Knight's Cross And Oak-Leaves Recipient Felix Steiner

SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Felix Steiner

Felix Steiner was born in Ebenrode on 23 May 1896. He served as an Army officer during World War I, winning both the Second Class and First Class Iron Cross. By the end of hostilities in 1918 he had reached the rank of Oberleutnant. Demobbed after the end of the war, he returned to military service in 1921, serving with Infanterie-Regiment 1 of the Weimar Republic's Reichswehr, based in Konigsberg. The following year, Steiner was appointed to the General Staff where he served in various posts until 1927; he was then promoted to Hauptmann, and returned to Infanterie-Regiment 1 as the Regimental Adjutant. In 1932 he was appointed as a company commander within the regiment. In 1933, Steiner was given the task of training members of the Landespolizei to form the new Kasernierte Polizei (or Barracked Police), units formed on military lines and intended for possible future use as reinforcements on mobilisation of the Army during war. In 1935, Steiner volunteered for the SS-Verfugungstruppe and was accepted into SS-Standarte Deutschland in Ellwangen as commander of III.Bataillon. By the following year, he had been promoted to SS-Standartenfiihrer and given command of the Regiment. Steiner fostered close links with the pocket battleship of the same name, Panzerschiff Deutschland. The Regiment took part in the Anschluss with Austria under Steiner's command, and on the invasion of Poland was attached to Panzer Division Kempf, supporting Panzer-Regiment 7. Steiner's SS troops took part in the crossing of the Narew at Roshan, advancing to the Bug at Brok and the attack on the fortress at Deplin on the Vistula. Steiner's greatest accomplishment was his participation in the capture of the Polish fortress at Modlin on 28 September 1939, when 1,200 enemy officers, 24,000 NCOs and men, 5,000 horses, 105 artillery pieces, 80 mortars, 370 machine guns and over 13,000 small arms were seized, all for the loss of just 15 SS troops killed and 35 wounded. Steiner was awarded the Clasps to both his Second and First Class Iron Crosses for these achievements.

A fine portrait of Steiner as an SS-Gruppenfuhrer, wearing the Oak-Leaves on his Knight's Cross.​

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Following the successful conclusion of the Polish campaign, Deutschland, together with the Der Fuhrer and Germania regiments, and numerous other smaller units, were brought together to form the SS-Verfugungs-Division. During the attack on France and the Low Countries in 1940, Steiner's SS troops fought with the same determination they had shown in Poland, sweeping aside opposition as they crossed the Kleve; pushed through Kronenburg, Tilburg and Breda; took the islands of Seeland, Vlissingen and Beveland; broke through the Weygand Line; and penetrated deep behind enemy lines. For his inspired command of the Regiment during the Polish and Western campaigns, Steiner was decorated with the Knight's Cross on 15 August 1940. On 1 December 1940, as a newly promoted SS-Brigadefuhrer, he was appointed to command the new Wiking Division. Under Steiner's command, Wiking became one of the most highly respected Waffen-SS divisions, even earning the grudging respect of several of the senior commanders of the Red Army who faced it in battle. He commanded this elite division with considerable skill, earning the Oak-Leaves addition to his Knight's Cross on 23 December 1942, and the Swords on 10 August 1944 for his command of III. (germanisches) Panzer-Korps. Steiner's troops, often referred to as the 'European-SS', largely comprised Germanic volunteers from Holland, Denmark and Sweden. In the closing days of the war, Steiner's troops were ordered by Hitler to attempt break through the Soviet encirclement of Berlin. Steiner was well aware of the futility of such an action and refused to sacrifice the lives of his remaining troops in such a pointless operation. He survived the war and died in retirement in Munich at the age of 70 in 1966.