View source for Erich Hoepner

{{Short description|German general (1886–1944)}}
{{good article}}
{{use dmy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = Erich Hoepner
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1886|9|14|df=y}}
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1944|8|8|1886|9|14|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Frankfurt (Oder)]], [[Province of Brandenburg|Brandenburg]], [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]], [[German Empire]]
| death_place   = [[Plötzensee Prison]], [[Berlin]], [[Nazi Germany]]
| death_cause= [[Execution by hanging]]
| image         = Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1971-068-10, Erich Hoepner.jpg
| image_size    = 
| caption       = 
| nickname      = 
| allegiance    = {{plainlist|
* [[German Empire]]
* [[Weimar Republic]]
* [[Nazi Germany]]
}}
| branch        = [[German Army (1935-1945)|German Army]]
| serviceyears  = 1905–1942
| rank          = ''[[Generaloberst#Nazi Germany|Generaloberst]]''
| commands      = {{Plainlist|
* [[6th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)|1st Light Division]]
* [[XVI Army Corps (Wehrmacht)|XVI Army Corps]]
* [[4th Panzer Group]]}}
| unit          = 
| battles       = 
{{tree list}}
*[[World War I]]
----
*[[World War II]]
** [[Invasion of Poland]]
***[[Battle of Częstochowa (1939)|Battle of Częstochowa]]
***[[Battle of Borowa Góra]]
***[[Battle of Piotrków Trybunalski]]
***[[Battle of Tomaszów Mazowiecki]]
***[[Battle of the Bzura]]
**[[German invasion of Belgium (1940)|German invasion of Belgium]]
***[[Battle of Hannut]]
***[[Battle of Gembloux (1940)|Battle of Gembloux]]
** [[Battle of France]]
***{{ill|Battle of the Rhône Valley|fr|Bataille de la vallée du Rhône (1940)}}
** [[Operation Barbarossa]]
***[[Baltic Operation]]
****[[Battle of Raseiniai]]
****{{ill|Battle of Pskov (1941)|ru|Оборона Пскова (1941)|lt=Battle of Pskov}}
*** [[Advance on Leningrad]]
****{{ill|Luga Defensive Line|ru|Лужский оборонительный рубеж}}
***[[Battle of Vyazma-Bryansk]]
***[[Battle of Moscow]]
****{{ill|Klinsko-Soniachnohorsk defense operation|uk|Клинсько-Сонячногірська оборонна операція}}
****{{ill|Klinsko-Sonyachnohorsk offensive operation|uk|Клинсько-Сонячногірська наступальна операція}}
{{tree list/end}}
| awards        = [[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross]]
}}
'''Erich Kurt Richard Hoepner''' (14 September 1886 – 8 August 1944) was a German general during [[World War II]]. An early proponent of mechanisation and armoured warfare, he was a [[Wehrmacht Heer]] [[Corps|army corps]] commander at the beginning of the war, leading his troops during the [[invasion of Poland]] and the [[Battle of France]].

Hoepner commanded the [[4th Panzer Group]] on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]] during [[Operation Barbarossa]], the invasion of the [[Soviet Union]] in 1941. During the invasion of Poland, he resisted mistreatment and murder of prisoners of war, but in Russia, Hoepner called for a war of extermination. Units under his authority closely cooperated with the ''[[Einsatzgruppen]]'' and he implemented the [[Commissar Order]] that directed Wehrmacht troops to summarily execute [[Red Army]] [[political commissars]] immediately upon capture. Hoepner's Panzer group, along with the [[3rd Panzer Group]], spearheaded the advance on [[Moscow]] in [[Operation Typhoon]], the failed attempt to seize the Soviet capital.

Dismissed from the Wehrmacht after the failure of the 1941 campaign, Hoepner restored his pension rights through a lawsuit. He was implicated in the failed [[20 July plot]] against [[Adolf Hitler]] and executed in 1944.

