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{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name = 6th Panzer Army
| native_name = {{native name|de|paren=omit|6. Panzerarmee}}
| image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-J28625, Sepp Dietrich.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 6th Panzer Army
| dates = 1944–1945
| country = {{flag|Nazi Germany}}
| branch = {{army|Nazi Germany}}
| type = [[Panzer]]
| role = [[Armoured warfare]]
| size = [[Army]]
| battles = {{ubl|[[World War II]]}}
* [[Battle of the Bulge]]
* [[Operation Spring Awakening]]
* [[Vienna Offensive]]
| notable_commanders = [[Sepp Dietrich]]
}}
The '''6th Panzer Army''' ({{langx|de|6. Panzerarmee}}) was a [[formation (military)|formation]] of the [[German Army (Wehrmacht)|German Army]], formed in the autumn of 1944. The 6th Panzer Army was first used as an offensive force during the [[Battle of the Bulge]], in which it operated as the northernmost element of the German offensive. The army was subsequently transferred to Hungary in early 1945 and used in both offensive and defensive actions there. The final battles of the 6th Panzer Army were fought in Austria, preventing its fall to [[Soviet]] forces. The remnants of the army eventually surrendered to the United States Army. The army's commander throughout its existence, SS-''[[Oberstgruppenführer]]'' [[Josef Dietrich]] said in early 1945: "We call ourselves the 6th Panzer Army, because we've only got six Panzers left."<ref>{{cite book|last=Mitcham|first=Samuel W.|title=Panzers in Winter: Hitler's Army and the Battle of the Bulge|url=https://archive.org/details/panzerswinterhit00mitc_469|url-access=limited|date=2006}}</ref>
==Unit history==
{{command structure
|name=6th Panzer Army<ref>{{cite book|authorlink=Bruce Quarrie|first=Bruce|last=Quarrie|title=The Ardennes Offensive Panzer Armee|page= 21|publisher= Osprey|year= 1999|ISBN=1-85532-853-4}}</ref>
|date=December 16, 1944
|parent=[[Army Group B]]
|subordinate=[[I SS Panzer Corps]]<br>• [[1st SS Panzer Division]]<br>• [[12th SS Panzer Division]]<br>• [[3rd Parachute Division (Germany)|3rd Parachute Division]]<br>• [[12th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|12th Infantry Division]]<br>• [[277th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|277th Infantry Division]]<br>[[II SS Panzer Corps]]<br>• [[2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich|2nd SS Panzer Division]]<br>• [[9th SS Panzer Division]]<br>LXVII Corps<br>• [[272nd Volksgrenadier Division (Wehrmacht)|272nd Infantry Division]]<br>• [[326th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|326th Infantry Division]]<br>388th, 402nd, and 405th Artillery Corps<br>4th, 9th, and 17th [[Nebelwerfer|Rocket]] Brigades<br>150th Panzer Brigade<br>394th and 667th Assault Gun Brigades<br>301st and 506th Heavy Tank Battalions<br>519th and 683rd Antitank Battalions<br>217th Assault Panzer Battalion}}
{{command structure
|name=6th Panzer Army
|date=March 31, 1945
|parent=[[Army Group South]]
|subordinate=[[I SS Panzer Corps]]<br>• [[1st SS Panzer Division]]<br>• [[3rd SS Panzer Division]]<br>• [[12th SS Panzer Division]]<br>• [[Panzer Division Tatra|232nd Panzer Division]]<br>• Hungarian 2nd Armored Division (-)<br>[[II SS Panzer Corps]]<br>• [[2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich|2nd SS Panzer Division]]<br>• [[6th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)|6th Panzer Division]]<br>• Hungarian 1st Mountain Brigade<br>• Hungarian 1st Cavalry Division (-)}}
The 6th Panzer Army is best noted for its leading role in the [[Battle of the Bulge]] (December 16, 1944 – January 25, 1945).
Although it never received an SS designation, calling it the ''6th SS Panzer Army'' came into general use in military history literature after the Second World War, most likely due to being led by a SS General and commanding many SS units or to separate it from the Wehrmacht's [[6th Army (Wehrmacht)|6th Army]].
The attack of the 6th Panzer Army into the Ardennes in December 1944 failed to swiftly break the American defensive line and lost valuable time because of U.S. defensive efforts at locations like [[Monschau]] on the German border. Despite the allocation of SS panzer divisions, the 6th Panzer Army only managed a minor penetration into the northern defensive sector of the U.S. VIII Corps and its advance was thereafter checked by U.S. reinforcements arriving on the northern flank of the offensive.<ref>{{cite book|first=Hugh M.|last= Cole|title=The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge|pages= 669–670|publisher= Washington: GPO|year=1965|url=http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/7-8/7-8_25.HTM#p668 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023214050/https://history.army.mil/books/wwii/7-8/7-8_25.HTM#p668 |archive-date=23 October 2019}}</ref> After the Ardennes Offensive, the 6th Panzer Army was transferred to Hungary, where it fought against the advancing Soviet Army.
