Every man assigned to Klingenberg during the Belgrade operation received decorations for valor and promotions. Hossfelder was given a commission as a second lieutenant and attended the SS officers school at Bad Tölz, where he later became an instructor. Today he lives in Munich as a retired school teacher.

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For his daring exploit, Klingenberg was awarded the Knight’s Cross, and he became a favorite of the SS inner circle. The ‘Old Man,’ as he came to be known, was periodically sent to Bad Tölz as an instructor on tactics and battlefield initiative. On March 15, 1944, he became the only Bad Tölz graduate to assume command of the school.

When Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, commenced, Das Reich was hurled into the fray. Klingenberg later distinguished himself at Kharkov, Minsk and Kursk, earning many honorable mentions in the dispatches of General Heinz Guderian. He was eventually awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knight’s Cross, presented in 1943. He became a personal favorite of Paul Hausser, commander of the II SS Panzer Corps until the Kursk-Orel operation.

Klingenberg was promoted to the rank of colonel on December 21, 1944. As Germany’s situation deteriorated on all fronts, he was ordered to take command of the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division ‘Götz von Berlichingen’ on January 12, 1945, assuming the post nine days later. Attached to General Max Simon’s XIII SS Corps, the 17th was defending the West Wall southeast of Saarbrcken against Maj. Gen. Wade H. Haislip’s XV Corps of the U.S. Seventh Army.

The XIII SS Corps had its back to the Rhine, stubbornly defending the area between Neustadt and Landau. When resistance finally collapsed on March 22, Klingenberg was among the casualties — he had died leading his division in its last-ditch effort to stem the American tide.

Klingenberg’s actions in Belgrade fit in with the mystique surrounding the Waffen SS. Despite the atrocities correctly attributed to SS units and individuals, such acts of chivalry and valor as Klingenberg demonstrated were not uncommon among the real professionals. Klingenberg could have followed the book and contributed to the total destruction of the ancient city and population of Belgrade had the Yugoslavians offered further resistance. History is the better for his act of bravery and humanity.

This article was written by Colin D. Heaton and originally appeared in the January 1998 issue of World War II. For more great articles subscribe to World War II magazine today!

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