1. Early life and education
Walther Wenck was born on September 18, 1900, in Wittenberg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, as the third son of an officer, Maximilian Wenck. In 1911, he joined the Naumburg Cadet Corps of the Prussian Army. From the spring of 1918, he attended the secondary military school in Gross-Lichterfeld. Although he was enrolled in military education during the final stages of World War I, the war ended before he saw active service.
2. Military career
Wenck's military career spanned the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany, progressing through various significant command and staff roles.
2.1. Early career (Weimar Republic and early WWII)
After Germany's defeat in World War I, Wenck joined a paramilitary group, the FreikorpsFreiwilligen-Regiment ReinhardGerman in 1919. In 1921, he was accepted into the Army (ReichswehrReichswehrGerman) of the Weimar Republic. In 1923, he studied at the infantry school in Munich and was commissioned as a second lieutenant, assigned to the historic 9th Infantry Regiment. He married in 1928 and became a father to twins in 1930.
Wenck volunteered for the motorized units, which were a disguised form of tank units prohibited by the Treaty of Versailles. In 1933, he was transferred to the 3rd Motorized Battalion in Berlin, where he became known to then-Lieutenant Colonel Heinz Guderian, the Inspector General of Motorized Troops. Wenck was promoted to captain in 1934. From 1935, he studied at the War Academy in Berlin. After graduating the following year, he worked in the armored section of the German General Staff, simultaneously serving as an aide to former Chief of the General Staff, Hans von Seeckt. In 1938, he was appointed a company commander in the 2nd Panzer Regiment. In January 1939, he became a staff officer for the 1st Panzer Division.
2.2. World War II service
With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Wenck was promoted to major. He was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class on September 18, 1939, and the 1st Class on October 4, 1939. During the Western Campaign the following year, his strategic acumen was notable in the capture of Belfort, leading to his promotion to lieutenant colonel. In 1942, he was promoted to colonel and became an instructor at the War Academy in Berlin. The same year, he served as Chief of Staff for the LVII Panzer Corps before quickly becoming Chief of Staff under General Petre Dumitrescu of the Third Romanian Army on the Eastern Front, where he effectively guided the Romanian forces.
2.2.1. Eastern Front activities
From 1942 to 1943, Wenck served as Chief of Staff of "Army Detachment Hollidt," named after Karl-Adolf Hollidt, which was subordinated to the Third Romanian Army. The Romanian Third Army participated in the Battle of Stalingrad, bearing the brunt of the Soviet "Operation Uranus" offensive launched on November 19, 1942. Within five days, the Third Army was effectively destroyed, with only a small number of troops, including those who escaped encirclement in the Kletskaya area, remaining, barely holding the Chir River with rear-echelon personnel and auxiliaries. For his service, Wenck was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on December 28, 1942. In 1943, he was promoted to major general and served as Chief of Staff for General Eberhard von Mackensen's 1st Panzer Army. He then transferred to become Chief of Staff of Army Group A in 1944.
2.2.2. Western Front and other theaters
Wenck's strategic abilities were evident early in the war during the Battle of France, particularly in the successful capture of Belfort.
2.2.3. Role at the Army High Command (OKH)
In 1944, Wenck served as Chief of Staff of Army Group South Ukraine. It was here that he first drew the attention of Adolf Hitler with his blunt report on the deteriorating conditions on the Eastern Front, stating, "As you see My Führer, the Eastern Front is like Swiss cheese, full of holes." Despite being reprimanded for his informal language, Hitler commended the "liveliness" of his report.
Around July 22, 1944, Wenck was appointed Chief of Operations at the OKH (High Command of the German Army) by Heinz Guderian, who had just been appointed OKH Chief of Staff by Hitler. Wenck was soon advanced to Chief of Command Staff (Chief of the FührungsstabFührungsstabGerman), an office that replaced Quartermaster General I.
