Julius Ringel: Difference between revisions

|image=Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R63746, Julius Ringel.jpg

|image_size=200px

|birth_place=[[Völkermarkt]], [[Duchy of Carinthia]], [[Austria-Hungary]]

|death_place=[[Bayerisch Gmain]], [[Bavaria]], [[West Germany]]

|allegiance= {{flag|Austria-Hungary}} (to 1918)<br/>{{flag|Austria}} (to 1938)<br/>{{flag|Nazi Germany}}

|branch=[[Austro-Hungarian Army]]<br/>[[Austrian Armed Forces|Austrian Army]]<br/>[[German Army (Wehrmacht)|Army (Wehrmacht)]]

|serviceyears=1905–45

'''Julius 'Papa' Ringel''' (16 November 1889 – 11 February 1967) was an Austrian general in the armed forces of [[Nazi Germany]] during [[World War II]].

He fought in the [[Western Front (World War II)|Western]] and [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern]] fronts, as well as the

[[Balkan Campaign (World War II)|Balkan Campaign]].<ref name="Williamson">Williamson 2012.</ref> Ringel commanded the [[3rd Mountain Division (Wehrmacht)|3rd Mountain Division]], [[5th Mountain Division (Wehrmacht)|5th Mountain Division]], [[German LXIX Corps|LXIX Corps]],<ref name="Antill">Antill 2012, p. 21.</ref> [[Military district (Germany)|Wehrkreis]] XI and the Army Corps Ringel.<ref name="Palazzo">Palazzo 2007.</ref> He was a recipient of the [[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves]].

==Service in the Austro-Hungarian and Austrian Armies==

Following his education, [[Fähnrich]] Ringel was assigned to the [[k.u.k.]] ''Landwehr Infanterie-Regiment 4'' (a mountain infantry unit) and a year later, he was promoted to [[Leutnant]]. During [[World War I]], Ringel saw action in [[Galicia (Central Europe)|Galicia]] and the [[Italian Front (World War I)|Italian Alps]] where he was taken prisoner of war in 1918. Upon his return to the newly formed [[Republic of German Austria]], Ringel fought against the troops of the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia]] occupying Carinthia. Following the [[Carinthian Plebiscite]] and the creation of the [[First Austrian Republic]], Ringel was transferred to the [[Military of Austria|Austrian Federal Army]] where he rose to the rank [[lieutenant colonel]] in 1932.

Asan avid supporter of the [[Nazi Party]], Ringel strongly encouraged the union of [[Austria]] with the [[German Reich]] and after the [[Anschluss]] enthusiastically joined the [[Wehrmacht]] with the [[3rd Mountain Division (Wehrmacht)|3rd Mountain Division]].<ref>Thomas & Wegmann 1994, p. 216.</ref> On 1 February 1939, Ringel was promoted to [[colonel]]. When [[World War II]] began, he was assigned to the [[268th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|268th Infantry Division]] as a regimental commander and he took part in the [[Western Front (World War II)|campaign in the West]].

On 7 June 1940, Ringel returned to the [[3rd Mountain Division (Wehrmacht)|3rd Mountain Division]], becoming its commander on 14 July 1940. In October, he was promoted to [[major general]] and appointed commander of the newly established [[5th Mountain Division (Wehrmacht)|5th Mountain Division]]. The division saw its first action in the spring of 1941 in the [[Balkans Campaign (World War II)|Balkans Campaign]] and took part in the operations codenamed [[Battle of Greece|Marita]] and [[Battle of Crete|Merkur]] aimed to capture mainland Greece and Crete. For his leadership during these operations Ringel was awarded the [[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross]] on 13 June 1941.

The operation in Crete was still underway when Ringel ordered his mountaineers to carry out reprisals against civilians who fought the invading Germans.<ref name="Stroud">Stroud 2015, p. 47.</ref>

In November 1941, Ringel's division was posted back to [[Germany]] for rest and reorganization. In March 1942 it was sent to the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]] southeast of [[Leningrad]], to take part in the operations against the Soviet [[Volkhov Front]]. For his actions, Ringel was promoted to [[lieutenant general]] and in October 1943 received the [[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves|Oak Leaves]] to his Knight's Cross. Ringel's division was transferred to [[Italy]] in December 1943 to man the [[Winter Line]] near the town of [[Cassino]]. Four months later, he was appointed commander of the [[German LXIX Corps|LXIX Army Corps]] in [[Croatia]]. In June, Ringel was promoted to the [[General der Gebirgstruppe|General of the mountain troops]] and put in charge of the [[Military District XVIII (Salzburg)|Military District Salzburg]] (''Wehrkreis XVIII (Salzburg)'') from which the [[German Army Corps Ringel|Army Corps Ringel]] was formed. He held this appointment until the end of the war. He died in [[Bayerisch Gmain]] in 1967.

* {{Cite book

|last1=Antill

|first1=Peter

|last2=Gerrard

|first2=Howard

|year=2012

|title=Crete 1941: Germany's lightning airborne assault

|series=Campaign

|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing

|isbn=978-1846036682

}}

|orig-year=1986

|trans-title=The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches

|language=de

|trans-title=The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives

|language=de

|trans-title=The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 4

|language=de

}}

* {{Cite book

|last=Stroud

|first=Rick

|year=2015

|title=Kidnap in Crete: The True Story of the Abduction of a Nazi General

|url=https://archive.org/details/kidnapincretetru0000stro

|url-access=registration

|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing

|isbn=978-1632861948

|trans-title=The Knight's Cross Bearers of the German Wehrmacht 1939–1945 Part VI: The Mountain Troops Volume 2: L–Z

|language=de

|trans-title=The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 2: L–Z

|language=de

}}

* {{Cite book

|last1=Williamson

|first1=G.

|last2=McGregor

|first2=M.

|year=2012

|title=German Commanders of World War II (1): Army

|series=Elite

|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing

|isbn=978-1780969725

}}

* {{Cite web

|url=https://greekcitytimes.com/austria-returns-stolen-antiquities-greece/

|title=Austria returns stolen antiquities to Greece

|date=November 20, 2017

|website=greekcitytimes.com

|publisher=Greek City Times

|access-date=November 21, 2017

[[Category:Austro-Hungarian prisonersof war in World War I]]

[[Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II]]

[[Category:German Army officers of World War II]]

[[Category:Nazi Party members]]

[[Category:Nazi war crimes in Greece]]

[[Category:Nazi war criminals]]