Hans Gottfried Alfons Källner was a German army officer who served in both world wars and rose to the rank of Generalleutnant during the Second World War. Born on 9 October 1898 in Kattowitz in Upper Silesia he volunteered for military service at the age of seventeen and fought with distinction on the Western Front before transferring to police duties in the Weimar Republic. He returned to the army in 1935 and commanded reconnaissance and motorized infantry units through the Polish and French campaigns before distinguishing himself on the Eastern Front. Källner became widely known for his habit of leading from the front and received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords for repeated acts of personal bravery and divisional leadership under extreme pressure. He was killed in action on 18 April 1945 while visiting forward positions as acting commander of the XXIV Panzer Corps near Sokolnice south of Brünn in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. His remains lie in the German war cemetery in Brno.
Källner entered the Imperial German Army on 6 June 1915 as a war volunteer in Jäger-Regiment zu Pferde Nr. 11. After brief transfers to cavalry replacement units he served in the 13th Reserve Dragoon Rifle Regiment and was promoted to Leutnant der Reserve on 16 October 1917. He later joined Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 147 as a signals officer and completed a gas warfare course in Berlin before the armistice. During the fighting he earned both classes of the Iron Cross and the Silesian Eagle in both grades. Demobilized in January 1919 he briefly served in a Freikorps formed from former dragoons before joining the police in Upper Silesia. By 1929 he had risen to Polizei-Hauptmann and from 1926 to 1935 served as a riding instructor at the police riding school in Potsdam where he also completed advanced physical training and mounted courses.
In August 1935 Källner transferred to the Wehrmacht as a Rittmeister and joined Reiter-Regiment 4. He commanded a squadron and then the II Battalion of Kavallerie-Regiment 4 before mobilization in 1939 placed him at the head of Aufklärungs-Abteilung 11 of the 11th Infantry Division. With this reconnaissance battalion he participated in the Polish Campaign and earned the 1939 clasps to both classes of the Iron Cross. After the Western Campaign and the opening phase of Operation Barbarossa he assumed command of Schützen-Regiment 73 in the 19th Panzer Division. In October 1941 he received the German Cross in Gold. On 1 March 1942 he was promoted to Oberst and on 3 May 1942 he was awarded the Knight's Cross for a decisive counterattack west of Kaluga. In April 1942 a fresh Soviet rifle division had driven to within three kilometres of the vital Roslawl-Juchnow supply road. Without awaiting orders Källner seized the first available friendly battalion advanced across muddy terrain under artillery fire and in pouring rain stormed the occupied villages in close combat with grenades and bayonets. Within hours every lost position had been recaptured the road was secured and the Soviet breakthrough was halted.
Källner continued to lead motorized infantry formations and on 1 July 1942 took command of the 19th Schützen-Brigade which was soon redesignated the 19th Panzer-Grenadier-Brigade. After a brief period in the Führerreserve and a division commanders' course in Berlin he was delegated leadership of the 19th Panzer Division on 18 August 1943 and confirmed as its commander with promotion to Generalmajor on 1 November 1943. The division was heavily engaged in the winter battles of 1943-1944. On 24 December 1943 the Soviet winter offensive struck east of Zhitomir. Källner's division was forced to withdraw after a breakthrough on a neighbouring sector but in three days of bitter fighting amid snow ice and mud it prevented any further Soviet advance destroyed about fifty tanks and twenty guns and successfully rejoined the new German defensive line near Zhitomir despite severe logistical shortages and constant enemy air attacks. For this outstanding leadership Källner received the 392nd Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross on 12 February 1944. The division later fought its way out of the Kamenez-Podolsk pocket and continued defensive operations on the southern sector of the Eastern Front.
By the summer of 1944 the 19th Panzer Division under Källner now a Generalleutnant since 1 June 1944 was shifted to the central sector and engaged in mobile defensive actions north of Warsaw. In August 1944 his panzers and grenadiers conducted repeated sharp counterattacks that blunted Soviet armored thrusts and allowed other German formations to withdraw in good order and establish a new defensive line on the western bank of the Vistula. Källner's personal presence at the point of greatest danger his skillful coordination of tank duels and his insistence on maintaining combat effectiveness despite overwhelming odds earned him the 106th award of the Swords on 23 October 1944. He retained command of the division until 22 March 1945 when he was delegated leadership of the XXIV Panzer Corps. On 18 April 1945 while inspecting forward positions south of Brünn during the final defensive battles in Moravia he was killed by enemy fire. Throughout his career Källner was noted for sharing every risk with his troops and for turning critical situations through decisive personal example rather than remote staff direction. He left behind a wife Luise Elisabeth Schmidt whom he had married in 1926 and one son.
