13th SS-Standarte

The 13th SS-Standarte was a regimental formation of the Allgemeine-SS first founded in 1927. During its first years of existence, the Standarte was one of a handful of regional SS-Gaus and was headquartered in the city of Stuttgart. The unit's first commander was SS-Führer Friedrich Schlegel.

In 1931, the former SS-Gau was reorganized and the Standarte referred to after which as the "SS-Standarate Württemberg". The Standarte now maintained several battalion sized Sturmbann in and around Stuttgart and the regiment grew to be considered one of the more important in the Allgemeine-SS Order of Battle.

Between 1932 and 1938, the 13th Standarte was one of the largest General-SS units in Germany and also seen as a "starting point" for many SS officers who would later hold significant positions in the SS during World War II. Herbert Kappler, for instance, began his SS career as a member of this Standarte.

By 1939, with war looming on the horizon, the 13th Standarte began losing its SS membership to either the general draft or to service within the Waffen-SS. When war began in 1939, the Standarte's last commander, Kurt Hoffmann, assumed leadership of the regiment and would hold this title for the duration of the war. After 1943, however, the 13th Standarte had very few members and had become a paper command by 1944.

The 13th Standarte was formally disbanded upon the fall of Nazi Germany in May 1945.

Commanders

• SS-Führer Friedrich Schlegel (May 27, 1927 - September 14, 1927)
• No Posted Commander (1927 - 1931)
• SS-Sturmführer Karl Schuster (January 15, 1931 - March 19, 1931)
• SS-Sturmbannführer Karl Pflomm (March 19, 1931 - March 21, 1932)
• SS-Standartenführer Robert Zeller (March 21, 1932 - July 31, 1933)
• SS-Sturmbannführer Max Humps (July 15, 1933 - April 22, 1934)
• SS-Sturmbannführer Ernst Greulich (April 23, 1934 - March 15, 1936)
• SS-Standartenführer Wilhelm Ihle (March 15, 1936 - January 1, 1938)
• SS-Obersturmbannführer Hans von Uslar (January 1, 1938 - November 30, 1938)
• SS-Obersturmbannführer Kurt Hoffmann (December 1, 1938 - May 8, 1945)

References

• Yerger, Mark C. Allgemeine-SS: The Commands, Units, and Leaders of the General SS, Schiffer Publishing (1997). ISBN 0-7643-0145-4