==Early years and World War I==

Hoepner was born in [[Frankfurt (Oder)]], the son of Prussian medical officer Kurt Hoepner. He was commissioned into the [[Prussian Army]] as a cavalry lieutenant in 1906, joining the Schleswig-Holstein Dragoons Regiment No. 13 [[:de:Schleswig-Holsteinisches Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 13|(de)]]. In 1911 he attended the [[Prussian Military Academy|Prussian Staff College]] and was assigned to the General Staff of the [[XVI Corps (German Empire)|XVI Corps]]. When the First World War began he was assigned to the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]], serving as a company commander and staff officer for several corps and armies. He fought with the [[105th Infantry Division (German Empire)|105th Infantry Division]] in the [[German spring offensive]] of 1918, ending the war in the cavalry.{{sfn|Tucker|2016|p=793}}{{sfn|Zabecki|2014|p=615}}

==Interwar period==

Hoepner remained in the [[Reichswehr]] during the [[Weimar Republic]] period.{{sfn|Tucker|2016|p=793}} He was promoted to the rank of [[Generalmajor#Generalmajor of the Wehrmacht|Generalmajor]] in 1936 and in 1938 was given command of the 1st Light Division (later [[6th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)|6th Panzer Division]]), an early armoured unit that was part of the nucleus of the expanding German ''[[Panzerwaffe]]''. [[Claus von Stauffenberg]] served on Hoepner's divisional staff.{{sfn|Mitcham|2006|p=76}} After the [[Blomberg–Fritsch affair]] in early 1938, the result of which was the subjugation of the [[Wehrmacht]] to dictator [[Adolf Hitler]], and as the [[Sudetenland Crisis]] unfolded, Hoepner joined the [[Oster conspiracy]]. The group planned to kill Hitler and overthrow the Nazi [[SS]], should Hitler move to invade Czechoslovakia. Hoepner's role in the plan was to lead the 1st Light Division toward Berlin and seize key objectives against the SS forces in the city. The conspiracy collapsed with the appeasement by [[Neville Chamberlain]] and [[Édouard Daladier]] and the signing of the [[Munich Agreement]]. Upon his rival [[Heinz Guderian]]'s assumption of command of the [[XIX Army Corps (Wehrmacht)|XIX Army Corps]], Hoepner replaced him as the commander of the [[XVI Army Corps (Wehrmacht)|XVI Army Corps]]. He led the corps in the [[German occupation of Czechoslovakia|occupation of Czechoslovakia]] in March 1939 and was promoted the next month to [[General of the Cavalry (Germany)|General of the Cavalry]].{{sfn|Fest|1997|p=68}}

==World War II==

===Invasion of Poland and Battle of France===
Hoepner commanded the XVI Army Corps in the [[Invasion of Poland (1939)|Invasion of Poland]] where he covered the {{convert|230|km|mi|abbr=on}} to Warsaw in only a week as part of the 10th Army.{{sfn|Tucker|2016|pp=793–794}} Hoepner and his corps were transferred to the 6th Army for the [[Battle of France]], where he spearheaded attacks on Liège and then Dunkirk and Dijon. On 22 May, the [[SS Division Totenkopf]] was assigned to XVI Corps, starting what was to be a long period of friction and mutual dislike between Hoepner and the SS. During the [[Battle of Dunkirk]], rumours began to spread of SS troops mistreating prisoners and on 24 May Hoepner issued a special order to his units that any soldiers caught mistreating prisoners would face immediate [[court-martial]].{{sfn|English|2011|p=14}}

Three days later troops from the SS Division Totenkopf killed almost a hundred British prisoners in the [[Le Paradis massacre]]. When word of the massacre reached Hoepner he ordered an investigation into the allegations, demanding that the SS division commander, [[Theodor Eicke]] be dismissed if evidence could be found that British prisoners had been mistreated or killed by SS forces. Eicke made an excuse to Himmler that the British had used [[Expanding bullet|dum-dum bullets]] against his forces. He and the Totenkopf unit suffered no consequences and the matter was officially forgotten.{{sfn|Sydnor|1977|pp=108–109}} However, Hoepner continued to hold a personal and professional dislike of Eicke, calling him a "butcher" for his disregard of casualties. He also maintained his existing low opinion of the [[Waffen-SS]].{{sfn|English|2011|pp=11–12}}

===War against the Soviet Union===
{{Main|Operation Barbarossa}}
After the conclusion of the fighting in France, Hoepner was promoted to the rank of [[Generaloberst]] in July 1940.{{sfn|Tucker|2016|p=793}} The German High Command had commenced planning for Operation Barbarossa,{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=160}} and Hoepner was appointed to command the [[4th Panzer Group]] that was to drive toward [[Leningrad]] as part of [[Army Group North]] under [[Wilhelm von Leeb]].{{sfn|Zabecki|2014|p=615}} On 30 March 1941, Hitler delivered a speech to about two hundred senior Wehrmacht officers where he laid out his plans for an ideological war of annihilation (''{{illm|Vernichtungskrieg|de|Vernichtungskrieg}}'') against the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Förster|1998|pp=496–497}} He stated that "wanted to see the impending war against the Soviet Union conducted not according to the military principles, but as a war of extermination" against an ideological enemy, whether military or civilian. Many Wehrmacht leaders, including Hoepner, echoed the sentiment.{{sfn|Crowe|2013|p=90}} As a commander of the 4th Panzer Group, he issued a directive to his troops:

