It was formed in the Munster Training Area in Wehrkreis X on 6 February 1940 and surrendered to Soviet forces at the end of the war as part of Army Group Courland.

The division participated in Fall Rot as part of Army Group B, and later performed occupation duties in France until February 1941, when it was sent to East Prussia during the buildup prior to Operation Barbarossa.

It served in various sectors on the Eastern Front as part of Army Group North, later Army Group Kurland, for the remainder of the war.

In the winter of 1941 the division was trapped in the Demyansk Pocket along with the 12th, 30th, 32nd and 123rd infantry divisions, and the SS-Division Totenkopf, as well as RAD, Police, Todt organization and other auxiliary units, for a total of about 90,000 German troops and around 10,000 auxiliaries.

This article about a specific German military unit is a stub.