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SUPERB ORIGINAL PHOTO ALBUM OF FAMOUS KNIGHT’S CROSS WITH OAK LEAVES RECIPIENT MAJOR JOHANNES GRIMMINGER, PURCHASED IN GERMANY FROM AN ANTIQUE DEALER |
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| The album measures 1 x 8 x 10-5/8 inches (2.5 x 8 x 27 cm). The album has 30 tan internal pages and twenty-eight 4 x 5-5/8 inch (100 x 144 mm) deckle-edged black & white photographs each centered on a page, held in place with clear corner mounts. They depict many of the events in Grimminger’s life including his being awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross, the affects of being wounded, field equipment, Grimminger’s comrades, a crashed German plane, etc., etc. If you have any questions, be sure to ask. This is a unique offering that belongs in a museum somewhere. None of the photos have captions. | ||
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| Johannes Grimminger (6 June 1914 - 16 April 1945) was a silversmith by trade in his hometown of Schwäbisch Gmünd (just east of Stuttgart and just north of Ulm) when he was drafted into the German Army on 31 October 1936. He served for two years in the 6./Infanterie-Regiment 119 of the 25. Infanterie-Division. He was promoted to Unteroffizier on 2 July 1938 and soon after he was selected to attend the officer-candidate school at Döberitz (Infanterie-Schule Döberitz, just west of Berlin). | ||
By 18 February, the division was in the area of Lauban in Upper Silesia (today in the Czech Republic). It was there that Major Grimminger fought off advancing Soviet forces during the German retreat, opened up a route for withdrawal of the division as well as what remained of two other badly battered divisions. For his decisive role in this heavy fighting he was recommended for the Oak Leaves to the Ritterkreuz which he received on 11 March 1945, a few days after he had follow-up eye treatment at the clinic in Würzburg. On 21 March 1945 he married.
On 19 July, the Soviets attacked seven times and were turned back by Grimminger’s men each time, many of them using captured Soviet machine guns. During one of the counter attacks, Grimminger was wounded for a second time but stayed with his troops who eventually were encircled by Soviet troops, and were then ordered to pull back to the main line of Wehrmacht resistance. On 11 August the wounded Grimminger was sent back to Germany with the rest of his men. His battalion was disbanded and Grimminger was reassigned to the 21. Panzer-Division in the west, where on 23 August 1944 he was notified that he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross. During heavy fighting in the area around Antrepiérre at the end of September, Grimminger was badly wounded in his right hand and was evacuated to Germany on 1 October. Nine days later, after receiving the Wound Badge in Silver, he was back at the western front where he soon was given the command of the II./Panzergrenadier-Regiment 192.
All the photos in this album have a consistent light sepia tone to them as they did when they were printed originally, many decades ago. In some of the pictures on our website, that consistency is lost in cases where we zoomed in to give viewers more detail.
We bought this album in Germany some years ago and can provide more details about the origin of it to the buyer only, out of respect for privacy.
