Hansjürgen Reinicke

Who was Hansjürgen Reinicke?

Hans-Jürgen "Hansjürgen" Rudolf Reinicke was a Kapitän zur See, commander of heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, in Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during the Second World War and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, a decoration awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or outstanding military leadership.

Reinicke was born in Frankfurt and grew up in the German Empire. He joined the Reichsmarine after World War I in 1922. After a period of training on surface vessels and assignments on torpedo boats he served in various admiralty staff positions during the Spanish Civil War and in the first years of World War II. In this function, he was involved in the conceptual planning of Operation Sealion, the never attempted amphibious landing of German forces in England. Reinicke was chief of staff to Vizeadmiral Otto Ciliax during the Channel Dash, the transit of the ships of the Brest Group through the English Channel. In the last year of the war he was given command of Prinz Eugen. Prinz Eugen, stationed in the Baltic Sea, supported the German fighting retreat in the coastal region of the Eastern Front.