{{quote|The war against Russia is an important chapter in the struggle for existence of the German nation. It is the old battle of Germanic against Slav peoples, of the defence of European culture against Muscovite-Asiatic inundation, and the repulse of Jewish-Bolshevism. The objective of this battle must be the destruction of present-day Russia and it must therefore be conducted with unprecedented severity. Every military action must be guided in planning and execution by an iron will to exterminate the enemy mercilessly and totally. In particular, no adherents of the present Russian-Bolshevik system are to be spared.|2 May 1941{{sfn|Burleigh|1997|p=76}}}}<ref>see also  [https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/item/DRNZTWOVJ53CIJRFSOSXRI5G6FJMAVRA ''www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de'']</ref>

The order was transmitted to the troops on Hoepner's initiative, ahead of the official [[OKW]] (Wehrmacht High Command) directives that laid the groundwork for the war of extermination, such as the [[Barbarossa Decree]] of 13 May 1941 and other orders. Hoepner's directive predates the first [[OKH]] (Army High Command) draft of the [[Commissar Order]].{{sfn|Förster|1998|pp=519–521}} [[Jürgen Förster]] wrote that Hoepner's directive represented an "independent transformation of Hitler's ideological intentions into an order" and illustrated a "degree of conformity or affinity" between Hitler and military leadership, which provided a sufficient basis for collaboration in the aims of conquest and annihilation against a perceived threat from the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Förster|1998|pp=519–521}}

====Advance on Leningrad====

[[File:German advance into USSR.png|thumb|upright|Progress of Army Group North, June to December 1941]]
The 4th Panzer Group consisted of the [[LVI Panzer Corps (Germany)|LVI Panzer Corps]] ([[Erich von Manstein]]) and the [[XLI Panzer Corps]] ([[Georg-Hans Reinhardt]]).{{sfn|Melvin|2010|pp=198–199}} The Army Group was to advance through the [[Baltic States]] to Leningrad. Barbarossa commenced on 22 June 1941 with a massive German attack along the whole front line. The 4th Panzer Group headed for the [[Daugava River|Dvina River]] to secure the bridges near the town of [[Daugavpils]].{{sfn|Melvin|2010|pp=205}} The Red Army mounted a number of counterattacks against the XLI Panzer Corps, leading to the [[Battle of Raseiniai]].{{sfn|Melvin|2010|pp=209–210}}

After Reinhardt's corps closed in, the two corps were ordered to encircle the Soviet formations around [[Luga, Leningrad Oblast|Luga]]. Again having penetrated deep into the Soviet lines with unprotected flanks, Manstein's corps was the target of a Soviet counteroffensive from 15 July at [[Soltsy]] by the [[Soviet 11th Army]]. Manstein's forces were badly mauled and the Red Army halted the German advance at Luga.{{sfn|Melvin|2010|pp=217–218}} Ultimately, the army group defeated the defending Soviet [[Northwestern Front]], inflicting over 90,000 casualties and destroying more than 1,000 tanks and 1,000 aircraft, then advanced northeast of the [[Stalin line]].{{sfn|Glantz|2012}}