JOHANNES GRIMMINGER WORLD WAR II PHOTO ALBUM |
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| The album and photos shown on this USMBOOKS web page came from the Grimminger family. It is not something concocted after the war to use up photographs. The photographs are consistently the same and were placed in this album either by Johannes Grimminger himself or by members of his family. The photographs were made from negatives and NOT mechanically reproduced from photos. |
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| Less than a year after being released from active duty, he was recalled as a Feldwebel and was absorbed into his unit on 24 August 1939 and served along the Westwall near the French border during the “phony war”. On 1 October 1939 he received his commission as a Leutnant and late in January 1940 Grimminger became the staff liaison officer of the battalion. He was stationed in Germany when the campaign in the west started on 10 May 1940. From Uxheim, the battalion (commanded by Oberstleutnant Grasser) moved into Luxembourg, then Belgium and their first encounter with the French enemy was at Parfondru (northwest of Rheims). On 5 June 1940 the Aisne-Oise Canal was crossed. On his 26th birthday, Johannes Grimminger was shot in the arm during an attack with his platoon and was taken to a German military hospital in Trier. After the fighting in the west was over, the battalion was reorganized and re-designated as the 25. Infanterie-Division and in June 1941 it headed towards the Soviet border. The 25. Infanterie-Division entered Operation Barbarossa in the second wave of attack on 27 June 1941. Grimminger was platoon leader again but took over command of the company after the combat death of Oberleutnant Abel. He continued in that position advancing into southern Ukraine, and after moving to the center of the Eastern Front the division took part in the attack on Moscow during the winter of 1941/1942. For his courageous actions, Johannes Grimminger became one of the first soldiers of the division to receive the German Cross in Gold (Deutsches Kreuz in Gold) on 29 January 1942. During withdrawals from Moscow, Grimminger became the regimental liaison officer of Knight’s Cross recipient, Oberstleutnant Grasser, and on 1 March 1942 Grimminger was promoted to Oberleutnant for bravery in the face of the enemy. During 1942 and 1943 he saw action on several Soviet fronts, including the advance on Kharkov. He then return to command the 6th Company and on 1 March 1943 was promoted to Hauptmann, again for bravery in the face of the enemy. Early in 1944, 29 year old Captain Johannes Grimminger was appointed to run the Grenadier Combat Academy at Dubrowno (a small town on the Dnieper River in northern Belarus, near the front line) where he was responsible for training hundreds of Wehrmacht officers. Malaria forced him to leave this position and after a stay at a military hospital, he went home on leave. |
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When Grimminger returned to the front in late June 1944 he discovered that his reorganized and re-designated division (now 25. Panzergrenadier-Division) was surrounded by the Red Army between Minsk and Beresina, and he was unable to reach it. On 3 July the Soviets captured the city of Minsk (previously the headquarters of German Generalfeldmarschall Model) so with some survivors and replacement troops from Germany, Grimminger formed a Kampfgruppe to try to open up a route so the encircled German forces could escape. Fierce fighting with Soviet tanks and other armored vehicles lasted for days.
The remarkable military career of Johannes Grimminger included participation in the Battle of France, Operation Barbarossa, Battle of Uman, Battle of Kiev (1941), Battle of Moscow, Battle of Kursk, Battle of Smolensk (1943), Operation Bagration, Minsk Offensive, Operation Nordwind, Vistula–Oder Offensive.
He was awarded the Iron Cross (2nd Class and 1st Class), Wound Badge (in Black and Silver), Eastern Front Medal, Infantry Assault Badge, Close Combat Badge, German Cross in Gold, Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and the Oak Leaves were added on 11 March 1945, less than five weeks before his death.
He was awarded the Iron Cross (2nd Class and 1st Class), Wound Badge (in Black and Silver), Eastern Front Medal, Infantry Assault Badge, Close Combat Badge, German Cross in Gold, Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and the Oak Leaves were added on 11 March 1945, less than five weeks before his death.
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| By November 1944, Grimminger and his men were involved in heavy fighting with US Forces in the Vosges Mountains. He was wounded in the eye by shrapnel while on the frontlines near Saarlautern on 30 November 1944 and recuperated at an eye clinic near Würzburg followed by time with his parents until 2 February 1945. Before his departure to the Eastern Front with his division on 9 February, Johannes Grimminger’s combat bravery was rewarded with a promotion to Major. | ||
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On 6 April 1945, 30 year old Major Johannes Grimminger was back commanding his regiment at Greifenberg, near Görlitz. On 16 April, a few days after the regiment had been moved to the area southeast of the German city of Kottbus, Grimminger died during a fire fight with a Soviet mortar brigade while out on reconnaissance.
Have a look at other Third Reich military and civilian photos for sale on USMBOOKS.com. We are happy to combine shipping of multiple purchases!
** SOLD ** |
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| • IF you wish to purchase highly recommended, but optional insurance, add $15.00. |
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His body and the remains of 14 of his comrades were buried in the park at Drebkau (southwest of Kottbus) the evening of 19 April 1945. The division’s chaplain was present for this ceremony. This area was located in Communist East Germany after the war, and East German authorities would not allow Johannes Grimminger’s family to visit his grave.
