9th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)

9th Panzer Division
9. Panzer-Division
— 9. Pz.Div. —

Active3 January 1940 – 8 May 1945
Country Nazi Germany
Branch German Army
TypePanzer
RoleArmoured warfare
SizeDivision
Part of Wehrmacht
Garrison/HQWehrkreis XVII: Vienna
EngagementsWorld War II
Insignia
1940
Fall 1940
1941–1945

The 9th Panzer Division was a panzer division of the German Army during World War II. It came into existence after 4th Light Division was reorganized in January 1940. The division was headquartered in Vienna, in the German military district Wehrkreis XVII.

Originally raised from Austrian forces annexed into Germany before the war, the 9th Panzer Division was part of most of the German Army's early Blitzkrieg attacks into western Europe. Sweeping east, the division was then a component of Operation Barbarossa, the German attack on the Soviet Union; it was badly mauled at the Battle of Kursk.

Returning to France to rebuild in 1944, the division was rushed to counter Operation Overlord. It was destroyed several successive times by British and American forces as the German Army was pushed back across Europe. The division suffered massive casualties in armor and personnel until it finally collapsed in March 1945. The division's few survivors were pushed into the Ruhr Pocket where they surrendered to the Allies at the end of the war.