During his command on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]], Hoepner demanded "ruthless and complete destruction of the enemy".<ref>{{cite web|last=Friedmann|first=Jan|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,605223,00.html|title=Dubious Role Models: Study Reveals Many German Schools Still Named After Nazis|website=Spiegel.de|date=4 February 2009|access-date=7 November 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110920081337/http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,605223,00.html|archive-date=20 September 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref> On 6 July 1941, Hoepner issued an order to his troops instructing them to treat the "loyal population" fairly, adding that "individual acts of sabotage should simply be charged to communists and Jews".{{sfn|Stein|2007|p=301}} As with all German armies on the Eastern Front, Hoepner's Panzer Group implemented the Commissar Order that directed Wehrmacht troops to execute Red Army political officers immediately upon capture, contravening the accepted laws of war.{{sfn|Stahel|2015|p=28}} Between 2 and 8 July, the 4th Panzer Group shot 101 Red Army political commissars, with the bulk of the executions coming from the XLI Panzer Corps.{{sfn|Stein|2007|p=301}} By 19 July, 172 executions of commissars had been reported.{{sfn|Lemay|2010|p=252}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-212-0214-08A, Russland-Nord, v. Leeb u.a. beim Kartenstudium.jpg|thumb|Hoepner with [[Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb]] in 1941]]
By mid-July, the 4th Panzer Group seized the [[Luga River|Luga]] bridgehead and had plans to advance on Leningrad. The staff and detachments 2 and 3 of [[Einsatzgruppen|''Einsatzgruppe A'']], one of the mobile killing squads following the Wehrmacht into the occupied Soviet Union, were brought up to the Luga district with assistance from the army. "The movement of ''Einsatzgruppe A''—which the army intended to use in Leningrad—was effected in agreement with Panzer Group 4 and at their express wish", noted [[Franz Walter Stahlecker]], the commander of ''Einsatzgruppe A''.{{sfn|Jones|2008|p=35}} Stahlecker described army co-operation as "generally very good" and "in certain cases, as for example, with Panzer Group 4 under the command of General Hoepner, extremely close, one might say even warm."{{sfn|Stahel|2015|p=37}}

By late July, Army Group North positioned 4th Panzer Group's units south and east of [[Narva, Estonia]], where they could begin an advance on Leningrad in terrain conditions relatively suitable for armoured warfare. By that time, however, the army group lacked the strength to take Leningrad, which continued to be a high priority for the German high command. A compromise solution was worked out whereas the infantry would attack north from both sides of [[Lake Ilmen]], while the Panzer Group would advance from its current position. Hoepner's forces began their advance on 8 August, but the attack ran into determined Soviet defences. Elsewhere, Soviet counter-attacks threatened Leeb's southern flank. By mid to late August, the German forces were making gains again, with the 4th Panzer Group taking Narva on 17 August.{{sfn|Megargee|2006|pp=104–106}}

On 29 August, Leeb issued orders for the blockade of Leningrad in anticipation that the city would soon be abandoned by the Soviets. On 5 September Hitler ordered Hoepner's 4th Panzer Group and an air corps transferred to [[Army Group Centre]] on 15 September, in preparation for [[Operation Typhoon]], the German assault on Moscow. Leeb objected and was given a reprieve in the transfer of his mobile forces, with the view of making one last push towards Leningrad. The 4th Panzer Group was to be the main attacking force, which reached south of the [[Neva River]], where it was faced with strong Soviet counter-attacks. By 24 September, Army Group North halted its advance and transferred the 4th Panzer Group to Army Group Centre.{{sfn|Megargee|2006|pp=115–116}}

====Battle of Moscow====
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-212-0212A-19, Russland, SS-Brigdeführer und Erich Hoepner.jpg|thumb|upright|Hoepner (right) with commander of [[SS Polizei Division]], [[Walter Krüger (SS general)|Walter Krüger]], in October 1941]]
{{Main|Battle of Moscow}}

As part of [[Operation Typhoon]], the 4th Panzer Group was subordinated to the [[4th Army (Wehrmacht)|4th Army]] under the command of [[Günther von Kluge]]. In early October, the 4th Panzer Group completed the [[Battle of Moscow#Battles of Vyazma and Bryansk|encirclement at Vyazma]]. Kluge instructed Hoepner to pause the advance, much to the latter's displeasure, as his units were needed to prevent break-outs of Soviet forces. Hoepner was confident that the clearing of the pocket and the advance on Moscow could be undertaken at the same time and viewed Kluge's actions as interference, leading to friction and "clashes" with his superior, as he wrote in a letter home on 6 October.{{sfn|Stahel|2013|pp=74–75, 95}} Hoepner did not seem to appreciate that his units were very short on fuel; the [[11th Panzer Division]], reported having no fuel at all. Only the [[20th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)|20th Panzer Division]] was advancing towards Moscow amid deteriorating road conditions.{{sfn|Stahel|2013|p=95}}

