The Armee Norwegen was formed 19 December 1940 from Armeegruppe XXI. From 1 January 1942-18 December 1944, the commander of Armee Norwegen also served as the Wehrmachtbefehlshaber Norwegen.

In mid-June 1941, Generaloberst von Falkenhorst moved his headquarters to Rovaniemi, Finland to command the German and attached Finnish forces in a two-pronged attack on the Soviet Union codenamed Operation “Silberfuchs” (Silver Fox). In his study The German Northern Theater of Operations, 1940-1945, historian Earl F. Ziemke noted: “Thereafter the Army of Norway maintained two headquarters more than a thousand miles apart [Oslo and Rovaniemi]. The greater part of its staff remained in Norway, and supplementary staff sections were improvised for the direction of operations out of Finland." Following his unsuccessful bid to capture Murmansk and cut the city’s railroad to the south, von Falkenhorst returned to Norway at the end of the year. On 14 January 1942, the German forces in Finland were placed under the newly formed Armee Lappland (redesignated the 20. Gebirgs-Armee on 22 June 1942) commanded by General der Gebirgstruppe Eduard Dietl.

Armee Norwegen was dissolved on 18 December 1944; its component elements were absorbed by the 20. Gebirgs-Armee, which, having made a difficult withdrawal from Finland, assumed responsibility for garrisoning Norway. The commander of the 20. Gebirgs-Armee likewise assumed the role of Wehrmachtbefehlshaber Norwegen.

Commanders

Generaloberst Nikolaus von Falkenhorst (19 Dec 1940 - 18 Dec 1944) (1)

Chiefs of Staff

Generalmajor Erich Buschenhagen (19 Dec 1940 - 15 May 1942)
Generalleutnant Rudolf Bamler (15 May 1942 - 30 Apr 1944)
Generalmajor Eugen Theilacker (30 Apr 1944 - 18 Dec 1944)

Operations Officers (Ia)

Oberstleutnant Horst Freiherr Treusch von Buttlar-Brandenfels (19 Dec 1940 - 12 Jan 1942)
Oberst Bernhard von Loßberg (12 Jan 1942 - 5 May 1944)
Oberstleutnant Ernst Lenne (5 May 1944 - 6 Nov 1944) (died/aircraft crash)

Area of operations

Norway (Dec 1940 - Jun 1941)
Norway and Finland (Jun 1941 - Jan 1942)
Norway (Jan 1942 - Dec 1944)

Holders of high awards (Reichskommissariat Norwegen)

Holders of high awards
Holders of the German Cross in Silver (2)
- Schwarz, Karl, 12.02.1945, OT-Einsatzleiter, OT-Einsatzgruppe Wiking [Oslo]
- Mandt, Lambert, 20.04.1945, Stabskapitän, Fhr. zbV TK Speer i.Stb.d.Abschn.Fhrg. Wiking

Order of battle (21 Dec 1940)

At the disposal of Armee Norwegen
- 199. Infanterie-Division
Gebirgskorps Norwegen
- 2. Gebirgs-Division
- 3. Gebirgs-Division
Höheres Kommando z.b.V. XXXIII
- 196. Infanterie-Division
- 181. Infanterie-Division
Höheres Kommando z.b.V. XXXVI
- 163. Infanterie-Division
- 69. Infanterie-Division
- 214. Infanterie-Division

Order of battle (3 Sep 1941)

At the disposal of Armee Norwegen
- 6. Gebirgs-Division (in transit)
Finnish III Corps
- Finnish 3rd Division
- Finnish Division J (temporary division)
- SS-Division mot. “Nord” (major part, some units subordinated to Finnish Division J)
Höheres Kommando z.b.V. XXXVI
- Stab SS-Division mot. “Nord” (at the disposal of, moving to Finnish III Corps)
- Finnish 6th Division
- SS-Division “Nord” (individual units)
- 169. Infanterie-Division
- units from 163. Infanterie-Division (about one third of the division which was under Finnish command in Karelian Army)
Gebirgskorps Norwegen
- 2. Gebirgs-Division
- 3. Gebirgs-Division
Abschnitt Stab Nord-Norwegen
- 702. Infanterie-Division
- 199. Infanterie-Division
Höheres Kommando z.b.V. XXXIII
- 196. Infanterie-Division
- 181. Infanterie-Division
Höheres Kommando z.b.V. LXX
- 69. Infanterie-Division
- 214. Infanterie-Division
- 710. Infanterie-Division

