The 2. Division was formed 1 October 1920 from Reichswehr-Brigade 2 and Reichswehr-Brigade 9.

The original seven Infanterie-Divisionen of the Reichswehr were used to form 21 new divisions 1 October 1934. These divisions used at first used cover names to hide their divisional size but in October 1935 these were dropped.
The infantry regiment of this division was used to form infantry regiments of 2. Infanterie-Division, 12. Infanterie-Division and 20. Infanterie-Division and the staff formed II Armeekorps.

Commanders

General der Infanterie Erich Weber Pascha (1 Oct 1920 - 16 Sep 1921)
General der Infanterie Hans Freiherr von Hammerstein-Gesmold (16 Sep 1921 - 1 Feb 1923)
General der Infanterie Erich von Tschischwitz (1 Feb 1923 - 1 Feb 1927)
General der Infanterie Joachim vom Amsberg (1 Feb 1927 - 30 Sep 1929)
General der Infanterie Rudolf Schniewindt (1 Oct 1929 - 30 Sep 1931)
Generalleutnant Fedor von Bock (1 Oct 1931 - 1 Oct 1934)

Wehrkreis

II

Order of battle

4. (Preußisches) Infanterie-Regiment
5. (Preußisches) Infanterie-Regiment
6. Infanterie-Regiment
2. (Preußisches) Artillerie-Regiment

Notable members

Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski (Served in Infanterie-Regiment 4, dismissed for his Nazi views in Feb 1924, later Corps-commander in the Waffen-SS, also responsible for the anti-partisan operations on the Eastern Front)
Hellmuth Becker (Served in Infanterie-Regiment 5 and Artillerie-Regiment 2, later division-commander in the Waffen-SS)
Fedor von Bock (Reached the highest rank in the German Army, Generalfeldmarschall, in 1940, he was killed 4 May 1945 by a strafing British fighter-bomber, the only German Field Marshal to be killed during the war)
Walther von Brauchitsch (Commander-in-Chief of the Army 1938-1941, reached the highest rank in the German Army, Generalfeldmarschall, in 1940)
Ernst Busch (Reached the highest rank in the German Army, Generalfeldmarschall, in 1943)
Werner Hahn (Served in Infanterie-Regiment 5, later division-commander in the Waffen-SS)
Heinz Harmel (Served in Infanterie-Regiment 6, later division-commander in the Waffen-SS)
Paul Hausser ("Papa Hauser", served in Infanterie-Regiment 4 and later staff officer, often regarded as the "Father" of the Waffen-SS)
Matthias Kleinheisterkamp (Served in Infanterie-Regiment 6, later corps-commander in the Waffen-SS)
Günther von Kluge (Involved in the resistance against Hitler and took his life following the failure of the attempt on Hitlers life 20 July 1944 fearing arrest, reached the highest rank in the German Army, Generalfeldmarschall, in 1940)
Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb (Reached the highest rank in the German Army, Generalfeldmarschall, in 1940)
Erich von Manstein (Reached the highest rank in the German Army, Generalfeldmarschall, in 1942, post-war a senior military advisor to the West German government)
Heinrich Petersen (Served in Infanterie-Regiment 6, later divisonal-commander in the Waffen-SS)
Karl Sauberzweig (Served in Artillerie-Regiment 2, later corps-commander in the Waffen-SS)
August-Wilhelm Trabandt (Served in Infanterie-Regiment 6, later divisonal-commander in the Waffen-SS)
Erwin von Witzleben (Active in the resistance against Hitler and executed after the failure of the July 20 Plot, reached the highest rank in the German Army, Generalfeldmarschall, in 1940)

Flag of 2. Division 1927-1933

(Courtesy of Wikimedia)

Sources used

Andris J. Kursietis - Between Kaiser and Führer: The history of the German Army 1919-1933
Georg Tessin - Deutsche Verbände und Truppen 1918-1939
Georg Tessin - Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht 1933-1945
Mark C. Yerger - Waffen-SS Commanders: The army, corps and divisional leaders of a legend (2 vol)

Reference material on this unit

- None known at this time -