Once the Vyazma pocket was eliminated, other units were able to advance on 14 October. Heavy rains and onset of the ''[[rasputitsa]]'' (roadlessness) caused frequent damage to tracked vehicles and motor transport further hampering the advance.{{sfn|Stahel|2013|pp=173–174}} By early November, Hoepner's forces were depleted from earlier fighting and the weather but he, along with other Panzer Group commanders and [[Fedor von Bock]], commander of Army Group Center, was impatient to resume the offensive. In a letter home, Hoepner stated that just two weeks of the frozen ground would allow his troops to surround Moscow, not taking into account the stiffening Soviet resistance and the condition of his units.{{sfn|Stahel|2015|pp=78–80}} [[David Stahel]] wrote that Hoepner displayed "steadfast determination, and often excessive confidence" during that period.{{sfn|Stahel|2015|p=77}}

On 17 November the 4th Panzer Group attacked again towards Moscow alongside the [[V Army Corps (Wehrmacht)|V Army Corps]] of the 4th Army, as part of the continuation of Operation Typhoon by Army Group Centre. The Panzer Group and the army corps represented Kluge's best forces, most ready for a continued offensive. In two weeks' fighting, Hoepner's forces advanced {{convert|60|km|mi|abbr=on}} ({{convert|4|km|mi|abbr=on}} per day).{{sfn|Stahel|2015|p=228}} Lacking strength and mobility to conduct battles of encirclement, the Group undertook frontal assaults which proved increasingly costly.{{sfn|Stahel|2015|p=223}} A lack of tanks, insufficient motor transport and a precarious supply situation, along with tenacious [[Red Army]] resistance and the air superiority achieved by Soviet fighters hampered the attack.{{sfn|Stahel|2015|pp=240–244}}

The [[3rd Panzer Group]] further north saw slightly better progress, averaging {{convert|6|km|mi|abbr=on}} a day. The attack by the [[2nd Panzer Group]] on [[Tula, Russia|Tula]] and [[Kashira]], {{convert|125|km|mi|abbr=on}} south of Moscow, achieved only fleeting and precarious success, while Guderian vacillated between despair and optimism, depending on the situation at the front.{{sfn|Stahel|2015|p=186−189, 228}} Facing pressure from the German High Command, Kluge finally committed his weaker south flank to the attack on 1 December. In the aftermath of the battle, Hoepner and Guderian blamed slow commitment of the south flank of the 4th Army to the attack for the German failure to reach Moscow. Stahel wrote that this assessment grossly overestimated the capabilities of Kluge's remaining forces.{{sfn|Stahel|2015|pp=229–230}} It also failed to appreciate the reality that Moscow was a metropolis that German forces lacked the numbers to encircle. With the outer defensive belt completed by 25 November, Moscow was a fortified position which the Wehrmacht lacked the strength to take in a frontal assault.{{sfn|Stahel|2015|pp=235–237, 250}}

As late as 2 December, Hoepner urged his troops forward stating that "the goal [the encirclement of Moscow] can still be achieved". The next day, he warned Kluge that failure to break off the attack would "bleed white" his formations and make them incapable of defence. Kluge was sympathetic since the south flank of the 4th Army had already had to retreat under Red Army pressure and was on the defensive.{{sfn|Stahel|2015|pp=295-296}} Hoepner was ordered to pause his attack, with the goal of resuming it on 6 December. In a letter home, Hoepner blamed Kluge for the inability to seize Moscow, "I alone came to within thirty kilometres to Moscow&nbsp;... It's very bitter&nbsp;... in the deciding moment to be left in the lurch and forced to resignation". Such "blinkered thinking" on Hoepner's part was common among the German commanders in charge of the operation, which in Stahel's opinion "even before it began, made little practical sense".{{sfn|Stahel|2015|pp=304–305}} On 5 December 1941, with orders to attack the next day, Hoepner called a conference of chiefs-of-staff of his five corps. The reports were grim: only four divisions were deemed capable of attack, three of these with limited objectives. The attack was called off; the Red Army launched its winter counter-offensive on the same day.{{sfn|Stahel|2015|pp=306–307}}