Order of battle (22 Dec 1942)

At the disposal of Armee Norwegen
- 25. Panzer-Division
Höheres Kommando z.b.V. LXXI
- 230. Infanterie-Division
- 270. Infanterie-Division
- 199. Infanterie-Division
Höheres Kommando z.b.V. XXXIII
- 196. Infanterie-Division
- 702. Infanterie-Division
- 181. Infanterie-Division
Höheres Kommando z.b.V. LXX
- 269. Infanterie-Division
- 280. Infanterie-Division
- 2/3 214. Infanterie-Division
- 710. Infanterie-Division

Order of battle (9 Apr 1943)

At the disposal of Armee Norwegen
- 25. Panzer-Division
- 14. Luftwaffen-Feld-Division
LXXI. Armeekorps
- 230. Infanterie-Division
- 199. Infanterie-Division
- 270. Infanterie-Division
XXXIII. Armeekorps
- 196. Infanterie-Division
- 181. Infanterie-Division
- 702. Infanterie-Division
LXX. Armeekorps
- 269. Infanterie-Division
- 2/3 214. Infanterie-Division
- 280. Infanterie-Division
- 710. Infanterie-Division

Order of battle (21 Aug 1943)

At the disposal of Armee Norwegen
- 25. Panzer-Division
- 196. Infanterie-Division
- 274. Infanterie-Division (forming)
- 280. Infanterie-Division
LXXI. Armeekorps
- 230. Infanterie-Division
- 270. Infanterie-Division
- 199. Infanterie-Division
XXXIII. Armeekorps
- 14. Luftwaffen-Feld-Division
- 702. Infanterie-Division
- 181. Infanterie-Division
LXX. Armeekorps
- 269. Infanterie-Division
- 295. Infanterie-Division (forming/in transit)
- 214. Infanterie-Division
- 710. Infanterie-Division

Order of battle (15 June 1944)

At the disposal of Armee Norwegen
- 89. Infanterie-Division (forming)
LXXI. Armeekorps
- 230. Infanterie-Division
- 270. Infanterie-Division
- 199. Infanterie-Division
XXXIII. Armeekorps
- 14. Feld-Division (L)
- 702. Infanterie-Division
- 295. Infanterie-Division
- 196. Infanterie-Division
LXX. Armeekorps
- 280. Infanterie-Division
- 269. Infanterie-Division
- 274. Infanterie-Division
- 710. Infanterie-Division
- Kommandant von Oslo

Order of battle (26 Nov 1944)

At the disposal of Armee Norwegen
- Panzer-Brigade “Norwegen”
XXXIII. Armeekorps
- 14. Feld-Division (L)
- 702. Infanterie-Division
- 295. Infanterie-Division
LXX. Armeekorps
- 280. Infanterie-Division
- 274. Infanterie-Division
- 710. Infanterie-Division

Notable members

Rudolf Bamler (German Cross in Gold holder and post-war a general in the Nationale Volksarmee of the German Democratic Republic)
Karl Walther (Post-war a general in the Nationale Volksarmee of the German Democratic Republic)

Generaloberst Nikolaus von Falkenhorst meets volunteers from the Finnish female auxiliary organisation Lotta Svärd in the summer of 1941

(Courtesy of Bundesarchiv/Wikimedia, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Germany)

A floating bookstore visits the Armee Norwegen in 1943

(Courtesy of Bundesarchiv/Wikimedia, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Germany)

Footnotes

1. Several sources state that Nikolaus von Falkenhorst was removed from his position due to Reichskommisar Josef Terboven.

Sources used

Research by Shawn Bohannon
Klaus Froh & Rüdiger Wenzke - Die Generale und Admirale der NVA: Ein biographisches handbuch
Martin Månsson - Heinrich Himmler: A photographic chronicle of Hitler's Reichsführer-SS
Georg Tessin - Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht 1933-1945
Robert S. Wistrich - Who's Who In Nazi Germany
Earl F. Ziemke - The German Northern Theater of Operations, 1940-1945

Reference material on this unit

- None known at this time -