The 20th Panzer Division was formed on 15 October 1940 in Erfurt, Germany. As part of Adolf Hitler's plans to double the number of Panzer Divisions, the 19th Infantry Division and a number of other units were cannibalized for men and material, and then restructured into the 20th Panzer Division. Their home station was in Gotha; it was primarily made up of Hessians. It fought exclusively against the Soviet Union between June 1941 and May 1945.