===Dismissal and 20 July plot===
In January 1942, Hoepner requested permission from Kluge, the new commander of Army Group Centre, to withdraw his over-extended forces. Kluge advised him that he would discuss the matter with Hitler and ordered Hoepner to get ready. Assuming that Hitler's permission was on the way and not wanting to risk the matter any longer, Hoepner ordered his troops to withdraw on 8 January 1942. Afraid of what Hitler might think, Kluge immediately reported Hoepner, causing Hitler's fury. Hoepner was dismissed from the Wehrmacht on the same day.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=206}} Hitler directed that Hoepner be deprived of his pension and denied the right to wear his uniform and medals, contravening the law and Wehrmacht regulations.{{sfn|Lemay|2010|p=219}} Hoepner filed a lawsuit against the Reich to reclaim his pension. Judges at the time could not be dismissed, even by Hitler, and Hoepner won his case.{{sfn|Kershaw|2009|pp=837, 899}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 151-25-07, Berlin, Volksgerichtshof, Erich Hoepner.jpg|upright|thumb|Hoepner at the ''[[People's Court (Germany)|Volksgerichtshof]]'']]
Hoepner was a participant in the [[20 July plot]] against Hitler in 1944 and after the coup failed he was arrested and tortured by the [[Gestapo]]. He refused an opportunity to commit suicide and demanded a trial. A summary trial was conducted by the ''[[People's Court (Germany)|Volksgerichtshof]]'' and Hoepner was verbally attacked and sentenced to death. Like other defendants, including [[Erwin von Witzleben]], Hoepner was humiliated during the trial by being made to wear ill-fitting clothes, and not being allowed to have his false teeth. Judge [[Roland Freisler]] berated Hoepner, but, in an extremely unusual move given his very aggressive personality, he objected to him being made to dress in such a way.{{sfn|Gill|1994|p=256}} Hoepner was hanged by wire mounted from meat hooks on 8 August, at [[Plötzensee Prison]] in Berlin.{{sfn|Tucker|2016|p=794}}

Under the Nazi practice of ''[[Sippenhaft]]'' (collective punishment) Hoepner's wife, daughter Ingrid (born 1917), son Joachim (born 1913, a major in the army), brother and sister were arrested.{{sfn|Loeffel|2012|p=130}} The women were sent to [[Ravensbrück concentration camp]]. His sister was soon released but Frau Hoepner and her daughter were placed in the notorious ''Strafblock'' for four weeks' additional punishment.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=uAWjAwAAQBAJ&dq=hoepner+ravensbruck+camp&pg=PT511 ''Ravensbruck: Life and Death in Hitler's Concentration Camp for Women''] by Sarah Helm</ref>{{sfn|Helm|2015|pp=396–397}} Hoepner's younger brother was sent to [[Buchenwald concentration camp]],<ref name="n590">{{cite book | last=Stahel | first=David | title=Hitler's Panzer Generals | publisher=Cambridge University Press | date=2023-05-04 | isbn=978-1-009-28281-9 | page=}}</ref> and his son was first held in [[Moabit]] prison in Berlin before being moved to the fortress at Küstrin (now [[Kostrzyn nad Odrą]]) in December 1944.<ref name="n590" />

==Commemoration==
[[File:Straßenschild Erich-Hoepner-Straße 29–31, Düsseldorf-Golzheim.jpg|thumb|upright|Erich-Hoepner-Straße in [[Düsseldorf]], September 2017]]
[[File:Berlin GTafel Offiziere.jpg|upright|thumb|right|Memorial plaque for Hoepner and [[Henning von Tresckow]] in the [[Bundeshaus (Berlin)|Bundeshaus]], Berlin]]
In 1956, a school in Berlin was named after Hoepner because he had joined the 20 July plot and was executed by the Nazi regime. The school voted to drop the name in 2008. In 2009, the school director attested to the fact that "the name had been controversial from the start and was repeatedly debated".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.thenational.ae/world/europe/nazi-era-lives-on-in-german-schools-1.495338#full%20%22Nazi%20era%20lives%20on%20in%20German%20schools%22 |title=Nazi era lives on in German schools |last=Crossland |first=David |date=16 February 2009 |website=thenational.ae |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223221112/https://www.thenational.ae/world/europe/nazi-era-lives-on-in-german-schools-1.495338#full%20%22Nazi%20era%20lives%20on%20in%20German%20schools%22 |archive-date=23 December 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

==Awards==
<!--- * [[Iron Cross]] (1914) 2nd & 1st Class
* [[Iron Cross]] (1939) 2nd & 1st Class--->
* [[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross]] on 27 October 1939 as [[General of the Cavalry (Germany)|General of the Cavalry]] and commander of XVI. Armee-Korps{{sfn|Fellgiebel|2000|p=230}}

