Kurt Schmidt was born in the German city of Frankfurt in 1891. He attended the Royal Prussian Cadet Corps in Naumburg and Groß-Lichterfelde near Berlin from Easter 1903 to February 1910. On 3 March 1910, he joined the
Prussian Army and on 20 March 1911, he was promoted to
Leutnant. He served in the 30th Infantry Regiment, the
Infanterie-Regiment "Graf Werder" (4. Rheinisches) Nr. 30. Four years later, in 1915, he was promoted to
Oberleutnant. Schmidt was wounded twice during the First World War, on 22 August 1914 and again on 29 October 1917. this time, a hand grenade had shattered his right leg. He returned to light duty at the end of February 1918, but never to the front again. He had received the Wound Badge in Black in 1918, but since it was later determined that this wound would significantly limit his military service in the future, he was awarded the Silver Wound Badge in 1924 in exchange for the black one. In the last months of the war, he had been promoted to
Hauptmann (captain).
1930s and World War II Kurt Schmidt was a member of the staff of the 5th Infantry Division in 1930, in 1931 he was promoted to Major; in 1937 he was promoted to Oberst. In 1937, the newly promoted Colonel Kurt Schmidt moved with his family to the German town of
Hamelin. He was appointed commander of
Infanterie-Regiment 74, subordinated to the 19. Infanterie-Division, on 12 October 1937. He was succeeded by
Gustav Schmidt on 25 September 1939. On 24 October 1939, he was appointed commander of the Infantry Replacement Regiment 216. On 6 May 1940, he was commanded to the Army High Command (OKH) and on 9 May 1940 was appointed Field Commandant 579. On 15 November 1940, he was appointed commandant of
Luxembourg. Schmidt was the commander of the 702nd Infantry Division in
Norway from 4 September 1941 to 1 September 1943. During his time in Norway he was promoted to
Generalleutnant, the highest rank he would hold. On 15 March 1944, he was appointed commander of the Division No. 526. With this division, he was then deployed in the Aachen area, the Rhineland-Palatinate, and the Netherlands. In September 1944, following the reorganization of his division, he was appointed commander of the new 526th Reserve Division. However, the formation was cancelled, and the units were distributed among front-line units. His staff was used as the command staff. In the autumn of 1944, the staff was then used, again as Division No. 526, within the 5th Panzer Army. From 10 December 1944, the staff, now known as Divisional Staff for Special Use (z. b. V.) 526, was deployed with the 1st Army in the West. ==Death==