Richard Baltzer

On 6 April 1904, Baltzer became a naval cadet in the Imperial Navy before transferring to the Prussian Army and joining the Field Artillery Regiment "Prince August of Prussia" (1st Lithuanian) No. 1 on 31 March 1905. After WWI, he served with the preliminary Reichswehr and transferred to the police on 1 December 1919. On 16 March 1936, he rejoined the army as a colonel.

In the summer of 1939, during the mobilization for World War II, he was appointed commander of the 217th Infantry Division, which he led during the Invasion of Poland. On 1 October 1939, he was promoted to lieutenant general. After the Polish campaign, the division was initially used as an occupation force in Poland. In the summer of 1940, the division was transferred to France also as an occupation force.

At the beginning of summer 1941 he led his division in Operation Barbarossa in the attack on northern Russia. On 31 January 1942 he was awarded the German Cross in Gold. On 15 April 1942, he was relieved of command and transferred to the Führer reserve.
On 15 August 1942 he was appointed commander of the 156th Reserve Division, which guarded the French coast. In December 1943 he was transferred again to the Führer reserve. On 25 March 1944 he was appointed commander of the 182nd Reserve Division, which was renamed into 182nd Infantry Division on 1 March 1945. He fought with this division in France and later in Slovakia.

On 10 May 1945, after the surrender of the Wehrmacht, he was killed in Prague in circumstances that remain unknown.

Richard was the son of teacher Provincial School Councilor Dr. phil. Andreas Eduard Martin Baltzer (b. 7 September 1855 in Dresden; d. 6 November 1914 in Münster) and his wife Anna Johanna Pauline, née Apel (1862–1942). Richard had several siblings, two of his brothers were also officers:

• Robert (1892–1943), Lieutenant General of the Wehrmacht
• Georg (b. 7 April 1898 in Marienwerder; d. 12 May 1945 in the Ruhr area), veteran of WWI, Freikorps volunteer, businessman and Lieutenant Colonel of the Wehrmacht

On 5 October 1909 in Brandenburg an der Havel, 2nd Lieutenant Baltzer married his fiancée Magdalene Sack (b. 15 January 1890 in Posen), daughter of then Colonel (later General of the Artillery) and commander of the 6. Feldartillerie-Brigade Louis Ernst Wilhelm Sack (b. 6 August 1854 in Braunschweig; d. 1930 in Berlin) and his wife Klara Katharina, née Wahnschaffe (b. 20 May 1857 in Warsleben). They would have two children:

• Hans-Martin (b. 20 June 1913 in Gumbinnen), drafted into military service in WWII,  † 29 March 1943 as an Obergefreiter (Private First Class E-3/Senior Lance Corporal) of the Wehrmacht in Karbussel, Mga District, Leningrad Region during the Red Army Operation Polar Star
• Ursula (b. 15 December 1914 in Berlin-Schöneberg; d. 1988 or 1990); ∞ Potsdam 26 March 1937 Erhard "Egge" Heeren (b. 17 September 1911 in Northeim), Lieutenant Colonel of the Wehrmacht,  † 31 July 1944 near Troisgots, north-western France (invasion front)