The 4th Panzer Division was an armored division of the German Wehrmacht that was active from 10 November 1938 to 8 May 1945 during World War II. The division was formed in Wurzburg, Bavaria, and it took part in the 1939 invasion of Poland as a part of Army Group South. The division also took part in the 1940 Battle of France and Operation Barbarossa in 1941, remaining on the Eastern Front as a part of Army Group Center until it was trapped in the Courland Pocket in the summer of 1944; some of its sub-units would remain there until the end of World War II. It was evacuated by sea to West Prussia in January 1945, and it surrendered to the Soviets at the end of the war.