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Oberstleutnant Joachim Gutmann (November 28, 1902 – December 29, 1969)
August 01, 1928 Leutnant
June 01, 1932 Oberleutnant
December 01, 1935 Hauptmann
November 10, 1938 renamed to Rittmeister
February 01, 1941 Major
xx.xx.1941 received new RDA from January 01, 1941
June 18, 1941, received new RDA from April 01, 1940
April 08, 1942, Oberstleutnant with RDA from April 01, 1942
July 01, 1943, Oberst
April 03, 1923, Joined the 14. / Infanterieregiment 10 (Löbau)
May 01, 1929, 2. / Infanterieregiment 10 (Dresden)
May 01, 1930, (MW) / Infanterieregiment 10 (Dresden)
April 01, 1934, in der 4. (MG) / Infanterieregiment 10 (Dresden)
October 01, 1934, III. / Infanterieregiment 31 (Plauen)
October 15, 1935, Chief of the 4. (MG) / Infanterieregiment 102 (Chemnitz)
October 12, 1937, Chief of the 1. / Infanterieregiment 103 (Jena)
November 10, 1938, Chief of the 1. / Kavallerieschützenregiment 7 (Jena)
February 01, 1940, Ordonnanzoffizier im Stab der 7. Panzerdivision
May 01, 1940, Staff of the 9. Panzerdivision
May 16, 1941, Commander of the II. / Schützenregiment 11
September 15, 1942, Commander of the II. Panzergrenadierregiments 11
December 28, 1942, Commander of the II. Feldausbildungsregiments 381
February 18, 1943, Führerreserve OKH (XVII)
March 01, 1943, ordered to the Sonderstab Panzer
April 01, 1943, Group Leader Panzergrenadiere Staff of the Inspekteurs of the Panzertruppen
January 21, 1944, Commander of the II. Panzergrenadierlehrregiments 1
September 16, 1944, ordered to the Führergrenadierbrigade (bis 27.09.1944)
November 01, 1944, Commander of the II. Panzergrenadierregiments 2
January 30, 1945, Führerreserve OKH (XVII)
April 05, 1945, ordered to the 18. Divisionsführerlehrgang
He received the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross in his role as Leader of the Panzergrenadier-Regiment 11, 9. Panzer-Division on September 18, 1942.
Oberst Joachim Gutmann, the commander of Panzergrenadier-Regiment 2/2. Panzer-Division, was captured by the Americans during the German attack against Oberwampach (defended by 358th Infantry Regiment, supported by ”A” Company, 712th Tank Battalion and 773rd Tank Destroyer Battalion) on 17 January 1945. The AAR of 358th Infantry for 17 January 1945 reads: ”The lead vehicle - an armored scout car containing the infantry CO - was pierced at 10 yard range by one of our tanks. The leader took cover, leaving his command without direction as he was subsequently captured.” (From https://forum.axishistory.com/ by Christer Bergström)
Knights Cross of the Iron Cross formal award document issued to Oberstleutnant Joachim Gutmann on parchment with an integral blank front leaf, Führerhauptquartier, September 18, 1942. The ornately lettered document is executed in India ink and gold with a hand-inked signature of Adolf Hitler at the bottom. The parchment is just the slightest bit wavy, as is very common in such documents, but otherwise fine condition. Award documents for the Knight’s Cross are rare, even though Hitler granted over 7,000 of them. A severe backlog soon developed and, in the end, very few recipients of the award ever received their large formal award documents.
The document is part of a veteran bring-back that we proudly offer here for the very first time. The GI opted to bring 9 single formal documents in one red presentation leather folder (Mappe) which is offered in this auction (USA LOT US3-0100).
NAME
Knights Cross of the Order of the Iron Cross
DATE OF INSTITUTION
1. September 1939 as the third and new grade of the re-instituted Order of the Iron Cross
AWARD CRITERIA
The Knights Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded for exceptional bravery in the face of the enemy and for outstanding merit in troop leadership. The awarding required the previous awarding of the two lower grades. The Knights Cross was solely awarded by the Führer upon the proposal of the soldiers unit and issued by the Heerespersonalamt. The Knights Crosses were stored at the Ordenskanzlei in Berlin, to be sent to the awardee after approval. There were no Knights Crosses stored at any level of the Wehrmacht before the end of April 1945.
MANUFACTURERS
The Knights Cross of the Iron Cross was produced by seven manufacturers, not including variations amongst the individual companies. The Knights Crosses can be found either unmarked (early Juncker and 3/4 Ring), with a silver content mark, with an LDO number (L/12 and L/52), and later on with the company’s Präsidialkanzlei number (2, 20, 65, and 4). Private sales were forbidden after October 1941.
AWARD NUMBERS
Accurate numbers are not known but the closest estimation is around 7,200, and most likely another couple of hundred on stock at the Präsidialkanzlei.
AWARD DOCUMENTS
The awardee received a preliminary document in A5 format and issued in the name of the Führer by the responsible personnel offices of the three branches of the Wehrmacht. The formal document (Große Mappe) was issued later and only until date of late 1942 / early 1943 due to the huge backlog.
WEARING METHOD
The Knights Cross was worn around the neck on a wider red white and black ribbon which came within the black award case of the Knights Cross.