was relieved on 22-07-1942. For this he was transferred to the leadership reserve.Richard Zimmer, in 1943 became commander of the 17th Infanterie Division 
succeeding Generalleutnant Gustav Adolf von Zangen, the German authorities declared that patients of the mental institution in the town of Warta, were killed by the soldiers of the 17th Division in the hospital and dressed in hospital pyjamas, were victims of a common crime rather than a war crime or a murder. In addition to that, the Leibstandarte regiment attached to the 17th Division was notorious for burning all villages it passed through in Poland. General von Zangen 
survived the war and died 01-05-1964, age 71 in Hanau.
Zimmer was involved in the big battles, the invasion of Poland, Battle of France, Operation Barbarossa, Battle of Uman, against Commanding Officer of the 4th Guards Army
, General Vaslilii Chuikov.
succeeding Generalleutnant Gustav Adolf von Zangen, the German authorities declared that patients of the mental institution in the town of Warta, were killed by the soldiers of the 17th Division in the hospital and dressed in hospital pyjamas, were victims of a common crime rather than a war crime or a murder. In addition to that, the Leibstandarte regiment attached to the 17th Division was notorious for burning all villages it passed through in Poland. General von Zangen survived the war and died 01-05-1964, age 71 in Hanau.Zimmer was involved in the big battles, the invasion of Poland, Battle of France, Operation Barbarossa, Battle of Uman, against Commanding Officer of the 4th Guards Army
, General Vaslilii Chuikov.
At the end of the war, the Fourth Guards Army was part of the 3rd Ukrainian Front 
under marshal Sergey Semyonovich Biryuzov 
. Biryuzov and 32 others were killed when their Ilyushin IL-18 crashed against mount Avala near Belgrade. The urn containing his ashes is buried in the Kremlin Wall. Zimmer was also in the Battle of Kiev (1941), Battle of Rostov (1941) and the Battle of the Caucasus and the Lower Dnieper Offensive. During Operation Barbarossa from the 91.000 German POWs taken at Stalingrad, 27.000 died within weeks and only 5-6,000 returned to Germany by 1955, after intervention by Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer. 
The remainder of the POWs died in Soviet captivity. On 02-02-1943, the organized resistance of Axis troops in Stalingrad ceased. Out of the 91.000 prisoners taken by the Soviets, 3.000 were Romanian. These were the survivors of the 20th Infantry Division 
, 1st Cavalry Division 
and “Colonel Voicu” Detachment. According to archival figures, the Red Army suffered a total of 1.129.619 total casualties; 478.741 men killed or missing and 650.878 wounded. These numbers are for the whole Don region; in the city itself 750.000 were killed, captured, or wounded. Anywhere from 25.000 to 40.000 Soviet civilians died in Stalingrad and its suburbs during a single week of aerial bombing by Luftflotte 4 as the German 4th Panzer and 6th Armies approached the city; the total number of civilians killed in the regions outside the city is unknown. In all, the battle resulted in an estimated total of 1.7-2 million Axis and Soviet casualties.Death and burial ground of Zimmer, Richard.
After the war Richard Zimmer lived in Mittenwald, Bavaria and died there at the age of 77, on 20-06-1971. Zimmer is buried, with his wife Else, on the Stadtfriedhof of Mittenwald, only steps of the grave of the Generalfeldmarschall der Gebirgstruppe, Kommandeur der XXXX Panzerkorps, Ferdinand Schörner
and SS Gruppenführer, Befehlshaber der Ordnungspolizei Stuttgart, 
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