Albrecht Krügel was a Obersturmbannführer

Obersturmbannführer

Obersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time...

 (Lieutenant Colonel) in the Waffen-SS

Waffen-SS

The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 who was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves

Knight's Cross

Knight's Cross refers to a distinguishing grade or level of various orders that denotes bravery and leadership on the battlefield....

.

Krügel was born on the 22 April 1913 at Nordhorn

Nordhorn

Nordhorn is the district seat of Grafschaft Bentheim in Lower Saxony's southwesternmost corner near the border with the Netherlands and the boundary with North Rhine-Westphalia.- Name's origin :...

 and was an early member of the NSDAP and SS joining in 1931 and was issued the party number 419 297 and SS service number 11 433.
He was selected for officer training and sent to the SS-Junkerschule at Braunschweig

Braunschweig

Braunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....

 in April 1935, after graduation he was posted to Dachau

Dachau

Dachau is a town in Upper Bavaria, in the southern part of Germany. It is a major district town—a Große Kreisstadt—of the administrative region of Upper Bavaria, about 20 km north-west of Munich. It is now a popular residential area for people working in Munich with roughly 40,000 inhabitants...

 as a platoon commander.
By 1940 he was a Company commander in the SS-VT during the Battle of France

Battle of France

In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...

, in March 1941 he was the Adjutant of the Germania Regiment

His award of the Knight's Cross came while he was in command of the 2nd Battalion, 23rd SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment Norge, 11th SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division Norland

11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland

The 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland, also known as Kampfverband Waräger, Germanische-Freiwilligen-Division, SS-Panzergrenadier-Division 11 or 11. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland, was a Waffen SS, Panzergrenadier division recruited from foreign volunteers...

 and the Oakleaves while in command of the 24th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment Danmark in November 1944.
He was wounded in action on the 16 March 1945 at Altdamm and died on the way to hospital.

Further reading

• John P. Moore: Führerliste der Waffen-SS- Personalakten in Part 2
• Mark C. Yerger: German Cross in Gold - Holders of the SS and Police, Volume 3 This is the 3rd of 5 volumes published as of mid-2010 containing biographical and other relevant data for all German Cross holders of the SS and Police by unit or award category. A single unnumbered volume covers the award in silver with succeeding numbered texts encompassing the awards in Gold, most Gold award holder biographies include the text recommendation for the award as well as images.