Erpo Freiherr von Bodenhausen (12 April 1897 – 9 May 1945) was a Generalleutnant in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was the last commander of the L Armeekorps, and he committed suicide in the Courland Pocket.
Biography[]
Erpo Freiherr von Bodenhausen was born in Schloss Arnstein, Witzenhausen County, German Empire on 12 April 1897, and he served in the Imperial German Army during World War I. He served in a Reichswehr cavalry regiment during the German Revolution, and he rose to the rank of lieutenant in 1925 and major in 1936. At the start of World War II, he commanded an infantry battalion, and he fought in France, the Balkans, and Russia in the early years of the war. From March 1943 to May 1944, he commanded the 12th Panzer Division during the war with the Soviet Union, reaching the rank of Generalleutnant. His final command was the L Armeekorps, taking command of it on 12 April 1945 as it was encircled in the Courland Pocket. On 9 May 1945, he committed suicide rather than surrender.