Källner entered the Imperial German Army on 6 June 1915 as a war volunteer in Jäger-Regiment zu Pferde Nr. 11. After brief transfers to cavalry replacement units he served in the 13th Reserve Dragoon Rifle Regiment and was promoted to Leutnant der Reserve on 16 October 1917. He later joined Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 147 as a signals officer and completed a gas warfare course in Berlin before the armistice. During the fighting he earned both classes of the Iron Cross and the Silesian Eagle in both grades. Demobilized in January 1919 he briefly served in a Freikorps formed from former dragoons before joining the police in Upper Silesia. By 1929 he had risen to Polizei-Hauptmann and from 1926 to 1935 served as a riding instructor at the police riding school in Potsdam where he also completed advanced physical training and mounted courses.
In August 1935 Källner transferred to the Wehrmacht as a Rittmeister and joined Reiter-Regiment 4. He commanded a squadron and then the II Battalion of Kavallerie-Regiment 4 before mobilization in 1939 placed him at the head of Aufklärungs-Abteilung 11 of the 11th Infantry Division. With this reconnaissance battalion he participated in the Polish Campaign and earned the 1939 clasps to both classes of the Iron Cross. After the Western Campaign and the opening phase of Operation Barbarossa he assumed command of Schützen-Regiment 73 in the 19th Panzer Division. In October 1941 he received the German Cross in Gold. On 1 March 1942 he was promoted to Oberst and on 3 May 1942 he was awarded the Knight's Cross for a decisive counterattack west of Kaluga. In April 1942 a fresh Soviet rifle division had driven to within three kilometres of the vital Roslawl-Juchnow supply road. Without awaiting orders Källner seized the first available friendly battalion advanced across muddy terrain under artillery fire and in pouring rain stormed the occupied villages in close combat with grenades and bayonets. Within hours every lost position had been recaptured the road was secured and the Soviet breakthrough was halted.
Källner continued to lead motorized infantry formations and on 1 July 1942 took command of the 19th Schützen-Brigade which was soon redesignated the 19th Panzer-Grenadier-Brigade. After a brief period in the Führerreserve and a division commanders' course in Berlin he was delegated leadership of the 19th Panzer Division on 18 August 1943 and confirmed as its commander with promotion to Generalmajor on 1 November 1943. The division was heavily engaged in the winter battles of 1943-1944. On 24 December 1943 the Soviet winter offensive struck east of Zhitomir. Källner's division was forced to withdraw after a breakthrough on a neighbouring sector but in three days of bitter fighting amid snow ice and mud it prevented any further Soviet advance destroyed about fifty tanks and twenty guns and successfully rejoined the new German defensive line near Zhitomir despite severe logistical shortages and constant enemy air attacks. For this outstanding leadership Källner received the 392nd Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross on 12 February 1944. The division later fought its way out of the Kamenez-Podolsk pocket and continued defensive operations on the southern sector of the Eastern Front.
By the summer of 1944 the 19th Panzer Division under Källner now a Generalleutnant since 1 June 1944 was shifted to the central sector and engaged in mobile defensive actions north of Warsaw. In August 1944 his panzers and grenadiers conducted repeated sharp counterattacks that blunted Soviet armored thrusts and allowed other German formations to withdraw in good order and establish a new defensive line on the western bank of the Vistula. Källner's personal presence at the point of greatest danger his skillful coordination of tank duels and his insistence on maintaining combat effectiveness despite overwhelming odds earned him the 106th award of the Swords on 23 October 1944. He retained command of the division until 22 March 1945 when he was delegated leadership of the XXIV Panzer Corps. On 18 April 1945 while inspecting forward positions south of Brünn during the final defensive battles in Moravia he was killed by enemy fire. Throughout his career Källner was noted for sharing every risk with his troops and for turning critical situations through decisive personal example rather than remote staff direction. He left behind a wife Luise Elisabeth Schmidt whom he had married in 1926 and one son.
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