==Citations==
{{Reflist|20em}}

==References==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book | last = Burleigh |first=Michael |author-link = Michael Burleigh | title = Ethics and Extermination | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 1997 | location = Cambridge | doi = 10.1017/CBO9780511806162 |isbn=9780521582117 }}
* {{cite book | last = Crowe | first = David M. | author-link = David M. Crowe | title = Crimes of State Past and Present: Government-Sponsored Atrocities and International Legal Responses | year = 2013 | publisher = Routledge | location = London | isbn = 978-1-317-98681-2 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GRTdAAAAQBAJ&q=%22The+war+against+Russia+is+an+important+chapter+in+the+struggle+for+existence+of+the+German+nation%22&pg=PA90 }}
* {{cite book | last = English | first = John A. | author-link = John A. English | title = Surrender Invites Death: Fighting the Waffen SS in Normandy | publisher = Stackpole Books | year = 2011 | location = Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania | isbn = 978-0-8117-4437-9 }}
* {{cite book | last = Evans | first = Richard J. | author-link = Richard J. Evans | title = The Third Reich at War: 1939–1945 | year = 2008 | url = https://archive.org/details/thirdreichatwar00evan_0 | url-access = registration | publisher = Penguin | location = New York | isbn = 978-0-14-311671-4 }}
* {{cite book |last=Fellgiebel |first=Walther-Peer |year=2000 |orig-year=1986 |title=Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile |trans-title=The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches |language=de |location=Friedberg, Germany |publisher=Podzun-Pallas |isbn=978-3-7909-0284-6 }}
* {{cite book | last = Fest | first = Joachim| author-link = Joachim Fest | title = Plotting Hitler's Death: The Story of German Resistance | publisher = Macmillan | year = 1997 | location = Basingstoke, United Kingdom | isbn = 978-0-8050-5648-8 }}
* {{cite book |last=Förster |first=Jürgen |author-link=Jürgen Förster |chapter=Operation Barbarossa as a War of Conquest and Annihilation |editor1-last=Boog |editor1-first=Horst |editor1-link=Horst Boog |editor2-last=Förster |editor2-first=Jürgen |editor3-last=Hoffmann |editor3-first=Joachim |editor4-last=Klink |editor4-first=Ernst |editor4-link=Ernst Klink |editor5-last=Müller |editor5-first=Rolf-Dieter |editor5-link=Rolf-Dieter Müller |editor6-last=Ueberschär |editor6-first=Gerd R. |editor6-link=Gerd R. Ueberschär |year=1998 |title=[[Germany and the Second World War]]: Attack on the Soviet Union |volume=IV |location=Oxford and New York |publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn=978-0-19-822886-8 }}
* {{cite book | last = Gill | first = Anton | author-link = Anton Gill | title = An Honourable Defeat, The Fight Against National Socialism in Germany 1933–1945 | publisher = Mandarin | year = 1994 | location =London | isbn =978-0-7493-1457-6 }}
* {{cite book |last=Glantz |first=David |author-link=David Glantz |title=Operation Barbarossa: Hitler's invasion of Russia 1941 |publisher=The History Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-7524-6070-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W5sTDQAAQBAJ&q=hoepner+stalin+line&pg=PP37 }}
* {{cite book | last = Helm | first = Sarah | author-link = Sarah Helm | title = If This Is A Woman. Inside Ravensbrück: Hitler's Concentration Camp for Women | publisher = Little, Brown | year = 2015 | location = London, United Kingdom | isbn = 978-1-4087-0538-4 }}
* {{cite book |last=Jones |first=Michael |title=Leningrad: State of Siege |publisher=[[Basic Books]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-465-01153-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Et3ubYEw_W4C&q=hoepner&pg=PA21 }}
* {{cite book | last = Kershaw | first = Ian | author-link = Ian Kershaw | title = Hitler | publisher = Penguin | year = 2009 | location = London, United Kingdom | isbn = 978-0-14-103588-8 }}
* {{cite book | last = Lemay | first = Benoit | title = Erich Von Manstein: Hitler's Master Strategist | publisher = Casemate | year = 2010 | location = Philadelphia, PA | isbn = 978-1-935149-55-2 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=qWuWOFS4o7AC&q=hoepner+30+march+1941&pg=PA301 }}
* {{cite book | last = Loeffel | first = Robert | title = Family Punishment in Nazi Germany: Sippenhaft, Terror and Myth | publisher = Palgrave Macmillan | year = 2012 | location = Basingstoke | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YxHxaq6sMroC&q=Erich+Hoepner+wife%2C+daughter+and+sister&pg=PA130 | isbn = 978-0-230-34305-4 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
