This is a list of German divisions in WWII. Only ground units are covered; "divisions" of aircraft are not.
Upgrades and reorganizations are shown only to identify the variant names for what is notionally a single unit; other upgrades and reorganizations are deferred to the individual articles. Due to the scope of this list pre-war changes are not shown, nor are upgrades from units smaller than a division.
Volks, Sturm, and Grenadier were sometimes used simply as morale-building epithets, often without any significance to a unit's organization or capabilities.
116th Panzer Division Windhund (previously 16th Infantry Division, 16th Motorized Infantry Division, and 16th Panzergrenadier Division)
155th Reserve Panzer Division (previously Division Nr. 155, Division Nr. 155 (mot.), Panzer Division Nr. 155)
Panzer Division Nr. 178 (previously Division Nr. 178)
179th Reserve Panzer Division (previously Division Nr. 179, Division Nr. 179 (mot.), and Panzer Division Nr. 179)
232nd Panzer Division (previously Panzer Division Tatra, Panzer Training Division Tatra)
233rd Reserve Panzer Division (previously Division Nr. 233 (mot.), Panzergrenadier Division Nr. 233, and Panzer Division Nr. 233; later Panzer Division Clausewitz)
273rd Reserve Panzer Division
Named Panzer Divisions
Panzer Division Clausewitz (previously Division Nr. 233 (mot.), Panzergrenadier Division Nr. 233, and Panzer Division Nr. 233, Reserve Panzer Division 233)
Döberitz, Schlesien, and Holstein are approximately synonymous with Clausewitz.
Panzer Division Feldherrnhalle 1 (previously 60th Infantry Division, 60th Motorized Infantry Division, and Panzergrenadier Division Feldherrnhalle)
Panzer Division Feldherrnhalle 2 (previously 13th Infantry Division, 13th Motorized Infantry Division, and 13th Panzer Division)
Panzer Division Tatra (later Panzer Training Division Tatra, 232nd Panzer Division)
Light Divisions
The designation "Light" (leichte) had various meanings in the German Army of World War II. There was a series of 5 Light divisions; the first four were pre-war mechanized formations organized for use as mechanized cavalry, and the fifth was an ad hoc collection of mechanized elements rushed to Africa to bail the Italians out and organized into a division once there. All five were eventually converted to ordinary Panzer divisions.
Provided with partial horse or motor transport and usually lighter artillery, and reduced in size compared to an ordinary infantry division. Some of these were essentially identical to mountain divisions, and were sometimes referred to as Gebirgsjäger ("Mountain Light Infantry") divisions.
This description does not apply to the Light divisions in Africa (5th, 90th, 164th, 999th), nor to the five Light mechanized divisions listed in their own subsection.
Provided with full motor transport for all infantry and weapons systems. Usually reduced in size compared to an ordinary infantry division.
Division Nummer
A sort of placeholder division, with a number (Nummer) and staff but few if any combat assets. These divisions started out without any type in their name (e.g., Division Nr. 179), though some acquired a type later on (e.g, Panzer Division Nr. 179).
As motorized, but with more self-propelled weapons and an added battallion of tanks or fully armored assault guns.
Static (bodenständige)
Deficient in transport, even enough to move its own artillery. Many of these were divisions that had been mauled on the Russian Front and were sent west to serve as costal defense garrisons until sufficient resources were available to rehabilitate them.
A late-war reorganization with reduced size and increased short-range firepower. Many previously destroyed or badly mauled infantry divisions were reconstituted as Volksgrenadier divisions, and new ones were raised as well.
zbV
An ad hoc division created to meet a special requirement. (E.g., Division zbV Afrika)
Most of the size reductions listed above were by about a third, either by the removal of an infantry regiment or the removal of one infantry battalion from each of the three regiments.
Infantry divisions were raised in waves, sets of divisions with a standardized table of organization and equipment. In general the later waves (i.e., the higher-numbered divisions) were of lower quality than the earlier ones.
After being reorganized as the 26th Panzer Division, some of the 23rd Infantry Division's original components were used to create a new 23rd Infantry Division.
According to Davies, the Cavalry divisions were mounted infantry and the Cossack divisions were "true cavalry", modelled on the Russian cavalry divisions.
1st Cavalry Division (later 24th Panzer Division)
3rd Cavalry Division
4th Cavalry Division
Cossack Cavalry Division
This unit was later transferred to the Waffen-SS, where it was split to form the 1st and 2nd Cossack Cavalry Divisions.
18th Artillery Division (formerly 18th Panzer Division)
309th Artillery Division
310th Artillery Division
311th Artillery Division
312th Artillery Division
Named Fortress Divisons
Fortress Division Danzig
Fortress Division Frankfurt/Oder
Fortress Division Gotenhafen
Fortress Division Kreta (previously 164th Infantry Division; later 164th Light Afrika Division)
Fortress Division Stettin
Fortress Division Swinemünde
Fortress Division Warschau
Named Training Divisions
German Training Division Bayern
German Training Division Kurland
German Training Division Nord
Field Replacement Divisions
German Field Replacement Division A
German Field Replacement Division B
German Field Replacement Division C
German Field Replacement Division D
German Field Replacement Division E
German Field Replacement Division F
Kriegsmarine
Naval Infantry Divisions
1st Naval Infantry Division
2nd Naval Infantry Division
3rd Naval Infantry Division
11th Naval Infantry Division
16th Naval Infantry Division
Naval Infantry Division Gotenhafen
Luftwaffe
Hermann Göring Divisions
The Hermann Göring formations grew from a single police detachment to an entire armoredcorps over the course of the war. The later epithet Fallschirm ("parachute") was purely honorific.
