How did a German officer almost single-handedly capture Belgrade?
On April 12, 1941, just a couple of months before the attack of Hitler’s troops on the USSR, the capital of the largest state in the region, Yugoslavia, fell in Southeastern Europe. Belgrade was taken only 6 days after the invasion of Germany and its allies.
In the history of the Belgrade operation, the personality of the 28-year-old German officer Fritz Klingenberg, who almost single-handedly carried out the capture of the capital of Yugoslavia, is interesting.
German troops near the city of Sarajevo, 1941.
According to the plans of the German command, Belgrade was to be occupied on April 13, 1941 by the soldiers of the motorized regiment “Grossdeutschland”. A day earlier, units of the reconnaissance motorcycle company of the Das Reich division approached the capital, exploring the main approaches to the capital of Yugoslavia. What the commander of this company decided to do was more like the plot of a Hollywood action movie than a military operation – he almost single-handedly decided to take the city.
The inhabitants of Belgrade were preparing for a long siege and they did not expect to see the Nazis walking the streets of the city in the near future. On the outskirts of Belgrade, Klingenberg’s soldiers captured a small column of Yugoslav soldiers, changed into their uniforms, and thus reached the outskirts of the city without much trouble.
In the center of Belgrade, Klingenberg ordered the Nazi flag to be hoisted, symbolizing the capture of the city. The mayor of Belgrade requested negotiations with the adventurer, on whom, as it was then believed, the continuation of the bombing and artillery strikes on the city depended (the enterprising officer said that it was he who gave the orders to shell the city). By 5 p.m., the order for the surrender of the capital of Yugoslavia was signed.
Fritz Klingenberg, an officer who captured Belgrade almost single-handedly. Photo source: Bundesarchiv
The very next day, as planned, the main German troops entered the city, but did not meet a single resistance.
For his bravery and courage, on May 14, 1941, Fritz Klingenberg was awarded the highest military order of Germany – the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross.
This is how a young SS officer went down in history when he almost single-handedly captured Belgrade on April 12, 1941. In reply to the accusations of Klingenberg’s arbitrariness on the part of the regimental commander, Klingenberg calmly replied:
And I took the city. What am I supposed to do – give it back now!?
Fritz Klingenberg