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| 25th Infantry Division 25th Motorized Infantry Division 25th Panzergrenadier Division | |
|---|---|
| German:25. Infanterie-Division 25. Infanterie-Division (mot.) 25. Panzergrenadier-Division | |
.svg) Divisional insignia | |
| Active | 1936–45 |
| Country |  Nazi Germany |
| Branch |  German Army |
| Type | Infantry Panzergrenadier |
| Role | Armoured warfare |
| Size | Division |
| Nickname | Stuttgarter Haus Division |
| Engagements | World War II |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Anton Graßer |
The25th Infantry Division (German:25. Infanterie-Division) was a military unit of the German Wehrmacht. It was later reclassified to25th Motorized Infantry Division (25. Infanterie-Division (mot.)), and in June 1943 to the25th Panzergrenadier Division (25. Panzergrenadier-Division).
The 25th Panzergrenadier Division fought in the central sector of theEastern front from June 1943 to July 1944. It was destroyed in the encirclement east ofMinsk and reformed in October 1944. It then fought inWestern Europe between October 1944 and January 1945 and in eastern Germany January to May 1945. Most of the survivors of the division surrendered to the westernAllies.
The 25th Panzergrenadier Division was originally formed as an infantry unit, designated 25th Infantry Division and made up ofSwabian andBavarian personnel. It participated in thePolish Campaign and theBattle of France.
In late 1940, it was reorganized as the 25th motorized infantry division and took part inOperation Barbarossa, the invasion of theSoviet Union, in June 1941. It was attached toArmy Group Center and fought in the Soviet Union for two years before being reorganized as the 25th Panzergrenadier Division in June 1943. After another year of heavy fighting, the division was almost destroyed nearMinsk during the SovietOperation Bagration in the summer of 1944; the survivors were reorganized at the training area atMielau (in modern-day Poland) as the 107th Panzer Brigade.
In September 1944, the 107th Panzer Brigade participated inOperation Market Garden as part of LXXXVI Corps of the1st Parachute Army.[1] The Brigade had been re-routed fromAachen to the Netherlands and went almost immediately into combat atNuenen against the American506th PIR of the101st Airborne Division and the British15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars of the11th Armoured Division.[2]
In November 1944, the brigade was upgraded back to divisional status at theBaumholder training area and re-numbered back as the 25th Panzergrenadier Division.
The new division moved to France in the area of the German-Luxembourg-French border atSierck-les-Bains, where it fought a delaying action against theUS Third Army, until December. It was then moved toBitche. There it fought on theMaginot line fortifications at FortsOuvrage Simserhof andOuvrage Schiesseck, under the command of theXIII SS Corps andObergruppenführerMax Simon.
After theUS Seventh Army's offensive operations were halted in December as a result of theGerman Ardennes Offensive, the 25th was pulled out of the line and re-organized nearZweibrücken. It then took part inOperation Nordwind, along with the21st Panzer Division. Together, these divisions were to exploit the penetrations made by either theXIII SS Corps in the west, or theLXXXIX andXC Corps in the east, with the intention of cutting the US Seventh Army off from the1st French Army. It was then sent back to the eastern front to defend against the Soviet attack on theOder north ofBerlin, most of the survivors managed to escape to the west and surrendered to the British or Americans.[3][4][5]
The action atNuenen by the 107th Panzer Brigade duringOperation Market Garden is dramatized in episode 4 "Replacements" of the television seriesBand of Brothers.