On February 13, 1945, after a lengthy argument, Guderian persuaded Hitler to appoint Wenck as Chief of Staff of Army Group Vistula under Heinrich Himmler, granting him the authority to launch an attack. Wenck's initial attack was successful, but Hitler's demand for daily Führer's briefings forced Wenck to undertake a daily round trip of 200 mile. On February 17, 1945, an exhausted Wenck took the wheel from his collapsed driver, Dorn. Wenck then fell asleep, crashing his car off the road. He was saved by Dorn but sustained a fractured skull and five broken ribs, leading to his resignation and hospitalization. Meanwhile, the attack failed.
3. Major activities during World War II
Walther Wenck's most critical roles and actions occurred during the final, desperate stages of World War II, particularly his command of the 12th Army.
3.1. Appointment as Commander of the 12th Army
On April 7, 1945, Walther Wenck was appointed commander of the newly formed German Twelfth Army, which was positioned west of Berlin to counter the advancing American and British forces. Concurrently, he was promoted to General of Panzer Troops, with the promotion retroactively dated to October of the previous year. However, as the Western Front moved eastward and the Eastern Front moved westward, the German armies on both fronts were pushed back towards each other. Consequently, the area under Wenck's control, to the rear and east of the Elbe River, transformed into a massive refugee camp for Germans fleeing the approaching Soviet Army. Wenck went to great lengths to provide food and lodging for these refugees. At one point, it was estimated that the Twelfth Army was feeding between 250,000 and 500,000 people every day.
3.2. Role in the Battle of Berlin
On April 21, 1945, Adolf Hitler issued an order for Waffen SS ObergruppenführerObergruppenführerGerman Felix Steiner to attack the forces of Soviet Marshal Georgy Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front, which were encircling Berlin from the north. Meanwhile, Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front was encircling the city from the south. Steiner, leading "Army Detachment Steiner," was tasked with attacking Zhukov. However, Steiner's forces, with few operational tanks and roughly a division's worth of infantry, requested permission to retreat instead of launching a futile attack.
On April 22, as Steiner's forces retreated, Wenck's 12th Army became part of an unrealistic and poorly planned attempt by Hitler to save Berlin from encirclement. At the suggestion of GeneraloberstGeneraloberstGerman Alfred Jodl, Wenck was ordered to disengage from the Americans to his west and, attacking eastward, link up with the Ninth Army of General der InfanterieGeneral der InfanterieGerman Theodor Busse, which was positioned south of Berlin. Together, they were to attack the Soviets encircling Berlin from the west and south. Concurrently, the XLI Panzer Corps under General Rudolf Holste was ordered to attack the Soviets from the north, though this corps was largely composed of exhausted and depleted units from Steiner's command.
On April 23, Wenck addressed the soldiers of the 12th Army, saying: "Comrades, you've got to go in once more. It's not about Berlin any more, it's not about the Reich any more. Your task is to save people from the fighting and the Russians." Hans-Dietrich Genscher, who was an engineer in the 12th Army at the time, described this moment as one of "loyalty, responsibility, and solidarity." A battalion commander from the Scharnhorst Division, which participated in the attack, wrote that it was "a forced march to fight the Ivans (referring to the Russians) in the east."
The unexpected attack by the 12th Army's 20th Corps initially surprised and confused the Soviet forces encircling Berlin. The 20th Corps advanced courageously towards Berlin, pushing forward about 19 mile (30 km), but was eventually halted near Potsdam by strong Soviet resistance. Meanwhile, the 9th Army made little progress towards Berlin. By the end of April 27, the Soviet forces encircling Berlin had linked up, completely cutting off the forces inside the city.
During the night of April 28, Wenck reported to the German Supreme Army Command in Fürstenberg that his 12th Army had been pushed back along the entire front. Wenck stated that an attack on Berlin was no longer possible, as support from Busse's 9th Army could no longer be expected. The 12th Army had barely managed to establish temporary contact with the Potsdam garrison (Armeegruppe SpreeArmy Group SpreeGerman, commanded by Hellmuth Reymann). On the evening of April 29, Hans Krebs, Chief of Staff at the Reich Chancellery, radioed Alfred Jodl, Chief of the OKW Operations Staff, demanding an immediate report on the location of Wenck's army, the attack's start time, the 9th Army's location, its breakthrough point, and Holste's army's location. In the early morning of April 30, Jodl replied to Krebs, stating that Wenck's army had stopped its advance south of Lake Schwielow and could not continue towards Berlin, the 9th Army was mostly encircled, and Holste's forces were preoccupied with defense. Therefore, relief for Berlin from their side was impossible.
