The 211th Infantry Division was deployed as part of the third Aufstellungswelle as 26 August 1939 in Wehrkreis VI (Münster).

[2] In January 1942, the 211th Infantry Division was transferred to the Eastern Front in response to the Soviet winter offensive of 1941/42.

[2] In the Soviet Union, the division was assigned to defensive duty in the Bryansk sector from February 1942 to July 1943.

[1] On 16 July 1943, the divisional commander Richard Müller was killed in action at the Battle of Kursk and subsequently replaced by Johann-Heinrich Eckhardt.

It served in Hungary starting in January 1945, where it surrendered to American and Soviet forces near Budweis in March 1945.