In March 1945, after the fall of [[Siege of Budapest|Budapest]], the 6th Panzer Army launched one of the final German offensives of the war, [[Operation Frühlingserwachen]] around [[Lake Balaton]]. This was an attempt to protect the last sources of petroleum controlled by the Germans. The offensive lacked operational surprise, but Soviet Front commander [[Fyodor Tolbukhin]]'s awareness of the presence of elite SS units, under direct orders from STAVKA Tolbukhin was ordered to use minimal forces against the SS until a counteroffensive could be made in strength north of [[Lake Balaton]].<ref>{{cite book|first=David| last=Glantz|authorlink=David Glantz|title=When Titans Clashed|page=253|publisher=United States: University Press of Kansas|year= 1995}}</ref> On March 16 the [[3rd Ukrainian Front]] launched its major counteroffensive and [[Joseph Goebbels]] admitted in his diary that failure was likely. Three days later, the Germans were thrown back at their original starting positions. The 1st, 2nd, 9th, and 12th SS Panzer Divisions were reduced to 31 operational armored fighting vehicles by March 15, 1945,<ref>{{cite book|first=Thomas|last= Jentz|title= Panzer Truppen|volume=2|page= 247|publisher= [[Schiffer Publishing]]|year= 1996}}</ref> while Army Group South as a whole retained 772 operational tanks and assault guns as of March 16, 1945.<ref>{{cite book|first=Krisztián |last=Ungváry|title=Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg|volume=8 |page= 945|publisher=München: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt|year=2007}}</ref>
However, the German forces broke under the Soviet Red Army counteroffensive and retreated towards [[Austria]] to defend [[Vienna]]. In April 1945, the 6th Panzer Army [[Vienna Offensive|defended]] [[Vienna]] against the advancing Soviets, but was unable to prevent a Soviet conquest of the city. When the [[VE Day|war ended]] on May 8, 1945, the 6th Panzer Army was in Austria between Vienna and Linz, in which area it subsequently surrendered to forces of the Soviet and U.S. Armies.
<br>
{| style="float: right;" border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="font-size: 85%; border: gray solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse; text-align: center;"
|- style="background-color:Grey; color:white;"
! colspan="4" | Surrender of 6th Panzer Army formations (order of battle as of May 7, 1945)<br>Source 1: Rolf Stoves, ''Die gepanzerten und motorisierten deutsche Grossverbände 1935–1945''<br>Source 2: Georg Tessin, ''Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS 1939–1945'' Volume 3
|-
|- style="background-color:Grey; color:white;"
! Unit
! Date of Surrender
! Surrender Location
! To which forces
|-
! ROWSPAN=1 style="background:#ccc;" style="border-bottom:1px solid gray;"| [[1st SS Panzer Division]]
| May 9, 1945
| Steyr, Austria
| U.S. Army
|-
! ROWSPAN=1 style="background:#ccc;" style="border-bottom:1px solid gray;"| [[2nd SS Panzer Division]]
| May 9, 1945
| Linz, Austria
| U.S. Army
|-
! ROWSPAN=1 style="background:#ccc;" style="border-bottom:1px solid gray;"| [[9th SS Panzer Division]]
| May 8, 1945
| Steyr, Austria
| U.S. Army
|-
! ROWSPAN=1 style="background:#ccc;" style="border-bottom:1px solid gray;"| [[12th SS Panzer Division]]
| May 8, 1945
| near Enns, Austria
| U.S. Army
|-
! ROWSPAN=1 style="background:#ccc;" style="border-bottom:1px solid gray;"| [[37th SS Volunteer Cavalry Division Lützow|37th SS Volunteer Cavalry Division]]
| May 9, 1945
| Steyr, Austria
| U.S. Army
|-
! ROWSPAN=1 style="background:#ccc;" style="border-bottom:1px solid gray;"| [[Führer Grenadier Brigade|''Führer'' Grenadier Division]]
| ? May 1945
| Zwettl, Austria
| U.S. Army
|-
! ROWSPAN=1 style="background:#ccc;" style="border-bottom:1px solid gray;"| [[117th Jäger Division (Wehrmacht)|117th Light Infantry Division]]
| ? May 1945
| Steyr, Austria
| U.S. Army
|-
! ROWSPAN=1 style="background:#ccc;" style="border-bottom:1px solid gray;"| [[6th Panzer Division]]
| ? May 1945
