Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I uru a Kempf ki te Imperial German Army i te tau 1905; whai muri i te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao, i mahi ia i roto i te "Reichswehr" me te "Wehrmacht". I te Oketopa 1937 i riro a Kempf i te mana o te 4th Panzer Brigade i hangaia hou; i te Hanuere 1939 i whakatairangahia ia ki te "Generalmajor". I te timatanga o te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao i Uropi, i uru ia ki te whakaekenga o Polani hei rangatira mo te Panzer Division Kempf, e mohiotia ana ko te "Panzerverband Ostpreußen" (Panzer Group East Prussia) o te 3rd Army i raro i a Georg von Küchler. Hei rangatira wehenga, i riro i a ia te hoatutanga o Fort Zakroczym, i whai ake i te Whakamate i Zakroczym, i te mutunga o te
Te Pakanga o Modlin. I hoki mai te wehenga ki Prussia ki te Rawhiti i te mutunga o te pakanga o Poland, a, i whakaingoatia a Kempf hei rangatira mo te 1st Light Division, i whakaingoatia ko te 6th Panzer Division, i te 18 o Oketopa 1939.