*{{cite book|last=Megargee|first=Geoffrey P.|author-link=Geoffrey P. Megargee|title=War of Annihilation: Combat and Genocide on the Eastern Front, 1941|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-7425-4482-6| year = 2006}}
* {{cite book | last = Melvin | first = Mungo | author-link = Mungo Melvin | title = Manstein: Hitler's Greatest General | year = 2010 | publisher = Weidenfeld & Nicolson | location = London | isbn = 978-0-297-84561-4 }}
* {{cite book | last = Mitcham | first = Samuel W. | title = Panzer Legions: A Guide to the German Army Tank Divisions of World War II and Their Commanders | publisher = Stackpole Books | year = 2006 | location = Mechanicsburg, PA | isbn = 978-1-4617-5143-4 }}
* {{Cite book  |last1=Patzwall  |first1=Klaus D.   |last2=Scherzer  |first2=Veit   |year=2001  |title=Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941–1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II  |trans-title=The German Cross 1941–1945 History and Recipients |volume=2  |language=de  |location=Norderstedt, Germany  |publisher=Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall  |isbn=978-3-931533-45-8}}
* {{Cite book|last=Stahel  |first=David  |author-link=David Stahel   |year=2015  |title=The Battle for Moscow  |location=Cambridge |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]  |isbn=978-1-107-08760-6  }}
* {{cite book|last=Stahel |first=David |author-link=David Stahel |title=Operation Typhoon: Hitler's March on Moscow, October 1941|year=2013|location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-1-107-03512-6}}
* {{cite book | last = Stein | first = Marcel |title = Field Marshal von Manstein: The Janushead – A Portrait | publisher = Helion & Company | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-906033-02-6 }}
* {{cite book | last = Sydnor | first = Charles | title = Soldiers of Destruction: The SS Death's Head Division, 1933–1945 | year = 1977 | publisher = Princeton University Press | location = Princeton, NJ | asin = B001Y18PZ6 }}
* {{cite book | last = Tucker | first = Spencer C. | author-link = Spencer C. Tucker | title = World War II: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection | publisher = ABC-CLIO | year = 2016 | location = Santa Barbara, CA | isbn = 978-1-85109-969-6 }}
* {{cite book | last = Zabecki | first = David T. | author-link = David T. Zabecki | title = Germany at War: 400 Years of Military History | publisher = ABC-CLIO | year = 2014 | location = Santa Barbara, California
 | isbn = 978-1-59884-981-3 }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*{{YouTube|e4XEbJOqTCo|Operation Typhoon}}, lecture by the historian [[David Stahel]] discussing operations of the 4th Panzer Group; via the official channel of [[USS Silversides (SS-236)#USS Silversides Submarine Museum|USS Silversides Museum]]
* [http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/biografien/HoepnerErich/ Biography] at the German Historical Museum of Berlin {{in lang|de}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060915115201/http://archiv.tagesspiegel.de/archiv/22.09.2004/1359752.asp Umstrittener Patron], article in ''[[Der Tagesspiegel]]'' {{in lang|de}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{succession box
|before = none
|title = Commander of [[XVI Army Corps (Wehrmacht)|XVI Army Corps]]
|years = 24 February 1938 to 17 February 1941
|after = Fourth Panzer Group
}}
{{succession box
|before = XVI Army Corps
|title = Commander of [[Fourth Panzer Army (Germany)|Fourth Panzer Group]]
|years = 17 February 1941 – 8 January 1942
|after = Generaloberst [[Richard Ruoff]]
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Generaloberst of the Third Reich |state = collapsed }}

{{Authority control}}

{{Subject bar
|portal1 = Biography
|commons = y
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoepner, Erich}}
[[Category:1886 births]]
[[Category:1944 deaths]]
[[Category:Colonel generals of the German Army (Wehrmacht)]]
[[Category:Executed German mass murderers]]
[[Category:Executed members of the 20 July plot]]
[[Category:Executed military leaders]]
[[Category:German Army generals of World War II]]
[[Category:German Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Holocaust perpetrators in Russia]]
[[Category:Major generals of the Reichswehr]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Brandenburg]]
[[Category:People from Brandenburg executed at Plötzensee Prison]]
[[Category:People executed by hanging at Plötzensee Prison]]
[[Category:People from Frankfurt (Oder)]]
[[Category:Protestants in the German Resistance]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross]]