| Austria
| U.S. Army
|-
! ROWSPAN=1 style="background:#ccc;" style="border-bottom:1px solid gray;"| 356th Infantry Division
| ? May 1945
| Wiener-Neustadt, Austria
| U.S. Army
|-
! ROWSPAN=1 style="background:#ccc;" style="border-bottom:1px solid gray;"| [[710th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|710th Infantry Division]]
| ? May 1945
| Steyr, Austria
| U.S. Army
|-
! ROWSPAN=1 style="background:#ccc;" style="border-bottom:1px solid gray;"| [[10th Parachute Division (Germany)|10th Parachute Division]]
| ? May 1945
| Jihlava, Czechoslovakia
| Red Army
|-
! ROWSPAN=1 style="background:#ccc;" style="border-bottom:1px solid gray;"| 1st Mountain Brigade (Hungary)
| ? May 1945
| Austria
| U.S. Army
|-
! ROWSPAN=1 style="background:#ccc;" style="border-bottom:1px solid gray;"| 1st Hussar division (Hungary)
| ? May 1945
| Austria
| U.S. Army and Red Army
|-
|}
<!--==Order of battle - Ardennes Offensive==
*Direct command of 6th Panzer Army
**[[Panzer Brigade 150]] - SS-Ostubaf. [[Otto Skorzeny]]
**[[Volksartilleriekorps|Volks-Artillerie-Korps]] 388, 402, and 405
**Volks-Werfer-Brigade 4, 9, and 17
**2nd Flak Division – Colonel Fritz Laicher
**[[246th Volksgrenadier Division (Wehrmacht)|246th Volksgrenadier Division]] (Army reserve, December 19, 1944) Generalmajor [[Peter Körte]]
**[[1st SS Panzer Corps|I SS Panzer Corps]] (SS-Gruf. Hermann Priess)
**[[2nd SS Panzer Corps|II SS Panzer Corps]] (SS-Ogruf. Wilhelm Bittrich)
**LXVII Armee Korps (Infantry General [[Otto Hitzfeld]])
***[[272nd Volksgrenadier Division (Wehrmacht)|272nd Volksgrenadier Division]] – Generalleutnant [[Eugen König]]
***[[326th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|326th Volksgrenadier Division]] – Generalmajor Dr.Erwin Kaschner
***2nd Flak-Sturm-Regiment
**LXVI Armee Korps (Artillery General [[Walter Lucht]])
***[[12th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|12th Volksgrenadier Division]] – Generalleutnant [[Gerhard Engel]]
***[[62nd Volksgrenadier Division (Wehrmacht)|62nd Volksgrenadier Division]] – Generalmajor Fritz Warnecke (subordinated to ''Korps Felber'' in January 1945)
***560th Volksgrenadier Division – Generalmajor Rudolf Bader
**Korps Felber (Infantry General [[Hans Felber]])
***[[18th Volksgrenadier Division (Wehrmacht)|18 Volks-Grenadier Division]] (1.1.45 attached) – Generalmajor [[Günther Hoffmann-Schönborn]]
***62nd Volksgrenadier Division (1.1.45 attached)- Generalmajor Fritz Warnecke
==Order of battle (Mar 31, 1945)==
*[[Kampfgruppe]] of the [[356th Infantry Division]]
*I SS Panzer Corps
**[[LSSAH|1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler]]
**[[3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf]] + Kampfgruppe of the Hungarian 2nd Armored Division
**[[12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend]]
**[[232nd Panzer Division]]
*II SS Panzer Corps
**[[2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich]]
**[[Hungarian 1st Mountain Brigade]]
**[[6th Panzer Division]] + remnants of the [[Hungarian 1st Cavalry Division]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Axis History Factbook: 6. SS-Panzer-Armee|url=http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=488}}</ref> -->
==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
==Further reading==
* {{cite book|author1=Trevor N. Dupuy |author2=David L. Bongard |author3=Richard C. Anderson Jr. |title=Hitler's Last Gamble, The Battle of the Bulge, December 1944 – January 1945 |url=https://archive.org/details/hitlerslastgambl00dupu |url-access=limited |publisher=Harper Collins |year=1994 |ISBN=0-06-016627-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/hitlerslastgambl00dupu/page/504 504]}}
{{Armies of the German Army}}
[[Category:Military units and formations of the Waffen-SS]]
[[Category:Panzer armies of Germany in World War II|P6]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1944]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1945]]
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