Biography

Walther Kittel was born in Metz

Metz

Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...

, Alsace-Lorraine

Alsace-Lorraine

The Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and east...

, on March 20, 1887. Kittel joined the German Army straight from school at eighteen years old in order to become a military doctor. As Oberarzt, Kittel began a brilliant career in the University of Göttingen.

From 1914 to 1918, during the First World War, Kittel served as Stabsarzt. He stayed in the army after the war, as a medical officer. Walther Kittel was promoted to the rank of Generaloberarzt on April 1931, and Oberstarzt on January janvier 1934. He continued his career as Generalarzt on January 1937 and janvier 1937, and eventually Generalstabsarzt on 1 October 1940.

Affected first in the 1st Army, he was posted then in the 12th Army on 22 December 1940, then in the 6th Army on June 19, 1942. As Chief Medical Officer in the Army Group Don, Kittel received the German Cross

German Cross

The German Cross was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 17 November 1941 as an award ranking higher than the Iron Cross First Class but below the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross respectively ranking higher than the War Merit Cross First Class with Swords but below the Knight's Cross of the War Merit...

 in silver on February 24, 1943. Chief Medical Officer in the Army Group South from March 1943 to April 1944, he was then assigned to the Army Group Ukraine, athen to the Army Group A from September 1944 to January 1945 and eventually to the Army Group Centre, from January to May 1945.
Prisoner of war on May 8, 1945, Walter Kittel remained in captivity until 1947.

Member of the Scientific Council for Health Affairs of the German Ministry of Defence

Federal Ministry of Defence (Germany)

The Federal Ministry of Defence is a top-level federal agency, headed by the Federal Minister of Defence as a member of the Cabinet of Germany...

 from 1963 to 1967, Walter Kittel died on 11 November 1971, in Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...

.

Awards and decorations

• Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross
  War Merit Cross
  The War Merit Cross was a decoration of Nazi Germany during the Second World War, which could be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel...
  
   with swords: 4 June 1944 (Generalstabsarzt und Heeresgruppenarzt Süd in der Quartiermeisterabteilung des Arbeitsstabes Don)
• German Cross in silver: on 24 February 1943
• Iron Cross
  Iron Cross
  The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
  
   1914 (2nd and 1st classes)
• Knight's Cross of the Austro-Hungarian Order of Franz Joseph
  Order of Franz Joseph
  The Imperial Austrian Franz Joseph Order was founded by the Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria on December 2, 1849 on the first anniversary of his assumption of the Imperial Crown...
  
   with wartime decoration
• Austro-Hungarian Badge of Honour of the Red Ctoss (2nd class) mit der Kriegsdekoration
• Cross of Honor
  Cross of Honor
  The Cross of Honor, also known as the Honor Cross or, popularly, the Hindenburg Cross, was a commemorative medal inaugurated on July 13, 1934 by Reichspräsident Paul von Hindenburg for those soldiers of Imperial Germany who fought in World War I...
  
  
• Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung
  Wehrmacht Long Service Award
  The Wehrmacht Long Service Award was a military service decoration of Nazi Germany issued for satisfactory completion of a given years of military service...
  
   (4th to 1st classes)
• War Merit Cross
  War Merit Cross
  The War Merit Cross was a decoration of Nazi Germany during the Second World War, which could be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel...
  
   with swords (2nd and 1st classes)

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