Hans Röttiger

Who was Hans Röttiger?

General Hans Röttiger was a Panzer General in the German army during World War II and the first Inspector of the Bundeswehr.

He joined the Imperial German Army in 1914 and served from 1915 as a leutnant in the 20th artillery regiment. After World War I he served in the Reichswehr as a battery officer, adjutant and battery chief. He then served as an officer on the General Staff of the Wehrmacht.

At the beginning of World War II Röttiger was an oberstleutnant and he served as from 1939–1940 as the Chief of Operations VI Corps. From 1940–1942 he was Chief of Staff XXXXI Corps and was then appointed the Chief of Staff of the 4th Panzer Army on the Eastern Front, serving at Stalingrad. From 1943 to 1944 he was the Chief of Staff of the 4th Army and of Army Group A from 1944 - 1945 under Generaloberst Josef Harpe. He then became the Chief of Staff of Army Group C in Italy under Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring. On 30 January 1945 he was promoted to General der Panzertruppe.

Röttiger was a prisoner of war of the British and Americans from the end of the war until 1948. In 1950 he was a participant at the meeting to discuss the establishment of a new German defence force. He re-enlisted in 1956 as a Generalleutnant and on 21 September 1957 he became the first inspector of the Bundeswehr and was instrumental in its early development. On 15 April 1960 he died in office.