The SS Division Totenkopf ("Death's Head"), also known as 3. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Totenkopf and 3. SS-Panzer-Division Totenkopf, was one of the 38 divisions fielded by the Waffen-SS during World War II. Prior to achieving division status, the formation was known as Kampfgruppe Eicke. The division is infamous due to its insignia and the fact that most of the initial enlisted soldiers were SS-Totenkopfverbnde (SS concentration camp guards). The Totenkopf division was numbered with the "Germanic" divisions of the Waffen-SS. These included also the SS-Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, SS-Panzer Division Das Reich, and SS-Panzer Division Wiking. The origins of the Grossdeutschland Division went back to the early 1920s. In the unstable political climate of post-war Germany, the Reichswehr established a guard unit for Berlin in 1921. Its primary purpose was to defend the Weimar Republic from revolutionaries, but it was also the country's main military ceremonial unit. Disbanded within weeks, the guard unit was almost immediately reestablished as the Kommando der Wachtruppe. It comprised seven infantry companies, one from each of the seven Reichswehr divisions. Based at Moabit Barracks, the Kommando performed a daily changing of the guard ceremony for the public.
The SS Division Totenkopf ("Death's Head"), also known as 3. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Totenkopf and 3. SS-Panzer-Division Totenkopf, was one of the 38 divisions fielded by the Waffen-SS during World War II. Prior to achieving division status, the formation was known as Kampfgruppe Eicke. The division is infamous due to its insignia and the fact that most of the initial enlisted soldiers were SS-Totenkopfverbnde (SS concentration camp guards). The Totenkopf division was numbered with the "Germanic" divisions of the Waffen-SS. These included also the SS-Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, SS-Panzer Division Das Reich, and SS-Panzer Division Wiking. The origins of the Grossdeutschland Division went back to the early 1920s. In the unstable political climate of post-war Germany, the Reichswehr established a guard unit for Berlin in 1921. Its primary purpose was to defend the Weimar Republic from revolutionaries, but it was also the country's main military ceremonial unit. Disbanded within weeks, the guard unit was almost immediately reestablished as the Kommando der Wachtruppe. It comprised seven infantry companies, one from each of the seven Reichswehr divisions. Based at Moabit Barracks, the Kommando performed a daily changing of the guard ceremony for the public.
