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6th Division (Reichswehr)

1921-1934 German Army infantry division

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionOct 29, 2023
Entity authorityQ2818135 ↗
Source-derived summary

The 6th Division was a unit of the Reichswehr.

Creation

In the Order of 31 July 1920 for the Reduction of the Army (to comply with the upper limits on the size of the military contained in the Treaty of Versailles), it was determined that in every Wehrkreis (military district) a division would be established by 1 October 1920. The 6th Division was formed in January 1921 out of the Reichswehr's 7th and 10th Brigades, both part of the former Übergangsheer (Transition Army).

It consisted of 3 infantry regiments, the 16th, 17th and 18th Infantry Regiments. It also included the 6th (Prussian) Artillery Regiment, an engineering battalion, a signals battalion, a transportation battalion, and a medical battalion. It was subordinated to Gruppenkommando 2.

The commander of Wehrkreis VI was simultaneously the commander of the 6th Division. For the leadership of the troops, an Infanterieführer and an Artillerieführer were appointed, both subordinated to the commander of the division.

The unit ceased to exist as such after October 1934, and its subordinate units were transferred to the 21 new divisions created in that year.

Divisional commanders

General der Infanterie Friedrich von Lossberg (1 October 1920 - 1 January 1925)

General der Infanterie Leopold Freiherr von Ledebur (1 January 1925 - 28 February 1928)

General der Artillerie Max Föhrenbach (1 March 1928 - 1 May 1931)

Generalleutnant Wolfgang Fleck (1 May 1931 - 30 September 1934)

Infantrieführers

Generalleutnant Otto Haas (1 October 1920 - 2 August 1921)

Generalleutnant Erwin Voigt (3 August 1921 - 30 September 1923)

Generalmajor Ernst Freiherr von Forstner (1 October 1923 - 31 March 1927)

Generalmajor Lothar Fritsch (1 April 1927 - 31 January 1929)

Generalleutnant Max von Schenckendorff (1 February 1929 - 31 January 1930)

Generalmajor Hans Schmidt (1 February 1930 - 31 January 1931)

Generalleutnant Franz von Roques (1 February 1931 - 30 September 1933)

Oberst Erwin von Witzleben (1 October 1933 - 31 January 1934)

Generalmajor Konrad von Gossler (1 February 1934 - 30 September 1934)

Generalmajor Wilhelm Keitel (1 October 1934 - 30 September 1935)

Generalleutnant Adolf Strauss (1 October 1935 - 15 October 1935).

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “6th Division (Reichswehr)” as 1921-1934 German Army infantry division. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Division, Reichswehr and 1921-1934.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1920, 1921, 1934, 1925—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1921. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Division, Reichswehr and 1921-1934 providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “6th Division (Reichswehr)”, the useful work is to connect “1921-1934 German Army infantry division” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 29, 2023. The linked authority identifier is Q2818135. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1920, 1921, 1934 and 1925.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “6th Division (Reichswehr)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.