At the beginning of 1945 he was made commander of a Jagdtiger company of the 512th Heavy Anti-tank Battalion, which by that time was engaged in fighting on the Western Front.

On 8 March 1945, the 2nd Company was directed to the front line near Siegburg, where it took part in the defense of the Rhine against the American forces crossing the river, with limited success.

Eventually, after being trapped in the Ruhr Pocket east of the Rhine, he ordered all his Jagdtigers destroyed to prevent enemy forces from capturing them intact and then surrendered to the US Army on 7 May.

[3] He is considered a "panzer ace", credited with destroying more than 150 enemy tanks; most of his kill claims were on the Eastern Front.

[4] He claimed in his autobiography that his gunner shot down a Soviet plane (possibly an IL-2) attacking their tank with the Tiger I's 88mm main gun in late 1943 on the Eastern Front.