226 Generalleutnant Hans Degen, Kommandeur der 2. Gebirgs - Division: Vorläufiges Besitzzeugnis zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes.
Awarded to Lieutenant General Hans Degen, Commander 2. Geb. Div. for the award on 11.3.1945.
Dated 14 March 1945. With the official seal of the Army Personnel Office of the OKH and the original signature of Lieutenant General Meinel.
Holes on the side.
A very beautiful and, with the date of issue in March, very rare award document for this brave mountain infantry general.
Hans Degen (b. 18 February 1899 in Rosenheim; d. 18 November 1971 in Greiling) was a lieutenant general at the time of his death.
Degen was the oldest son of a customs officer in Rosenheim. After graduating from the Humanistisches Gymnasium in Lohr am Main, he began his military career.
At the age of 17, Degen joined the 2nd Bavarian Jäger Battalion of the Bavarian Jäger Regiment 1 in Aschaffenburg, where he served as a group and platoon leader in the German Alpine Corps from 1917 to 1918 in the theatres of war of Romania, Italy and Serbia.
Promoted to lieutenant on 10 February 1918, he fought most recently as a company commander in France, where he was slightly wounded in August 1918 in the defensive battle of the Somme but remained with the troops.
After the First World War, he became battalion adjutant in the III. Battalion of the 45th Infantry Regiment in Aschaffenburg. On 1 January 1921, he was transferred to the Reichswehr. After that, he was initially deployed as battalion adjutant of the 2nd battalion of the Infantry Regiment 20 in Ingolstadt and then as platoon leader of the machine gun company of the same unit, initially as a first lieutenant from 1 April 1925 until 1929. From 1929 to 1930, he was a platoon leader and deputy company commander in the 7th Motor Vehicle Division in Munich and Würzburg. From 1930 to 1933, he took part in a training programme for assistant officers in military district VII and at the War Academy in Berlin. After being promoted to captain on 1 April 1933, he served as a general staff officer in the 4th Department of the General Staff of the Army at the Army High Command in Berlin until 1937. On 1 October 1936, he was promoted to the rank of major. In 1937 and 1938, Degen was company commander of the 100th Mountain Infantry Regiment in Brannenburg. On 10 November 1938, he was appointed first general staff officer (Ia) of the 2nd Mountain Division in Innsbruck. There he was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 1 March 1939.
When World War II broke out, Degen went with the 2nd Mountain Division on the Polish campaign in September 1939. After its end, he was transferred to the 1st Mountain Division as the 1st general staff officer as of 16 October 1939. In this position, he took part in the Western campaign until the end of 1940. On 1 January 1941, he became Chief of Staff of the VI. Army Corps, which was part of Army Group Centre at the beginning of the Russian campaign in June 1941 in the middle section of the Eastern Front. On 1 February 1942, Degen was promoted to colonel in the General Staff. From 1 July 1942, he was deployed as Chief of Staff of the XIX Mountain Army Corps on the Arctic Ocean front. There he took over as commander of the 2nd Mountain Division on 1 November 1943. On 1 January 1944, he was promoted to Major General and on 1 August 1944, to Lieutenant General. After the withdrawal from the Arctic Ocean front and the march back through Norway in winter, he still led the division in the defensive battles in the Colmar/Vogesen area, where he was seriously wounded on 6 February 1945.
On 11 March 1945, Lieutenant General Degen was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his successes in the defensive battle in the Vosges.
On 2 May 1945, he was taken prisoner by the Americans in the military hospital in Bad Tölz and was released on 15 October 1947.
Decorations:
Iron Cross (1914) 2nd class (1917)
Bavarian Military Merit Cross 3rd class with crown and swords (1917)
Bavarian Military Merit Order 4th class with swords (1918)
Wound Badge in black (1918)
Spanish Cross in bronze without swords (1939)
Badge for Iron Cross 2nd Class (1939 Poland Campaign)
Iron Cross 1st Class (1939 France Campaign)
Winter Battle in the East 1941/42 Medal
German Cross in Gold on 12 March 1942 (Battle of Rzhev)
Finnish Order of the Cross of Liberty, 1st class (Continuation War, 1944)
German Army Honour Scroll (Lapland War, 1944)
Wound Badge (1945)
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 11 March 1945 (defensive action in the Vosges).
The decorations and documents from the estate of Knight's Cross holder Lieutenant General Hans Degen will initially be auctioned off individually and sold subject to a possible overall bid.
After that, it will be possible to submit a combined bid for all lots in the group of awards. To do this, the sums of the individual hammer prices will be added up and it will be possible to place bids on the complete group. If several combined bids are received, the highest bidder will be accepted.
If no total bid is received that exceeds the sum of the individual surcharges by at least 10%, the conditional surcharges for the individual lots remain valid.
A total bid can also be submitted in advance of the auction.
Please contact us if you have any questions.
Tel. +49-171-266 27 81
Email: afthies@t-online.de
1-2