Hermann Göring Division (later Panzer Division Hermann Göring, Parachute Panzer Division 1 Hermann Göring)
In order to keep its existence secret, the first German airborne division was named as if a Flieger ("flier") division in the series of Luftwaffe divisions that controlled air assets rather than ground troops:
7th Flieger Division (often translated 7th Air Division)
The division was later reorganized to start a series of nominally airborne divisions. Though named Fallschirmjäger ("paratrooper") divisions, most were not actually trained for airdrops, and in practice all operated as ordinary motorized infantry throughout their existence. The lower-numbered ones maintaned an élite status, but quality generally declined among the higher-numbered ones.
7th Parachute Division (previously Group Erdmann , an ad hoc collection of Luftwaffe assets on the western front)
8th Parachute Division
9th Parachute Division
10th Parachute Division
11th Parachute Division
20th Parachute Division
21st Parachute Division
Field Divisions
These were ordinary infantry divisions organized from Luftwaffe personnel made available after mid-war due to the manpower crunch. They were originally Luftwaffe units but were later handed over to the Heer, retaining their numbering but with Luftwaffe attached to distinguish them from similarly numbered divisions already existing in the Heer.
1st Luftwaffe Field Division
2nd Luftwaffe Field Division
3rd Luftwaffe Field Division
4th Luftwaffe Field Division
5th Luftwaffe Field Division
6th Luftwaffe Field Division
7th Luftwaffe Field Division
8th Luftwaffe Field Division
9th Luftwaffe Field Division
10th Luftwaffe Field Division
11th Luftwaffe Field Division
12th Luftwaffe Field Division
13th Luftwaffe Field Division
14th Luftwaffe Field Division
15th Luftwaffe Field Division
16th Luftwaffe Field Division
Eventually tranferred to the Heer as 16th Luftwaffe Infantry Division (later 16th Volksgrenadier Division)
17th Luftwaffe Field Division
18th Luftwaffe Field Division
19th Luftwaffe Field Division (later 19th Luftwaffe Sturm Division)
Eventually transferred to the Heer as 19th Grenadier Division (later 19th Volksgrenadier Division)
20th Luftwaffe Field Division (later 20th Luftwaffe Sturm Division)
21st Luftwaffe Field Division (previously the Meindl Division, an ad hoc collection of Luftwaffe resources)
22nd Luftwaffe Field Division
Training Divisions
German 1st Luftwaffe Training Division
German Parachute Training and Replacement Division
Anti-Aircraft Divisions
These were headquarters for controlling aggregates of FLAK ("anti-aircraft artillery") assets rather than ordinary combined arms divisions organized for ground combat.
1st Anti-Aircraft Division
2nd Anti-Aircraft Division
3rd Anti-Aircraft Division
4th Anti-Aircraft Division
5th Anti-Aircraft Division
6th Anti-Aircraft Division
7th Anti-Aircraft Division
8th Anti-Aircraft Division
9th Anti-Aircraft Division
10th Anti-Aircraft Division
11th Anti-Aircraft Division
12th Anti-Aircraft Division
13th Anti-Aircraft Division
14th Anti-Aircraft Division
15th Anti-Aircraft Division
16th Anti-Aircraft Division
17th Anti-Aircraft Division
18th Anti-Aircraft Division
19th Anti-Aircraft Division
20th Anti-Aircraft Division
21st Anti-Aircraft Division
22nd Anti-Aircraft Division
23rd Anti-Aircraft Division
24th Anti-Aircraft Division
25th Anti-Aircraft Division
26th Anti-Aircraft Division
27th Anti-Aircraft Division
28th Anti-Aircraft Division
29th Anti-Aircraft Division
30th Anti-Aircraft Division
31st Anti-Aircraft Division
Waffen-SS
All divisions in the Waffen-SS were ordered in a single series, regardless of type. Those tagged with nationalities were at least nominally recruited from those nationalities. Many of the higher-numbered units were small battlegroups, i.e. divisions in name only.
SS Division Das Reich (previously SS Division Verfügungstruppe, SS Division Deutschland, SS Division Reich; later SS Panzergrenadier Division Das Reich, 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich)
SS Division Totenkopf (later SS Panzergrenadier Division Totenkopf, 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf)
Astel, John; Goodwin, A. E.; Long, Jason, Bengtsson, Sven Ake; & Parmenter, James D. (1998). "Orders of Battle". Data booklet from the Europa game Storm Over Scandinavia. Grinnel, Iowa: Game Research/Design. ISBN 1860100910.