As Wenck's attempt to relieve Berlin became unfeasible, his plan shifted to moving the 12th Army towards the Halbe Forest. There, Wenck intended to link up with the remnants of the 9th Army and the Potsdam garrison. Wenck's primary objective became providing an escape route to the west for as many Berlin refugees as possible, as surrender to the Soviets was feared due to their non-adherence to the Hague Convention on prisoners of war. Wenck sent a message to those trapped, stating: "We are waiting here, securing the escape route. Hurry!"
Despite Allied attacks, Wenck successfully facilitated the relatively smooth passage of his 12th Army, the remnants of the 9th Army, and a large number of civilian refugees across the Elbe River into territory occupied by the U.S. Army. It is estimated that up to 250,000 people, including up to 25,000 soldiers from the 9th Army, were able to escape to the American-occupied zone via the escape route secured by Wenck's army before the Soviet advance. Wenck himself was reportedly one of the last to cross the river.
3.3. Surrender and captivity
Following Germany's defeat, the 12th Army surrendered to the U.S. Army in front of the Stendal city hall in May 1945. Walther Wenck was taken prisoner by the U.S. Army and was released in 1947.
4. Post-war life
After his release from captivity, Walther Wenck embarked on a successful second career in the industrial sector.
4.1. Industrial career
Upon his release from captivity at Christmas 1947, Wenck began working as a salesman for a machinery sales company in Bochum in 1948, eventually becoming its president in 1955. During the 1950s, he served as the managing director of Dr. C. Otto & Comp., a prominent producer of industrial ovens. In the 1960s, he became the director of the Diehl Group, an arms manufacturer based in Nuremberg, before retiring in 1966.
4.2. Offer and refusal of Inspector General position
In 1957, Wenck was invited to become the Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, the newly formed West German armed forces. However, he refused the offer. His refusal stemmed from his conditions regarding the role's authority; he insisted that the Inspector General should function as a true commander-in-chief of the armed forces, rather than merely an administrative leader. Since his requirements could not be met, he declined to take the post.
5. Assessment and impact
Walther Wenck's military career and his actions during the final days of World War II have been subject to historical evaluation and have left a mark on popular culture.
5.1. Military assessment
Historians generally assess Walther Wenck as a highly capable commander and a brilliant improviser. His tactical and strategic abilities were recognized throughout his career, particularly his resourcefulness in challenging situations. However, military historians also acknowledge that the task assigned to him in 1945-to save Berlin-was an impossible one, beyond the capabilities of any commander. His efforts to rescue civilians and soldiers during the final collapse of Nazi Germany are often highlighted as a significant humanitarian achievement amidst the chaos of the war's end.
5.2. Cultural impact
Wenck's story and actions, particularly his role in the Battle of Berlin and the humanitarian evacuation, have resonated in popular culture. The Swedish power metal band Sabaton featured his efforts and achievements in their song "Hearts of Iron," contributing to his public legacy and popularizing his story.
6. Awards
Walther Wenck received several significant military decorations and awards during his service:
- Iron Cross (1939)
- 2nd Class (September 13, 1939)
- 1st Class (October 4, 1939)
- German Cross in Gold (January 26, 1942)
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (December 28, 1942) as OberstOberstGerman and Chief of the General Staff of the Armeegruppe Hollidt.
7. Death
Walther Wenck died on May 1, 1982, while on a trip to Austria. His death occurred when his car collided with a tree. He was buried a few days later in his hometown of Bad Rothenfelde in Lower Saxony, Germany.